Creating a Lake

[Renze]

Eddie when i worked at a major nationally operating construction company's workshop, i serviced Honda engiens on railroad tie bolt tighteners for about 5 months. Because these engines didnt have hour counters, the oil change intervals were decided based on visual inspection of the oil. brown was good, black was to be refreshed.

 

[MarkV]

Hi Eddie, just as a point of reference, we have a pond about your size that has been down about 3 ½ feet after a very dry summer here in N. Georgia. There was a front that came through last week and gave us about 3” of rain in 24 hours. It was the first real good rain we have had in months. With the ground already saturated the run off from that rain raised the pond 1 ½ feet over night. It really surprised me how much one good rain could affect the pond. Hope you get a couple of good ones before the holidays.

MarkV

P.S. Sure appreciate you taking the time to size your photo’s down so those of us on dial up can enjoy your projects.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Jamie,

I don't know this for a fact, but my understanding on gravity fed lines is the size of the hose determines how much preasure you have. I shouldn't matter if I have one gallon or 100, it should all be the same amount of preasure.

I was concerned that the longer length of hose and the automotive fuel filter was restricting the amount of fuel I was getting or creating air pockets. I don't know how that would work either, but since my problems started after I changed fuel tanks, I thought there was a connection.

Now that it's running good, I don't believe the fuel tank was part of the problem. I think it was just a lack of experience and knowledge on my part.

Thanks,
Eddie

Eddie, If I remember my physics right, elevation or difference in height between the original tank and the big one would cause the greatest pressure change. This is why municipal water tanks are built up in the air (and why your pump is having to work so hard on the suction side too "lifting" the water).

Keep on posting my friend, it is really cool watching it fill. Time lapse as mentioned above would be really cool....Kyle

 

[TOMDUALLY]

Eddie, why don't you make-up a large surveyors stake with a cement base and numbers large enough to read from the shore. Take it out about 10 to 15ft into the lake and set the base on the bottom with the measurement numbers faceing the shore. Then when you come out to check out the lake you can tell what the water level is at a glance instead of guessing at it. Just an idea. Tom

 

[EddieWalker]

Renze,

The oil was black. VERY BLACK!!! hahahaha

Mark,

When I dug my small pond, I went through months and months of small rains hoping it would fill. Than one night we got over 5 inches, which filled it right up. Then with the drought this year, it was way down. I decided to build a dock and drove my small tractor into it to drill post holes. The day after I had those posts set and the framing tied together, we got 3/1/2 inches in a few hours.

Odds are real good that in time, I'll get a big downpour and it will fill right up, but I'm impatient and want as much water in there as I can before Christmas. If it's still not full by then, I'll let Mother Nature finish the job.

Kyle,

Thanks for clarifying that. Would it make any difference in my application to raise the height of the tank? Or would it have to be dozens or hundreds of feet higher to matter?

Tom,

I've thought about sticking my plastic ruler in the dirt and watching it to see how much the water level rises. Right now it's just starting to cover the underground islands. When that happens, my surface area should be a full 4 acres. That's will be pretty constant for the next five feet of water except for the slope of the shoreline. I know that's still allot, but at least it's a constant. When everything is covered, I'll put it in and monitor the progress.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

Would it make any difference in my application to raise the height of the tank? Or would it have to be dozens or hundreds of feet higher to matter?

You want the tank at about the same level as the tank that came with the pump. If the guys who built it knew what they were doing, the carburetor is designed for the static head that the original tank produced.

 

[EddieWalker]

Dave,

Thanks. The bottom of the Blazer's gas tank is just a few inches higher than the one that's attached to the pump. I don't think it's a significant difference and unless everyone thinks different, I'll leave it as it is.

Eddie

 

[firemanpat2910]

Is that a fish "habitrail"? or a fishing lure catcher?

 

[RobJ]

Dave,

Thanks. The bottom of the Blazer's gas tank is just a few inches higher than the one that's attached to the pump. I don't think it's a significant difference and unless everyone thinks different, I'll leave it as it is.

Eddie

I think you are ok. If anything this would force fuel past the needle seat and the engine would flood out. When you found it the tank would probably be dry and gas would be running out of the carb.

But I don't have any other thing to offer other than it sounds like some sort of fuel starvation problem. Unless there is a shut off (auto that is) for low oil a small engine will burn itself up with low or no oil. I've rebuilt quite a few that were running pumps all day and ran out of oil. Spun bearing, tossed rods, all sorts of neat things.

 

[KentT]

FWIW -- Most small Honda engines seem to have low-oil level shutoff built-in...

 

[Glowplug]

Hey Eddie, I remember a long time ago you were talking about the spillway. You were going to build a wide concrete overflow as a "relief valve" for serious downpours to prevent erosion. I may have missed it, but I don't remember you discussing its construction or posting any pictures. Next time you post some pictures perhaps you could throw in some of this too. I was just curious how it turned out, that is, if you did it.

Chuck

 

[Renze]

Glowplug, as far as i can see from the progress of Eddies postings, he doesnt need the spillway untill at least the next spring

 

[RobJ]

Buddy of mine used 4 24" pipes with a concrete spillway behind for overflow. Same guy on another lake diverted the dam up the hill (to hold more water) and to act as an overflow..away from the main dam. He needed that on the second lake. It filled up in less than 2 weeks with a branch going through it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Fireman,

While I do agree with you that it's probably gonna catch it's fair share of lures, I couldn't think of anything else to do with it. I tore it up pretty good trying to get it sealed. I also put a few holes in it dragging it around. It was either burn it, or toss it in the lake. I thought a few fish might appreciate it, but who knows? hahaha

Rob,

Since I leveled the pump and changed the oil, it's running strong. It does have an oil shut off, so the dirty oil was probalby bad enough to cause my problems.

Kent,

The engine has a low oil preasure shut off.

Glowplug,

I'll take some picutures, but for now, the spillways is still dirt. I have bermuda grass coming in, and it's a very gradual slop that won't cause very much erosion. Even if it does, it will be minimal.

When I get closer to opening the park, more time or some extra cash, I'll start cementing it in and building up the footings for the bridge across it. I'll also be able to adjust the full height of the lake then too. As it is, I'm sort of guessing where I'm wanting it based on an image in my brain. Reality and my fantasies sometimes don't turn out like I'd hope for. hahaha

Renze,

Keep the faith and think positive thoughts. I will fill the lake before Christmas. Say it over and over again, all day long. I do. hahahaha

Eddie

 

[gemini5362]

Is that a fish "habitrail"? or a fishing lure catcher?

I had a friend of mine that was an avid fisherman. He made fishing habitrail out of black pvc pipes. He started with two inch pipes and bored holes through that for 1.5 inch pipe then bored holes through the 1.5 inch for 1 inch etc etc down to 1/2 inch. he tried them out on dry land to see how bad they would catch his lures. He found out that the pvc pipe would just turn when a lure caught it and would not snag his lures at all.

 

[Renze]

Renze,

Keep the faith and think positive thoughts. I will fill the lake before Christmas. Say it over and over again, all day long. I do. hahahaha

Eddie

Eddie, i didnt mean to joke about the progress you are making, it's just that if you have the pond filled, it will take some serious rain to overflow the pond over the spillway... I thought the spillway was only for calamity control when that levelling pipe you installed, cannot take care of the amount of water ??

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Renze,

You are exactly right.

I'm still unsure about the spillway and overall design. It's one of those things that I hope to be able to adjust as I get closer to being full and hopefull see what happens during some heavy rains. The pipe overflow will handle the first few inches of water, but I haven't decided how much. I figure that every inch of water is around 120,000 gallons.

Most rains should give me a few inches of water depth that I want to go through the 6 inch pipe. Once water starts flowing through the spillway, I'm loosing fish and causing erosion. Even worse, I could be creating a hazard. So in my mind, the spillway should be only for those times I really need it.

It's unfinished, but it's built in such a way that I can modify it, raise it or lower it. Until I have a few storms come through, I just don't know what will happen.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Here's a few pictures I took of the spillway an hour ago. It's 20 feet wide and over 2 feet tall.

The bermuda grass is coming in and should be pretty thick by spring. Hopefully it will be secure enough to hold when I need it.

You can see how flat the slope is at it drains to the creek. It's not flat, but almost!!!!

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

The water level is rising everyday, but it's a very small amount. I see the water covering my islands and working it's way up my stumps. The more water I get, the slower the changes, but it's happening.

I'm using the log in these pictures to measure my progress. The first picture shows the level after I'd been pumping water for a bit with the old, leaky 4 inch corugated pipe. It's the only picture that I have to show the log.

The second picture was taken today and shows how much the water has climbed up the log.

I'll take pics from this same location every week and post the pictures as an ongoing progress report. Hopefully those of you who are following this thread will find it as interesting as I do.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

This is turning into the thread that will never go away!!! hahahaha

Happy Thanksgiving and thank you to everyone who's helped with your advice.

Here's a few pics of what Lake Marabou looks like today.

Eddie & Steph