Creating a Lake

[meadowlarkponds]

Eddie,

The logs without the stumps attached will float and move. The ones with the stumps may float on the opposite end. One way I've used to prevent that is to just tie on a couple of bags of redi-mix. Works for me and easy to do.

 

[EddieWalker]

ML,

I've tried to cover the logs with logs with stumps. I've also pushed the tops of the trees into my underground islands a few feet to help secure them.

I'll add some sacks of the cheapest readi mix I can find. Might even ask for opens sacks or ones that might have alread set up.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[bmac]

Lookin' good, Eddie. Hard to tell from the pictures, but you aren't pushing the fill dirt around the trunks of those trees on the back side of the dam, are you? Don't have any personal experience but have heard on a number of occassions that that is a sure-fire way to kill a tree.

Can't believe you are letting something like 105 degree temperatures slow you down. You Wuss!

 

[patrick_g]

Trees on the back side of the dam are not a long term bonus as their roots will burrow through the dam toward the water. Whoopee for the tree. If the tree ever dies the roots will rot and the hollow tubes formed will act as pipes through your dam to drain it.

I have 10 ponds. Some came with tree infestations when I bought the place. A couple of these dams are leaking.

I'm considering my options, none are nice, but haven't picked one yet. If I cut large trees I will surely cause leaks through the root chanels If I don't I am just postponing problems as more and more roots are established.

Trees on the front (water side) of the dam are not nearly as bad.

I may have to just rip out the trees, drain the pond, and reseal the water side of the dam with clay and bentonite and in 4-5 years when the drought may end in these parts it will refill.

patrick_g

 

[meadowlarkponds]

Patrick,

You are so right. When renovating an old pond, I found tree roots from pine trees located well off the back side of the dam. They were causing leaks in conjunction with animal tunnels. The only good solution was to take them out and rework the dam as you mentioned.

 

[EddieWalker]

Patrick,

The trees area concern and originally were not going to be so close to the dam. In fact, the dam was going to be about a quarter of the size it turned out to be. I just kept making it bigger and bigger until I just looked right. This is totally my perspective, but the size of the dam gives it a look that I really like.

The trees that were going to be on the back of the dam are long gone. But I made the dam so much bigger, that it's on top of the side of the trees. One side of the tree has a dam on it. The other side is left untouched.

The vast majority of the trees are sweetgums, which in my experience are about impossible to kill. Meadowlark was here and he told me they will probably all die in a few years. I'm not conviced they will, but he knows allot more than I do. It's one of those things I'm gonna take a wait and see aproach.

The roots are a concern. I might be just stuborn here, but the distance from the trunk to the lake is over 50 feet at the closest. To me, that just seems too far for the roots to travel when there's no eveidence of them doing that.

Again, this is another wait and see issue.

The log pile is cleaned up and all the mixed soil, soot and burn pile remains is gone. Probably close to a thousand yards. Now my dad and I are hauling clean fill to widen the dam to twice it's current thickness, then build up the picnic area and side slopes.

Fuel is my biggest expense. Today I bought 200 gallons of farm diesel for $2.41 a gallon. The picture is of my fuel trailer filling up my backhoe.

Eddie

 

[jinman]

Fuel is my biggest expense. Today I bought 200 gallons of farm diesel for $2.41 a gallon. The picture is of my fuel trailer filling up my backhoe.

Eddie, that looks like two saddle tanks off a semi. Is it?

 

[john_bud]

Fuel is my biggest expense. Today I bought 200 gallons of farm diesel for $2.41 a gallon. The picture is of my fuel trailer filling up my backhoe.

Eddie

Eddie, How long does that 200 gal last? Can't be much more that 40 -50 hours of work?

jb

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Jim,

Yes, I got the tanks for free from a tennent I used to have. He worked on big rigs and had a collection of damaged tanks. These two had damaged threads for the caps. On one tank I had an aluminum pipe welded to the fill hole to mount the pump. On the other side, I bought a racing type cap and bolted it on to fill from that side. The tanks are connected with two 3/4 inch hoses and balance themselves out.

John,

200 gallons lasts about a week if I'm running the dozer allot. Just an estimate, but I think the dozer uses about three gallons of diesel and hour. The backhoe goes just about a week on a tank of fuel and my little Century tractor just about goes forever.

My worse month was 6 tanks of fuel, or 1,200 gallons in one month.

Eddie

 

[john_bud]

1200 gal in one month! Ouch, that's gotta leave a mark on the old wallet. So, if the dozer goes 3 gal/hour and you used 1200 gal, that makes 400 hours of seat time in a month. I don't know if I'm sympathetic or jealous...

Question for you, how are you planning on keeping the water from turning into green soupy goo? I have a little duck pond that get water in the spring from snow melt, and it is a race to see if it drains out first or gets to solid green first. Green usually wins.

jb