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.
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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