Pond Building????

[diggingdeep]

My father in-law is wanting to build about an 1.5 acre pond. He is going to buy about 50HP (Kubota or Kioti to keep on the farm) tractor with front end loader. I know that a pond cant be built efficiently with just the FEL. So I was thinking about directing him towards about a 2.5, 3 yard pan (which I would be running, could pick one up for 2-4000$), we also have a 2600 ford with disc to help with loosening the dirt up. Its in kind of a valley where he wants the pond, and it looks to me like you would pull off the topsoil and then start taking the red dirt to where the dam will be, looks fairly simple to me. I have been digging and moving dirt for about 8 years now with excavators, backhoes, skidsteers etc, I HAVE never touched a PAN before, don't see why I cant RUN it with a 50HP tractor. I also think that this would be about the CHEAPEST way to go when we get done with the pond SALE the PAN. WHAT do you guys think. Thanks for any INPUT. :confused2:

 

[MarkV]

Well here are my thoughts. Building a 1.5 acre pond in a valley is a lot more involved than dropping dirt on the low side and calling it a dam. The first thing is knowing what kind of soil you have under the top soil and if it will hold water. A dam needs really good clay and a key way cut in to lock it into the existing soil. The dam needs to be compacted in lifts as clay is added. An evaluation of what kind of water source is going to fill the pond and keep it full, drainage acres, spring, well or other means. A 50 hp tractor can do a great deal of work...if you are moving 100's or 1000's of yards it is not the proper tool though. You might want to look at the forum on Pond Boss Magazine: Welcome they are are a good group and have a great deal of pond experience. Personally I would be bringing in heavy equipment if I were doing that type of project.

MarkV

 

[RDrancher]

A ton of good advice by MarkV, especially the key. I've seen a lot of ponds leak when this step is skipped. In fact, I have one on my schedule right now.

A 1.5 acre pond (even at only 5 ft deep) will yield over 13,000 cubic yards of material. Since you say it's kinda in a valley, figure half of that. That's still a pretty ambitious task for a 50 horse tractor, and it may not have the tractive force to load the pan anyway. That would be a heck of a way to break in a new tractor.

 

[diggingdeep]

Well my thoughts where getting a sheeps foot roller and run it over it in about 2FT lifts. It will have a spring plus its going to have about 5 acres of run off to it, so I think that about an 18-24'' pipe would be good for a spill way, plus a small ditch lined with class B (rip rap) in case of a torrential down pour. By the looks of it, it would not be a lot of actual deep digging basically just moving topsoil and getting to clay and pulling it to what would be the dam. Plus Im the do it yourself type of person and not scared of work.

 

[Baby Grand]

Just make sure that you town/county is okay with the dam before you sink too much money & effort into the job.