Building our new dam

PatrickS2222 · Jul 30, 2016

Thought I would share what I've been busy with the last few weeks, as far as spare time goes. We do like to grow some vegetables, we also have a couple dozen fruit trees as well as the gardens and grass around the house always look nicer when they're green. There is a distinct "dry" season from about April to October when everything needs regular water, as well as veges etc needing some additional water through the summer, even though there is frequent rain and some heavy storms as well. That said, we have pumped our dam dry a couple of times, and through the generosity of neighbours our gardens were lucky enough to survive a couple of hot summers. In return, we share what we can spare, help each other and it all works out well.
I decided it would help the situation if we had a second dam, so I've begun to dig one ..... more accurately, I'm not far off finishing it. Just a bit more digging, cleaning up and tidying, then some grass seed and it should be pretty good. I haven't done this before - I'm relying on my memory of how I'd watch contractors and see how they used to build dams for my father when I was young.
The Komatsu drott (tracked loader) belongs to a good friend. Its an early 80's model, grey import from Japan. I rebuilt the engine in it - until then it used more oil than diesel I think! Renewed rings and head gasket, another friend reconditioned the head, renewed a couple of inoperative glow plugs and now it works like a trooper! The loader and tractor are both mine - late 60's models.
I'll attach some more pics as things progress, apologies in advance for the lack of quality.

Edit: Just noticed the pics went up in reverse order - last pic to first is correct order.

RaydaKub · Jul 30, 2016

Interesting ballast you have there...

mddorange · Jul 30, 2016

It looks like it has been keeping you busy. Do you have a creek feeding into it or just to collect runoff?

kebo · Jul 30, 2016

It looks fairly shallow, and if so, I'm wondering how it will hold water for a period of time before most of it evaporates??? I guess since you have one like this you are already using, it's not an issue?

PatrickS2222 · Jul 31, 2016

Yeah RaydaKub, my neighbour liked that idea too - genuine Mercedes Benz x2

Dead engines from work. Knocks and/or spun bearings - results of not changing oil! :thumbdown: The clay is really dry and hard, and needed loosening before digging out, even with the Komatsu. The ripper is on our MF135 but is designed for a smaller tractor, and once it is about 6" into the ground the lower arms actually pull it upwards, reducing its tendency to pull itself downward into the ground. 500lb or so of added weight makes a real difference, and also makes the tractor hook up and pull a lot better. :thumbsup:

mddorange, only run-off unfortunately. The surrounding paddocks are all really poor soil - tired ex-farmland cut up into 5acre lots. My neighbour is really great and we work together a lot. He has got busy on his TEA20 and cut a channel with his rear blade angled. That catches what water runs off his paddock and directs it into our first dam. When that one overflows, the new dam will fill. When it overflows, the water goes off into another channel - and flows into his dam, in the unlikely event that it hasn't filled, otherwise they all overflow together. :laughing:

kebo, you're right, its only about 12-13ft deep, although it might not look it because measuring across the inside of the wall at the (expected) "full" level is about 26yds x 21yds (its ended up a bit oval). I gave a bit of thought to evaporation ..... our other dam is a similar size, and I felt that in order to halve surface area (and evaporation) the diameter would need to be around 17yds. But to have the same capacity I would have to dig it twice as deep

More than a bit worried about tramping the wall firm already!

I concluded making it one foot deeper should cater for evaporative loss, and save a lot of work! :thumbsup: I reckon it will hold more than our other dam though, but it's a back-up supply - as much for us as it is for our good neighbour too :laughing:

Some more progress pics too ... correct order this time! :confused2:

RaydaKub · Jul 31, 2016

PatrickS2222 said:
View attachment 476131

It's an empty tin shed, but given it is on the end of a boom pole, how does that front end stay on the ground? There's no weight there at all!

PatrickS2222 · Aug 4, 2016

Sorry for late reply ..... no internet for several days

Let down by our 1800s copper wires playing havoc with 21st century ADSL2 modems!

Hats off to their techs - found and fixed it today.
And no, it wasn't a local with a ripper on a tractor hooking the cable

our phone still worked, but our internet didn't!

Lifting that shed: - There may be a bit more weight in that tractor than it appears

but still, it isn't by any means heavy. It does have MF bolt-on front wheel weights (inside the wheel centres) and front - as well as rear - tyres are filled with water as well. Yes, it's only a 20' x 10' garden shed - very thin, no frame, also not very high at all. While it is quite light, lifting it at that length makes it seem a bit heavier, but tractor lifted it with no worries. Lifting it initially snapped one rope, which didn't do anything good for the pop-rivets holding it together!

We have had a few rain showers last couple days, so no more work recently. All I could do was to transplant some rather healthy cooch runners, which were invading my garden beds, into the topsoil I fortunately had already spread along the top of the dam wall. They currently look a little unhappy - apparently not as nourishing as garden soil!

Should grow with some fertiliser and water although I will spread some rye and millet seed to cover it more quickly.

More pics shortly ..... if anyone is interested :laughing:

shaeff · Aug 5, 2016

Wow, you've definitely been busy! Looks like you guys (and girl) are doing a great job! I may have missed my calling, as all this machine work intrigues me. I've been around it my whole life but never really had the interest in it before a few years ago. Keep up the good work!

PatrickS2222 · Aug 5, 2016

Thank you mate, it's looking like something now too. That's our younger daughter ..... she's quite capable on these machines too!

You'll find these jobs a welcome change from what you do 5 days a week. That's why we treasure our "seat time" so much! :laughing:
I'm really lucky to have the Komatsu to use - would have been a difficult job with only wheel tractors. I rebuilt the engine in it before I started - its now a nice, strong and chrisp diesel, you wouldn't think it's the same motor! :thumbsup:
I need to take some more pics tomorrow to post.

shaeff · Aug 8, 2016

Nice! Any progress this weekend?

That Komatsu looks like it gets the job done just right, an invaluable asset for sure!

PatrickS2222 · Aug 8, 2016

Was a bit woosy for a day - Ok again next morning, and had a lazy Sunday just doing a couple of small jobs, so no real work done, also Olympic Games causing some added lethargy

I'll be into it next weekend - I want it finished! :licking:

PatrickS2222 · Aug 15, 2016

Hi All, thought I'd let you know I haven't burrowed to China and fallen through the other side! :laughing:

Spending a lot of time on the loader finishing, tidying and preparing to spread topsoil ready for seeding as well as some transplanted cooch runners. So I had to put a thin layer of clay on the outside to help with soil stability and to assist with preventing erosion, it might also hold a bit of moisture and help the grass stay alive. I have begun to compact the outer sloping surface, also spending considerable time "tramping" with the drott's tracks. They're only about 12" so it takes a while, and it has to be done twice.

Another benefit is that the slope is now a much better gradient - I'm really happy with it, as I expected it would stay quite a bit steeper. Don't expect me to drive my ride-on mower there to keep it neat though!

Some more pics ..... finally! :thumbsup:

EddieWalker · Aug 15, 2016

Love the look of tracks all over a dam!!!!

I'm curious why you left that tree there? Will they survive having all that dirt over their root system? And how will you stop the roots from growing through your dam into the pond and then allowing water to flow along the roots out of your dam? Here, roots from trees are a big reason for leaks in dams.

PatrickS2222 · Aug 15, 2016

Hi Eddie, yes, I think they look kinda neat too

I especially like them horizontal, so as to slow water run-off and help catch fine silt.
Driving up that bank is heart-stopping at times though ..... you can't relax for a second!

That tree might die, but the soil is built up only a couple of feet there. It should survive. I left it there for two reasons:
The trunk is almost 3 feet diameter - the only thing I have to bring it down is a chainsaw;
The original intended diameter of the dam was a bit smaller and would've just passed beside that tree.

EddieWalker · Aug 15, 2016

Good luck with the tree. In my experience, it's always best to remove any that are even close to questionable as soon as possible. It will always be harder in the future. I've also learned that no matter how big or nice a tree is, once gone, I never miss it

PatrickS2222 · Aug 16, 2016

You may be right on both counts - I'll keep an eye on it and see how healthy it looks as time progresses. I had thought of the roots sucking up a bit of water, but hadn't realised their capability of creating leaks. I do appreciate you pointing it out, and thank you for that. :thumbsup:
It's a big dam ..... but that's also a rather big gumtree too. Additionally, it's only 15 feet from the boundary fence

If in time it becomes evident that I have to, I'll grab my chainsaw - give my block-splitter some fresh fuel and all three of us a little exercise, and top up my firewood pile! :laughing: Though I'm not sure it'll fall in any particular direction either!

I've been pushing myself to finish it, currently I have about one hour between getting home from work and dusk, so I've been continuing to tramp the outside wall as per pics ..... about 75% done. I have to then do the same on the inside of the wall, spread some topsoil on top and down the outside - and then I can finally plant grass seed.

shaeff · Aug 16, 2016

It's looking great, Patrick! That track machine is hugely beneficial! I wouldn't want to try and drive any wheeled machine up those inclines.

bindian · Aug 20, 2016

I may be wrong from just looking at the photos, but your soil looks more like loam, then clay. It might just be the camera and angles of the photos. My first pond has this nice red clay and it packed great. It doesn't leak.

You can make it into a ball and throw it and it does not fly apart.

But my second pond has more a mix of loam and clay and it leaks bad.

It didn't pack that well. Make a ball and throwing it.........it flies apart.
hugs, Brandi

PatrickS2222 · Aug 21, 2016

Hi Shaeff, you're correct there! The "Pucker" level is at times notable though, even with tracks. It scratches and squirms a bit because of the loose surface, but generally drives up the bank better with a full bucket - the weight must hold down the front of the tracks a bit so the machine doesn't just sit on the "heels" instead.
G'day Bindian, yes, although I reckon our soil is worse than yours! Most of what you see in photos is subsoil I used to build the bulk of the dam wall, or shots of the outside. I did put a bit of clay over the outside to help minimise erosion and also it might hold a bit of moisture to help the grass seed start off. It has mixed with the soil though, so it might look strange. But there was really good clay I was digging out after the subsoil, this clay I used to line the inside of the wall, about two feet thick, although it gets a bit thinner near the top. I haven't dug any deeper because it's really hard going and I've no real need for anymore clay. It will fill to about 12 feet deep, which will be plenty water in addition to our other dam, which is not much smaller.
Today I put four pipes in place to release the overflow - which will help fill our neighbour's dam if it isn't also full. We got 3/4" of rain in a storm last night. This moistened perfectly some dry clay "powder" which was loosened from using the track-loader in the dam. I used several shovelfuls of this to seal a bit of a "collar" around the pipes to prevent seepage between them - not necessary, but it will help keep things together. It was perfect for that, and good enough to practice clay-modelling I reckon!
I'll try to take some good pics for you.
Yesterday I rechecked levels with laser - on loan from my other great neighbour - and found I had made a dumb error.

Everywhere else was right, but the height where the pipes were to go looked too high. :confused2: I found just there I had marked the height of the receiver, not the bottom of the pole!

It was about 15" higher than they really should be - that is why the bank looks so high there - about 15" higher than it needs to be. :laughing: Doesn't really matter though. Glad I realised now though.
I then topped up a couple of uneven spots on top, spread the remaining "topsoil" and picked out a few stray sticks etc. Today, after lunch I tramped the whole outside and the top again with the tracks - I felt more comfortable having done it once more - especially after some rain. Looks nice and even now. :thumbsup:
Tomorrow after work will be fertiliser and seed - another 1/2 to 3/4" of rain forecast for Tuesday, so I really need that seed in the ground!
A couple more pics:

bindian · Aug 21, 2016

Patrick,
Glad to hear about lining it with clay. It all looks great. Do you have a spillway? A little higher than the pipes? Reason I ask is a huge storm can put debris in the pipes, slowing the discharge rate, making water go over the dam's lowest spot and eroding. Or it erodes going around the end of the dam. I have so much runoff into my large pond, my 24 inch overflow pipe can't keep up and I have had a foot of water going over the spillway.
Again................it looks great. Can't wait to see it with grass growing!
hugs, Brandi