tankeryanker
New member
Can my tractor build a pond?I dug a hole about 4 feet deep to test.Soil is not rocky.What implement would be best?
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
Pond?
- Thread starter tankeryanker
- Start date
Kyle_in_Tex
Super Star Member
How big do you need? The trick is to keep it from filling until your done.
PineRidge
Super Member
My neighbor used a D9 dozer and built his pond in a little over a month. I guess you might be able to use a tractor if you have a lot of time on your hands. Heavy equipment is much better suited for the task however.
adegiulio
Silver Member
It took him a month with a D9?? What did he build, the Pacific?? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Dargo
Super Member
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I've run a D9L before. It is a large and rather heavy machine and will push a lot of dirt. However, if you have to push a lot a dirt very far, it would take a while to dig a lake, and you would have trouble getting any real depth unless you were digging in a desert. If the ground water table gets water into where you are digging and you manage to get a D9L hung up, do you have any idea how hard it is to get one out?? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I have a very long sad story on that one...
Best setup in my opinion; dozer (for crumbing and levee work), excavator (for main digging and depth), and several dump trucks (only 1 dump truck really slows efficency of the excavator). Oh yeah, did I mention it took me two years to dig my lake?
Best setup in my opinion; dozer (for crumbing and levee work), excavator (for main digging and depth), and several dump trucks (only 1 dump truck really slows efficency of the excavator). Oh yeah, did I mention it took me two years to dig my lake?
daedong
Veteran Member
Many years ago i built a dam (pond) with a rear blade on a Ford Dexta, It was slow but very effective.
AndyMA
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I agree with the rest of the guys. Anything much larger than a goldfish pool requires some heavy equipment. Unless you have a dry area with almost no rocks and stumps and a way to flood it later, digging with a CUT, especially one without a large backhoe will be very slow going. Also unless the bottom of the pond is clay (or perhaps muck) the pond won't stay full. I'm not even sure how much of a pond I'd attempt with my 44,000 excavator with 29' reach. Probably a 40' diameter one.
Andy
Andy
PineRidge
Super Member
<font color="blue">I've run a D9L before. It is a large and rather heavy machine and will push a lot of dirt. However, if you have to push a lot a dirt very far, it would take a while to dig a lake, and you would have trouble getting any real depth unless you were digging in a desert. If the ground water table gets water into where you are digging and you manage to get a D9L hung up, do you have any idea how hard it is to get one out?? I have a very long sad story on that one...
Best setup in my opinion; dozer (for crumbing and levee work), excavator (for main digging and depth), and several dump trucks (only 1 dump truck really slows efficency of the excavator). Oh yeah, did I mention it took me two years to dig my lake?
</font>
Dargo has the right idea. The fact is my neighbors pond is large enough that he uses his jet ski on it. That meant that he had to push dirt a loooong, loooong way with the dozer and that is not the perfect scenario to dig a pond. Also keep in mind that he is not an excavator by trade so he did have a learning curve. I can tell you that by the time his pond was finished he was quite tired of all dozer work in general.
My excavator showed up at our property with a large track hoe, two D9 dozer's, a vibrating compactor, and several dump trucks and it still took all that equipment and 3 experienced workers a week and a half of hot hard work.
BTW my neighbor did manage to get the D9 dozer stuck once real good. We put it in reverse and kept feeding logs and lumber under the tracks until we could get it free from the thick wet clay. I think all that lumber is still at the bottom of his pond buried in the clay. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Best setup in my opinion; dozer (for crumbing and levee work), excavator (for main digging and depth), and several dump trucks (only 1 dump truck really slows efficency of the excavator). Oh yeah, did I mention it took me two years to dig my lake?
</font>
Dargo has the right idea. The fact is my neighbors pond is large enough that he uses his jet ski on it. That meant that he had to push dirt a loooong, loooong way with the dozer and that is not the perfect scenario to dig a pond. Also keep in mind that he is not an excavator by trade so he did have a learning curve. I can tell you that by the time his pond was finished he was quite tired of all dozer work in general.
My excavator showed up at our property with a large track hoe, two D9 dozer's, a vibrating compactor, and several dump trucks and it still took all that equipment and 3 experienced workers a week and a half of hot hard work.
BTW my neighbor did manage to get the D9 dozer stuck once real good. We put it in reverse and kept feeding logs and lumber under the tracks until we could get it free from the thick wet clay. I think all that lumber is still at the bottom of his pond buried in the clay. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
OP
tankeryanker
New member
Just a small pond, maybe 50' to 75' across.
MadDog
Platinum Member
For what it's worth, I've been excavating a pond, sort of lagoon shaped 40'x20' on each leg. I'm in eastern Mass, which is glacial moraine country w/endless rocks of all sizes up to pretty good sized boulders.
I am about 80% done with the excavation, and it has taken about 8 tractor hours, using my B7900, and FEL w/toothbar.
A toothbar equiped FEL digs very effectively IMHO, except when you hit large boulders, and then some patience is required to pry them out. This past weekend, I "harvested" one that was 1.5'x2'x3'. Took about 10 minutes of removing overlay and around the front before I could pry it up.
For the size pond I am building, using the tractor and FEL makes perfectly good sense, particularly since I already have them and am not in much of a hurry anyways. (It's nice being outdoors on your tractor on a sunny fall day /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )
I'm planning to compact the bottom, cover with sand, let the whole thing settle over the winter, lay down a liner in the spring and then cover the liner with another thin layer of sand and flat landscaping stones to protect the liner from the claws of my dogs, one of whom intends to spend most of next summer swimming in it.
Good luck.
I am about 80% done with the excavation, and it has taken about 8 tractor hours, using my B7900, and FEL w/toothbar.
A toothbar equiped FEL digs very effectively IMHO, except when you hit large boulders, and then some patience is required to pry them out. This past weekend, I "harvested" one that was 1.5'x2'x3'. Took about 10 minutes of removing overlay and around the front before I could pry it up.
For the size pond I am building, using the tractor and FEL makes perfectly good sense, particularly since I already have them and am not in much of a hurry anyways. (It's nice being outdoors on your tractor on a sunny fall day /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )
I'm planning to compact the bottom, cover with sand, let the whole thing settle over the winter, lay down a liner in the spring and then cover the liner with another thin layer of sand and flat landscaping stones to protect the liner from the claws of my dogs, one of whom intends to spend most of next summer swimming in it.
Good luck.