Digging a swimming pool...?

[Reg]

Another point to consider is that "Digging the hole" is only the start of the project.
Lining the bottom with (? with whatever) and constructing the side walls will require some access to the bottom for equipment, people and materials.
i.e. "It ain't just a hole in the ground with straight dirt sides."
Equipment, materials and people will need to get down in there.
Again, I wouldn't dig from above, especially since I just noticed that you have told us you are on sand/sandy_soil.

 

[dodge man]

I dug our above ground 28' diameter pool with my BX2350. That may not make any sense, but it is installed on a hillside, so to make it level, the high side had to be dug out. I did all the work with the FEL and it was maybe around 60 cubic yards of dirt I removed in total. It was almost 4' deep on the high side. It took maybe 16 hours of my time on the BX and the pool guy spent another 8 hours getting it smoother and level. If you have an M available, I would think it would dig out a pool pretty quick. Like others have said just make a ramp at the shallow end. Think ahead on how much you want to slope back the sidewalls. If you have sandy soil, you might want to slope it back a little bit more for safteys sake. Also think ahead on how you are going to get the concrete trucks into the area.

On the other hand, it sounds like it might be a good excuse to buy a backhoe. I would think an M would power a pretty good sized backhoe that might dig a pool pretty quick, but I'm guessing it's a pretty expensive add on.

 

[Johndeere3720]

I dug a waterfall/pond with my dads 3720 Deere. All I used was the loader. I spent a full 24 hours atleast duging it, its on a slight hill on hard ground. The pond is 5 feet deep and 20x35 feet wide and long. the waterfall was the hardest since I had to let the gravity pull water down. Now it is ready for fish.

 

[Mustangous]

Another point to consider is that "Digging the hole" is only the start of the project.
Lining the bottom with (? with whatever) and constructing the side walls will require some access to the bottom for equipment, people and materials.
i.e. "It ain't just a hole in the ground with straight dirt sides."
Equipment, materials and people will need to get down in there.
Again, I wouldn't dig from above, especially since I just noticed that you have told us you are on sand/sandy_soil.

Yeah, that is a good point, I would like to have a pool one day and if i could figure out how to put in an inground pool that would be great. This tractor would really pay for itself then. Pool companies around hear start out at 20K, thats another tractor...

 

[Nat]

I sold and installed pools for 20 years, so speak with some expertise when I say this is a bad idea. I sold some pool parts to a couple guys that run equipment for a living, and I knew they would understand and follow directions when I told them how. Both said never again. And when I say pool parts that is what I mean. There is no such thing as a pool kit. A pool is made up of a lot of different parts and I used to buy pumps at one place, filters at another, order liners from somewhere else,ect.Each pool is different in the size,shape, piping, plumbing ,placement, lot's of variables.

Installing a pool isn't just digging a hole and adding water. If a concrete bottom and sides are your chioce, I'd bet that you can get a pro to come in and do it cheaper than you can buy all the material.
If a vinyl liner is your choice then the dig has to be perfect or the liner life will be shortened at best and may need a replacement liner before the job is done.
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but a pool needs to be done by someone who knows how to install one correctly. ie; flow amount , return water path, filter placement, siting, ect.
An above ground pool is a different animal entirely. They are engineered to be installed by any compentant person. If the ground is graded correctly and installed per manufactors specs they are fairly easy to install and will work like they are supposed to.
On an aside note folks used to ask me how much a pool would be if they dug their own hole, since they had a backhoe/loader/bobcat ect. I told the I always add 2000.00 to the price if they did it them selves.
I hope this gives some perspective to this post. Most everyone has said yeah, do it. Eddie gave some good advice on what to do even before starting such a project, and I know Eddie. I would have no trouble with him installing a pool, but he is an exception, not the general rule. Installing a pool correctly is a lot of work and has to be done right or the finished product won't be what most people expect a pool to be. Later, Nat

 

[LBrown59]

I am curious if anyone has attempted to dig a swimming pool using an attached BH to their tractor. I have a MX5100 Kubota and the BH90 would be the backhoe I would use.

I wouldn't see where digging a swimming pool would be any different than digging a basement ,
They are both just a hole in the ground.

 

[Mustangous]

I wouldn't see where digging a swimming pool would be any different than digging a basement ,
They are both just a hole in the ground.

I would actually have to kindof agree... There are of coarse special considerations to take for everything, but I doubt its rocket science. The internet is full of information and would bet that one could very much educate themselves on what to do and how to do it. I am sure not everyone would be willing to tackle a job like this or is capable to, but I am sure a lot of us could do it. There are tons of very talented people on here! Just have to ask questions.

 

[Nat]

A basement is a square or a rectangle. All the is needed is to dig it app 3' wider than the basement and keep the floor to the desired elevation. A vinyl liner swimming pool must fit the future liner exactly. I wish I knew how to draw a dig plan for a pool on the comp, but don't know how. A standard pool must meet NSPI specs and they are exact. We had to dig them so that from the tip of the diving board straight down you had to have a set distance, then out 4' from the tip of the board it had to be another set distance. The slope from the shallow end could only be a set amount per foot, not to mention that the side walls slope in 3'6 from the base of the vertical wall section . I can't explain what I mean very well. I always told my kids that the smartest person they will ever meet is the one that can explain exactly what they want to convey in the least amount of words.
With todays lawsuit society I quit selling pools bacause it was to much of a liability. I knew one guy that got sued after a child drowned in the pool. The fact that he installed it correctly and did every thing right won out for him in the end, but only after many thousands of $ for his defence. The fact that the child climbed over the fence and was unattended was the reason, but lawsuits always go for anyone that is in a mile of it.

Digging a pool to NSPI specs is an exact science, and requires a very skilled guy at the controlls. If he just wants to dig a hole and add water that is within the capabilities of most anyone, but make sure it is under cover of an armed guard all the time and if the guard falls in and drowns, he'll get sued anyway.
Again, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I also don't want anyone to start on a job without having a set of facts to go by. Most everyone on here said sure, go ahead and dig one, I figured someone needed to lay out another opinion. Later, Nat

 

[harpoonalt]

Have to agree with Nat. At our last house, we put in an in-ground pool and had professionals do it. There's a lot to it and it has to be pretty precise or you'll have problems. This was a vinyl liner in-ground. Others may be different but our pool had metal sides that had to be put on a ledge of dirt, then the floor was some sort of soft concrete over which the liner laid. I wish I had pictures, but I remember being impressed with how good the excavator operator was at getting his levels and pitches. Some people just have the knack and if you do, go ahead and do it. Love to see pictures too! Great site for pool maintenance is poolforum.com. Once we got off the Baquacil and learned to manage chlorine, our pool was crystal clear and a lot less work. Good luck!

 

[Reg]

When we lived in Switzerland someone showed up opposite one morning with a loader and proceeded to dig into the ground in a direction away from the road.
By noon he was all done, he had started digging the driveway ramp to the garage, from there he dug out the garage and entire basement.

Swiss construction is "different" to US construction.
Over time we saw MASSIVE amounts of reinforced poured concrete go in, including the ground floor (called 1st floor here) above the basement and of course the required bomb shelter and wine cave.
So maybe that was why I said I would start from the shallow end and haul out with the bucket..... I should add that it was a decent sized loader.