Instant Pond

   / Instant Pond
  • Thread Starter
#311  
Bindian,

Read the whole thread last night. (not to busy at work) All I can say is WOW!! :thumbsup:
When I see pictures on TBN it sure makes me want to move to a wetter region. I would kill for a pond. If I dug a hole, it would still be a hole next year and the next.:smiley_aafz:
You have done an awesome job...congrats

Cat Fever,
Thanks so much. Glad to hear from another pond fan! Sorry to hear you can only have a dry hole. When rain gets slack here, my ponds tend to imitate what your pond would do. That's why I dug the island pond down to 11 feet or so.
We have room in Tejas for you.
hugs, Brandi
 
   / Instant Pond
  • Thread Starter
#312  
Here is an overhead photo of the island. 7-4-15 Island Bird's Eye View.jpg
I rented a 50 foot boom lift to trim dead tree tops from the recent drought. With the Memorial weekend floods, both my ponds got major fertilizer washed into them. This fertilizer keeps blooming the algae. Right now I am pumping water from the pond and shooting it back into the pond. This really helped the smaller pond. The darker water is open water, while the lighter green is algae.

Looking at the island's right end, the tallest growth is the cypress tree. In the middle part of the island, the tallest growth is the oak tree. The left end's tallest growth is weeds. I'm not cutting it so the ducks will have more cover.
hugs, Brandi
 
   / Instant Pond #313  
Disappointed! For "instant pond" I was hoping to see a large dynamite explosion. :)
 
   / Instant Pond
  • Thread Starter
#315  
My first load of spoils for the dump truck came from digging out and capping the water line from the small pond. The line runs under the driveway. I never have used it, so it is capped at both ends now. 7-2-16 First Time CAT Loads Dumptruck.jpg
hugs, Brandi
 
   / Instant Pond
  • Thread Starter
#316  
Next step was taking out the huge Sweetgum tree and 3 Pine trees. 7-4-16 Last Two Pine Trees Down.jpg7-3-16 CAT Digging Up Huge Sweetgum Tree.jpg7-4-16 Last Pine Felled in the Pond.jpg
I dropped them all in the pond.
Luke and Brady brought the popcorn.7-4-16 Brady & Luke Chillin'.jpg

hugs, Brandi
 
   / Instant Pond
  • Thread Starter
#317  
Then I removed the 28 inch digging bucket and installed the 48 inch cleanout bucket. I love the bucket, as it has numerous 1.5 inch diameter holes on each side. I can drain without dumping the bucket! I found one bucket in Oregon and one in Mich. Each one cost just over a $1000 including shipping. 7-16-16 CAT Ready for Pond Cleanout.jpg7-15-16  Buckets 28 & 48 Inch.jpg

hugs, Brandi
 
   / Instant Pond
  • Thread Starter
#318  
I drained the pond half way down. But decided to drain it completely when I found hundreds of bullfrog tadpoles had whiskers. Yep, hundreds of mud catfish babies in both ponds. I will have to drain the small pond after I get this pond back full!

I starting digging and enlarging back in the upper corner. This was so I could get the dump truck in and load and not box myself into a corner. 7-16-16 Pond Cleanout Commencing.jpg7-17-16 CAT Slowly Filling Dumptruck.jpg

The ducks had to come check out my work. 7-16-16 All 18 Ducks Checking Out Progress.jpg
hugs, Brandi
 
   / Instant Pond
  • Thread Starter
#319  
Here is a photo of the roughed out corner. 9-5-16 Pond Corner Rough Slope.jpg

............and here is a photo of Luke and the Mahindra helping me get out of the silt. 9-5-16 Mahindra & Luke Anchoring CAT Recovery.jpg I was halfway down the bank, digging the silt at the base of the island and slide down into two foot of silt. I am so glad I pumped the pond down to silt. Anyway, when I stopped sliding, the bucket was over the end of the island. You can see the marks the bucket made. 9-5-16 CAT Bucket Marks On End Of Island.jpg I didn't grab the camera until I was half way up the bank. I was so shaken, Luke had me sit down while he grabbed the camera and a Gatorade for me.

I stepped out of the cab and onto the island. When the slide had stopped, silt was coming in the corner of the door frame. 9-5-16 Mud In & On CAT Door Frame.jpg

hugs, Brandi
 
   / Instant Pond
  • Thread Starter
#320  
So instead of going down a slippy slope again, I added dirt and made a perch for the CAT............all the way down the bank! 9-18-16 CAT On A Perch.jpg

Here is the bank almost finished. 9-17-16 Upper Bank Reslope Looking Good..jpg

Here is a photo of the bank completed. 9-23-16 Pond Bank Resloped.jpg
hugs, Brandi
 

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