Got Watering Hole?

lakngulf · Oct 30, 2013

Built a small hole to catch some water in the middle of a pasture that I am trying to improve. Will fill only with the flow of rainwater, but it should hold a good bit.

Used my mighty "little bulldozier" to build it. Granted the top layer was sandy loam and easy to dig, but this little machine will move some dirt.

oosik · Oct 30, 2013

That's a good sized hole for anybody to dig. It will definitely hold a lot of water. The only thing I would suggest - if you ran into any clay or clay type soil, it would help the pond hold water if you could spread it around on the bottom.

lakngulf · Nov 4, 2013

oosik said:
That's a good sized hole for anybody to dig. It will definitely hold a lot of water. The only thing I would suggest - if you ran into any clay or clay type soil, it would help the pond hold water if you could spread it around on the bottom.

I did hit some clay-like soil but did not spread it. Ideally I get back up there and dig a little deeper. I would like to hit some firmer soil. The ease of digging might not bode well for holding water, and I think the deeper I can go the better.

EddieWalker · Nov 4, 2013

Looks great!!!!

Is it for animals to drink from? The deeper you go, the longer it will take to evaporate.

Eddie

kenmac · Nov 4, 2013

I think most of the ponds in this area (maybe other areas as well) are clay lined to keep water from seeping through the soft soil. Hard to tell from the pics,but Looks like it will be a nice size pond

lakngulf · Nov 5, 2013

I spent another couple of hours on the water hole today to make it deeper. Tractor included for comparison.

kenmac · Nov 5, 2013

It's looking good. Better hurry. We haven't had any rain in a week or so. We are due.

lakngulf · Nov 6, 2013

kenmac said:
It's looking good. Better hurry. We haven't had any rain in a week or so. We are due.

I would be GLAD to test it out. We need some rain. Where in the "Heart of Dixie" are you located?

kenmac · Nov 6, 2013

lakngulf said:
Where in the "Heart of Dixie" are you located?

I live in Jefferson co . Just north of B'ham. Have some property in Blount co. On the Locust fork river. When the kids were young, we spent some time in your area at wind creek State park

lakngulf · Nov 8, 2013

The land is now open and sandy, but I am hoping the wildlife like the idea of some water near the food plot. The picture below shows an aerial of the pasture/woods where I dug the water hole (outlined in yellow). I have many sawtooth oaks and pear trees planted in this pasture, so an added feature would be water for some of these trees if needed (especially the pear trees which are nearby. There is water in the area. The land outlined in lime has several year round springs with running water, so someday I may figure a plan to continuously fill the new water hole.

Also, I am hoping to harvest some of the large hardwoods in and around the spring, and let the limbs and some hinge cutting create a thick sanctuary in that area.