Dirt Moving Big Hole

[MarkV]

You might also do some checking on this site. Pond Boss Magazine: Welcome There is a pretty good crowd there and some of them are pond builders.

MarkV

 

[case245]

i have a clay dam its 200 feet long 70 foot wide 8 to 12 foot deep the straight side holds the water in the breast that a 90 degree wall with big rock some weight 2 t0 4 ton no problem with it since 1984 when it was finished clay ground will keep the water brown it was dug with a dozer i would use your hoe to oull the dirt away from the walls that the easist route

 

[Diamondcutter]

Thanks. I too once dove deep enough in a pond to hit the first thermal layer. That's usually at about 12 to 15 ft. In a larger lake, a second layer usually starts at about 20 to 25 ft. The reason I want to go so deep is to get enough volume since it will be an unside down pyramid and I am limited on the surface size. I hoping for 30 feet from ground level since the water level will probably be 5 to 8 ft down. The area is almost flat so I won't have a levy. I want to use an open system where I extract water from the bottom and return it midway or top according to the return temp. I want to run the water through a sand filter, my heating/cooling system and then through a large aquerium before returning it to the pond. My house will also have solar hot water heating coils on the Southern facing roof. A Darious windmill and solar panels will help generate the electricity I will need to run the pumps. Most of this I will build myself, if I live long enough! At least I can dream about about the completed project. My pond is about 10 foot deep and a hundred or so feet wide now. At least a start, right? I appreciate everyone's advice and redcommendations.

 

[crazyal]

One thing you can do is put large crushed rock on the steeper slopes to help prevent the clay from migrating to the bottom of the pond. Around here we call it rip rap. As far as using the backhoe goes, do you have teeth on your front bucket or is the edge flat steel? If you don't have teeth I would look into a tooth bar for it. The backhoe will work but it'll slow you down some. I would say try the backhoe.

 

[creekbend]

The other TBN members have offered great advice. I would like to add this important advice. Please be careful. Best wishes.

 

[20 20]

The rule of thumb is 1foot down for every 3feet out. You also only need to be 12 feet down for geothermo. 35' deep is a long way down and a major amount of spoils to move, how deep are you now? As some one wrote you may work right through your clay and into something else that may not hold water especially if trying to go that deep. But if you do happen to do that you could all ways bring back a layer of clay to coat the pond.

 

[Redneck in training]

I have a Ford 550 backhoe and I am trying to dig my pond down as deep as I can get it...hopefully 30 or 35 foot. I want to keep the walls as steep as I can with one pathway out (perhaps 200 feet or more long). So far I have been using the front end loader to dig. Would it be better to use the back hoe to pull down dirt from the walls before scooping it up? I can usually get a full load with one or two strikes but the ground is heavy clay with large gravel and it is getting harder. I want the pond deep to give me stable temperature water to use for geothermal system in my future house. Any advise would be appreciated.

I worked in Arkansas several years back and remember there was snow on the ground. Therefore I doubt the water temperature in the winter will be 60-70 deg regardless of the depth of the pond. The geothermal will actually work well even in a small puddle but the problem is it will affect the life in there. The temperature will go up in the summer and down in the winter. Therefore there is a rule of thumb about sizing the pond versus the size of the system. I would, in general, advise against open system. It requires maintenance. The marginal gain in efficiency is not worth the complexity and the trouble IMHO.
You also mentioned wind mill. If you look at current cost of solar panels there is not a windmill that can beat the cost/W of PV even when you make the windmill by yourself. Panels are about $1 to 1.2/W while complete DIY PV system will run in about $2,10 - 2.25/W.
If I would build my house today I would install split heat pump units to every room and power it with solar system. My cost analysis is that it will cost just about as much as geothermal while energy cost will be pretty much close to zero.
1 ton split unit is about 2200 DIY or 3500 installed. Three bedroom house needs four or five of those.
20kW DIY solar system will cost about 30000 after government tax incentive.
The total cost is more than geothermal system but with no energy cost.

 

[Diamondcutter]

Thanks. First hard figures I have looked at. I do plan to do about everything myself. I'm retired and mostly want something to keep me active.

 

[weedpharma]

i have a clay dam its 200 feet long 70 foot wide 8 to 12 foot deep the straight side holds the water in the breast that a 90 degree wall with big rock some weight 2 t0 4 ton no problem with it since 1984 when it was finished clay ground will keep the water brown it was dug with a dozer i would use your hoe to oull the dirt away from the walls that the easist route

G'day Case245. You may not have noticed but your "Shift" & "." key are not working.

Weedpharma

 

[Redneck in training]

Thanks. First hard figures I have looked at. I do plan to do about everything myself. I'm retired and mostly want something to keep me active.

Look at in example Halcion split units. They are super quiet and very efficient. They work quite well in Iowa and will work much better in your climate. If you don't know how to install them hire somebody to install one, then buy vacuum pump for $100 and install the rest by yourself. I paid for installation and I was not happy with quality of work. I plan on installing one more unit in my shop and I will do it by myself.