Digging pond out

[KenBike]

I expanded my pond 20 years ago, used two dump trucks, a dozer, and a 28000 lb excavator.
Hauled about 150 loads of black muck to a low area that took a few years to dry out and today grows great grass and trees.
Hauled another 150 loads of clay to an area to level out to put up a 45 x 90 horse barn.
Math is 300 loads at average of 14 tons. Each load equals about 9.5 cubic yards or close to 2850 cubic yards. If tried to move with my tractor L6060 that would have been 3500 loads.

If you are moving a lot of dirt you need big stuff to dig and move. My brother is a operator and said you always bring the biggest equipment that can fit on the job!

 

[lej]

It seems to hold water. What I have dug so far is totally full. Which digging in water seems to be a lot harder because can’t see what you’re doing.

 

[lej]

I expanded my pond 20 years ago, used two dump trucks, a dozer, and a 28000 lb excavator.
Hauled about 150 loads of black muck to a low area that took a few years to dry out and today grows great grass and trees.
Hauled another 150 loads of clay to an area to level out to put up a 45 x 90 horse barn.
Math is 300 loads at average of 14 tons. Each load equals about 9.5 cubic yards or close to 2850 cubic yards. If tried to move with my tractor L6060 that would have been 3500 loads.

If you are moving a lot of dirt you need big stuff to dig and move. My brother is an operator and said you always bring the biggest equipment that can fit on the job!

I don’t have that at my disposal but would sure be nice.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I hired out dump trucks for on site work when I did mine. 15 yard trucks and averaged about 4-6 loads per hour per truck. I used one for a little over a week and a 2nd when I decided I needed to hurry before the rain got there. One charged me $60/ hour and one charged me $80/ hour if I'm remembering correctly. The excavator I used had a 1 yard bucket so I could load the trucks pretty quickly. It seems like a little hole generates about 10 times the dirt you would expect.

 

[EddieWalker]

After spending so much time moving dirt out of my small pond, I bought a cheap dump truck to help move dirt out of my big pond. It's only 5 yards, but that's five times more then I can carry with the loader!!! I paid $3,000 for it since it's not street legal and pretty rough.

I don't know how many yards I've moved with it, but it adds up pretty quickly. On a good day, I think I've done 200 yards. Most of the time I just have a few hours, so it's a lot less than that.

I haven't started it in years. It's a big block gas engine. When I get round to moving a bunch of dirt to build up the pad for my barn addition, and when I build my workshop, I'll buy a new carburetor and battery for it and get it going again. After that I'll sell it.

 

[lej]

I hired out dump trucks for on site work when I did mine. 15 yard trucks and averaged about 4-6 loads per hour per truck. I used one for a little over a week and a 2nd when I decided I needed to hurry before the rain got there. One charged me $60/ hour and one charged me $80/ hour if I'm remembering correctly. The excavator I used had a 1 yard bucket so I could load the trucks pretty quickly. It seems like a little hole generates about 10 times the dirt you would expect.

You are so right, what little I have dug gave me a heck of a lot to get rid of. Really surprising. The excavator I have has a 2’ bucket.

 

[deezler]

You are so right, what little I have dug gave me a heck of a lot to get rid of. Really surprising. The excavator I have has a 2’ bucket.

Yeah its crazy. Plus "fluffed" or expanded dirt has anywhere from 20 to 80% more volume after you dig it out of the compacted ground.

How much does soil expand when excavated?
AI Overview
Soil expansion when excavated, also called bulking, can range from 15% to 80% or more, depending on the soil type, moisture content, and the amount of rock. For example, light soils might swell 15-25%, while compacted clays can expand 20-40%, and blasted rock can swell 40-80% or more. This expansion is due to the creation of voids and air pockets when the soil is disturbed from its natural, in-place state.

Expansion by soil type

• Clay: 20-40%
• Clayey gravel: 50-60% when wet
• Gravel: 20-30%
• Rock: 40-80% (Blasted rock can be as high as 85-90%)
• Sand: 20-30%