Creating a Lake

[Cliff_Johns]

That must have made an interesting noise as it came apart. That's a pretty dramatic break.
Cliff

 

[EddieWalker]

Now it's time to put the rake back on. I don't know how everyone else does it, but the only way I've figured it out is to use my front bucket.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Cliff,

Just running the dozer makes more noises than I can keep up with. Taking out brush, moving piles with the rake and just about anything else just adds to it. Ear plugs are a must!!

The pic is of it back together and ready for work.

Eddie

 

[jinman]

Eddie, you are a credit to the term, self-sufficiency. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I know it was a lot of hard work making that repair, but you always seem to keep a cool head and think about the process as what steps need to be done to accomplish something rather than how hard each of those steps are.

Using the tractor's bucket to hold the rake in position on the dozer just makes good sense. That is a beast of a rake and your dad seems to really know what he is doing with it. I'm really looking forward to seeing your lake completed.

 

[Louisiana_John]

I read all these post from stat to Finnish. Great job it make me want to start another pond. Eddie we are just about neighbors. I live just across the TX/LA line. I finished my pond three years ago here are some pics after I finished I planted grass and had chopped hay put down for soil control. My dam is right at 100 yards long. My water is around 8' at the pier. And 16' deep in the water on the far bank across the pond. I was building my pond with my dozer I had at the time a D6C. While I was working on the pond I was also building my house. I would have contactors come and buy dirt from me. I would trade for road rock. Once my road was rocked we would get cash. I had one contractor come and want all the dirt I would sell him. He hauled out of here for two years on and off. He bought around 100,000 cubic yards. So I made my pond deeper and larger. I just took me longer to build. It was also a pain keeping the hole pumped out. The finished pond is around 4 acres.
Eddie the dirt you have in your shooting lanes looks just like my dirt it is a sandy clay that compacts like a brick. I rolled dirt in thin when I was raising my dam. It compacted great just using the dozer. When you do your final grade on your dam make a higher grade in the canter to allow for settling. Just have it bow up. Try to run you spillway through uncut ground like trees to the side of your dam. Build a berm to keep the water from running on the new dirt behind the dam. I have two 4" drainpipes that maintain my level and then my spill way is one foot above my drainpipe. I have my pipes set at the bottom of my dam above the core. They 90 back up to the pond with siphon breaks. I can drain the pond with the same pipes if needed.
[image]

[/image]
[image]

[/image]
John

 

[EddieWalker]

Jim,

Thanks. It's just that I have no choice, fix it and keep going.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

John,

Nice looking lake. Thanks for posting the pics. Wish I had enough dirt to sell, but I have plans for all of what I have.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

The open area is a few acres now, maybe four. Getting bigger every day and burning non stop. The small brush burns better than the logs, but neither are burning great.

The burn pile is probably close to a quarter acre in size.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

The dozer is running strong. The trees are fighting back and causing damage to different parts, but so far, nothing major.

Today we lost a fitting for a hose. Just the fitting, so it's only a few bucks to replace, but travel time will take an hour.

The pic is an area that will become my peninsula and picnic area.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

This gives you a good idea of the technique we're using.

Dad clears out the brush and small trees with the dozer. He leaves the larger ones for me with the backhoe.

Some trees I can get out in a few minutes, others take as much as half an hour to get out.

This picture was taken this morning when I was supposed to be rebuilding a cylinder on the backhoe, but I wanted to see how Dad was doing. In the morning I'll take out the trees in this picture.

Eddie

 

[JayDavis]

Looks good, Eddie. I am up in the Mount Pleasant, TX area myself. I wish I had a bulldozer to play around with. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I have about 10 acres of trees I'd like to clear off. It used to be pine, but when they were cut, all sorts of stuff like sasafras sprung up like wild fire.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Jay,

Sounds like we're neighbors. I'm actuall right next to Winona, but have a Tyler mailing address.

It's truly amazing how fast the trees will spring up after the land has been cleared. For me, it's the sweet gums, but also oaks and pines. In a year, the sweet gums will be taller than I am. Even when I take out a tree, if I let it lay there, it will start growing again. Just amazing.

Eddie

 

[JayDavis]

You are about 60 miles away as the crow flies. I live north of Mount Pleasant on FM 1402 (aka Harts Bluff road).

Your land clearing pictures look good. All I've got is a 90hp tractor, a chainsaw, and a machete. A bulldozer would be a fun toy. The last time we had one out here we got it to jump BOTH of it's tracks and blew out one side's track tensioner system. Grease was everywhere.... Did I mention it was a dozer my dad borrowed from work? They had to get a large crew out here just to retreive it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Only the trees on the left still have to come out for the lake. Probably a little over an acre left. Then there's the cleaning up of hte burn pile. This is turning into the hardest part of the whole project. Burning the trees and brush green.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Every morning it's the same thing. Start half a dozen new fires in the pile and punch up the pile. We're adding more material to the pile than we're burning.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Here's a picture of me in front of a root ball to a cotton wood. This is a pretty good sized one, but not the largest. Most of the dirt falls off of the roots when the tree is pushed to the fire. I doubt I'll ever burn all the roots in the fire, which is fine, because I'll use them for structure in the lake when it's done.

Eddie

 

[Farwell]

Eddie,
That is one serious root ball. At least 3 times the size of any that I have had to deal with on my property.
I can only burn in the late Winter due to all the pine needles on the property surrounding mine. My burn permit does not allow me to burn root balls so I dig a pit, put them below grade out of site, stack the brush and trunks on top just in case the fire chief inspects the pile.
Love your posts.
Farwell

 

[EddieWalker]

Farwell,

No permits here, and only a few rules that I've pieced together about burning.

Not too close to a highway, but the distance isn't clear or enforced very often.

There was a burn ban for a short period of time for my county during the summer, but it wasn't very long. The counties closer to Dallas are still under a ban, but they are also allot drying areas.

One of the things about Texas that really attracted me to moving here and building the RV Park was the freedom I had to build without any government interferance.

Eddie

 

[8NTX]

We're still under a burn ban in Henderson County (right next to Smith County where you are). My burn piles are starting to get big. And our lake is down 3.5 feet. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Louisiana_John]

What I do when my piles get a lot of dirt and get were they don't push together well anymore. I will state a new one near by. Usually after a few days get a hot spot in a new pile. Take the other one apart and add to new one. The old stuff should be dryer. Move to the side of were you are going to push for the levy dirt. When done do like you said push in hole for structure. If the large piles are hard to maintain sometimes I will halfway lib large trees so I can get a tight pile. I always wish I had a hoe with a thumb with I am building big piles. These are just my thoughts.
John