Instant Pond

[bindian]

Perfect age to train them right!!!!!

You are so right Eddie. She is a little sponge right now.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Almost got rained out Saturday. We got 1/2 inch around 2 pm, so I lost 3 hours of daylight. I was able to finish moving all the old top soil that was piled in the way of the new dam. I got the clay core finished today and started adding loam for slopes. I will try to get a slope photo tomorrow. I work tomorrow night to have off Wed. night, so no work tomorrow. If it doesn't rain, I will have 5 days over Thanksgiving to play, eh........I mean work on the dam(s).

The new dam is off at a 45 degree angle from the old dam. It is behind the old dam in the photo. It will pick up two more wet weather streams that have been going behind the old dam.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

The new dam will end about 25 feet from this gate. It is the back of my property and goes to a private road. I plan on putting in facilities for a house trailer and rent it to my friend, who has his 5th wheel trailer by my barn.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Looking good as usual. Have fun.

 

[bindian]

Looking good as usual. Have fun.

Red Okie,
Thanks! Oh you have no idea how much fun. Packing down the new dam, not so much. Digging out the old dam..................tons. I am chompin' at the bit when it rains or I have to work on days full of sunshine.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all.:thumbsup: No turkey here today. I got catered ribs, brisket, and sausage, along with baked potato casserole. So no cooking either. Yippee!

On a sadder note...........we got 1.25 inches of rain yesterday, so no pond or dam work yesterday. But I did get these photos...........
The new dam will go to where the CAT is sitting on the old dam, hidden in the shade. Everything to the left of the CAT will be gone, so the pond will be about 2-3 times larger.

In this photo, I'm standing right behind the CAT looking at the new half of the dam. The ramp (with green rye grass) will be removed when I start the second half of the dam, after I remove the island.

On a happier note.......the sunshine should let me get back to work this sometime this morning. I get to play, I mean work the CAT and tractor until Luke gets home..............then it will be time to play..............who can eat the most barbque!
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

I continued removing the dam today. I got stuck 3 times, once while loaded. The Mahindra can pull the truck when it is empty by itself. But when loaded, I need another person to help. The ground was drive enough all afternoon. I spent a lot of time this morning mucking out the mud where I wanted to build up the new dam. Tomorrow is suppose to be sunny all day. Digging all day will be fun.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

These guys want their pond back.

These two photos show dam removal progress.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

My friend Brady came out to check my progress.

Brady took a great photo of the CAT dumping dirt.

hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Back on the 27th, I hauled in dirt and leveled behind the dam. The redish dirt in the center of the photo is the clay core, waiting for the second dam section to mate to it.

Still digging dam out and digging below grade. Low spot near the water will go down another 4 feet to depth.

hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

I also went ahead and took out the tempoary ramp culvert.

...............and played with the Mahindra while filling in where the culvert was.

hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Well, it happened again. Just like back in 2012 when I first dug the pond, rain filled the pond before the dam was finished. Glad I took my time with the Mahindra and packed every inch of the new dam. 5 inches of rain yesterday filled the pond. I woke up and saw the water level and became scared. I was afraid I had made a mistake and it was over the private road at the corner of my property. But when looked at up close, was 3 foot lower than the road.

I am really thankful to the Lord for filling the pond at this time. I can now stake and flag around the new shoreline when the water level drops to just at the full level culvert. I won't have to bring out and use the water hose level to check the water line at full water elevation.

hugs, Brandi

 

[PAGUY]

Brandi, you really increased the size of your original pond. The ducks are going to be so happy. :laughing:

PAGUY

 

[bindian]

Brandi, you really increased the size of your original pond. The ducks are going to be so happy. :laughing:

PAGUY

PAGUY,
Yep............the ducks are so happy. But it's gonna get deeper too.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

Without going back and trying to find it, how big where the original two ponds and how big will the new pond be?

I went to Welcome to FindLotSize.com to figure out that my pond is 4.52 acres. It's really easy to use.

 

[bindian]

Without going back and trying to find it, how big where the original two ponds and how big will the new pond be?

I went to Welcome to FindLotSize.com to figure out that my pond is 4.52 acres. It's really easy to use.

Eddie,
Here is a photo from yesterday of the small pond. It is about 30x70 feet. I built it in 2009.

The island pond is my second pond. Built in 2012 and dug out deeper in 2013. This is the pond I am working on enlarging now. Basically, I have removed the right half of the C shaped dam and am making a straight dam starting just above where the waterpump is. At the tall clump of grass. This is where the end of the bulkhead is for the tree that you can see it's shade in the upper left corner. The "new" straight section of dam is maybe........250 feet. When finished, the pond will be a huge triangle.

In this photo you can see the island and just a little of the old dam that needs to be removed. It has about 30 feet more needing removed. Right now it is about 10-11 feet deep just right of the island. About 8-9 feet deep just off of the end of the dam that will be removed and around 2-3 feet deep along the straight dam. Up in the corner it is about a foot deep. Here it is empty.

I haven't any clue as to the size. I haven't stepped off any measurements yet. I do know the old C shaped dam was about 300 feet long. I'm guessing when finsihed I will have about 450 feet of dam.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks Brandi. I thought you where combining both ponds. Now I understand what you are doing.

 

[jimmyj]

Looks awesome. I can't wait to see what you make this into in about another 5 years ha ha ha Seriously, it's just great, you must be pretty happy.

 

[bindian]

Thanks Brandi. I thought you where combining both ponds. Now I understand what you are doing.

No problem Eddie. The small pond is inside the curve of the driveway and the island pond is just below and outside the curve of the driveway.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Looks awesome. I can't wait to see what you make this into in about another 5 years ha ha ha Seriously, it's just great, you must be pretty happy.

Hahaha...in 5 years I might be "remodeling" it again. Thanks. I am happy. But the water level is a little high and puts water on the neighbor's low spot. I may have to notch out the bottom of the overflow pipe. Water is still flowing into the pond from 4 different routes, so I wait. I have flagged stakes ready to install along the waterline when water quits flowing out the full level culvert, for further reference.
hugs, Brandi