ETD66SS
Gold Member
I'm new to this site. I have posted my project on other sites, but this one seems more active, so I'll post it here too:
Hi all, this will be a long post with a lot of pictures, I hope I don't bore anyone.
I started my pond(s) project in the summer of 2006.
I bought a Caterpillar D6C dozer hoping that would be the only tool I needed for the job.
My plan was to dig two ponds and connect them with a culvert. This was to facilitate driveway between them, as shown here:
Pond(s) plan
Here are some pictures of the very early stages of the small pond, it's only .32 acres in size:
Excavating 2006
I ran into a problem at about 8 ft deep, the gray clay was soaked, and I was afraid to get my dozer stuck. So I had to abandoned the digging for that year. I was disappointed, I wanted to get to 16 ft deep.
It was a very wet fall & winter, here is what the pond looked like the next spring/early summer:
Spring 2007
In the fall of 2006 I bought a CAT 225 excavator, as I needed to dig the small pond deeper, and knew I needed something to dig the large pond with.
The spring/summer of 2007 was very dry, I pumped out the ~7ft deep pond, and made a ramp down in, and took my CAT 225 as far in as I dared. I was able to get to ~14-15ft deep using my 225:
Deepening the small pond
I finally ended up with this:
Finished small pond
Now it was on to the larger pond with the CAT 225.
I am not an experienced heavy equipment operator, and it probably shows in my results, but here is how far I got with the large pond last summer:
Digging large pond
Cross section of channel
Unfortunately, I only got 2/3 complete with the excavation before winter & wet weather came. I can't dig in the fall/winter months if it's too wet, as my dump truck is just a Louisville tandem axle, I don't have a articulating dump. The pond stated to fill up quick:
Large pond filling
Ponds pretty full late winter
Finally, here is what they look like now:
Ponds, spring of 2008
Now, I know I have a lot of work to do with the banks, and the slopes in some areas. I wish I could have gotten everything done as quickly as the pro's do it, but that didn't happen.
That is pretty much where my project stands now. I have to pump out the larger pond into the smaller one, and let the excess flow out the spillway before I can continue with the excavation.
Currently I'm building a new base & cage for my trash pump. I'm replacing the 2 gallon fuel tank with a 50 gallon tank from an old dump truck so I can run the pump for 4-5 days straight.
Hi all, this will be a long post with a lot of pictures, I hope I don't bore anyone.
I started my pond(s) project in the summer of 2006.
I bought a Caterpillar D6C dozer hoping that would be the only tool I needed for the job.
My plan was to dig two ponds and connect them with a culvert. This was to facilitate driveway between them, as shown here:
Pond(s) plan
Here are some pictures of the very early stages of the small pond, it's only .32 acres in size:
Excavating 2006
I ran into a problem at about 8 ft deep, the gray clay was soaked, and I was afraid to get my dozer stuck. So I had to abandoned the digging for that year. I was disappointed, I wanted to get to 16 ft deep.
It was a very wet fall & winter, here is what the pond looked like the next spring/early summer:
Spring 2007
In the fall of 2006 I bought a CAT 225 excavator, as I needed to dig the small pond deeper, and knew I needed something to dig the large pond with.
The spring/summer of 2007 was very dry, I pumped out the ~7ft deep pond, and made a ramp down in, and took my CAT 225 as far in as I dared. I was able to get to ~14-15ft deep using my 225:
Deepening the small pond
I finally ended up with this:
Finished small pond
Now it was on to the larger pond with the CAT 225.
I am not an experienced heavy equipment operator, and it probably shows in my results, but here is how far I got with the large pond last summer:
Digging large pond
Cross section of channel
Unfortunately, I only got 2/3 complete with the excavation before winter & wet weather came. I can't dig in the fall/winter months if it's too wet, as my dump truck is just a Louisville tandem axle, I don't have a articulating dump. The pond stated to fill up quick:
Large pond filling
Ponds pretty full late winter
Finally, here is what they look like now:
Ponds, spring of 2008
Now, I know I have a lot of work to do with the banks, and the slopes in some areas. I wish I could have gotten everything done as quickly as the pro's do it, but that didn't happen.
That is pretty much where my project stands now. I have to pump out the larger pond into the smaller one, and let the excess flow out the spillway before I can continue with the excavation.
Currently I'm building a new base & cage for my trash pump. I'm replacing the 2 gallon fuel tank with a 50 gallon tank from an old dump truck so I can run the pump for 4-5 days straight.