Instant Pond

[rustyshakelford]

Brett,
How much is that Excavator costing you, if you don't mind me asking?
hugs, Brandi

I'm paying $1950 for the week delivered. He has nice machines. I wish I could've gotten some of the rain. It's to dry over here and can't hardly see when on the dozer.

Brett

 

[bindian]

I'm paying $1950 for the week delivered. He has nice machines. I wish I could've gotten some of the rain. It's to dry over here and can't hardly see when on the dozer.

Brett

Brett,
That sounds like a good rate for a week. I know what you mean about it being dry. I was wetting down the route I drove to the spoils pile from the water hose. I almost needed a dust mask!
hugs, Brandi

 

[rustyshakelford]

Brett,
That sounds like a good rate for a week. I know what you mean about it being dry. I was wetting down the route I drove to the spoils pile from the water hose. I almost needed a dust mask!
hugs, Brandi

Lol...I've got a box of them. Have to clean out air filters twice a day and washing out radiator tomorrow. Absolutely terrible. I'm looking forward to the rain and hopefully the burn burn gets lifted. I've got some great piles ready for fire!

On the hoe, you can move a lot of dirt quick. It'll dig down about 20'. It loves the diesel though. You could probably help cover the rental by digging neighbors stumps if you have some that need it. I think you'd run out of room for dirt if you just used it on your place for 40 hrs. I know I have my hands full trying to keep up by myself.

Brett

 

[bindian]

Looks really good, bindian! I'm sure Booger's "supervision" was most welcome too!

Booger is the best tractor dog ever. He is beginning to not move and I will have to go around him with the tractor. He is getting old, so I need a youngster he can train to take his place as tractor dog.
hugs, Brandi

 

[NS Gearhead]

I just read this from page one. What a great job you're doing, and beautiful property you have. I'm jealous of your soil and toys you get to play with.

 

[bindian]

I just read this from page one. What a great job you're doing, and beautiful property you have. I'm jealous of your soil and toys you get to play with.

Thanks NS Gearhead.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Here's a photo of Booger dranking out of the pond yesterday afternoon. Last week I threw in all the Aquashade pond dye I had and gave it a greenish color. There is some pollen on the water surface also.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Western]

Looks great Brandi!! I guess now you have "green fish" too

 

[bindian]

Looks great Brandi!! I guess now you have "green fish" too

No fish in it yet Dennis. The ready to catch and eat cats are in my older, smaller pond.
hugs, Brandi

 

[aginn]

I have also just finished reading this from start to finish. It was a lot of fun to watch this all happen. And reading the story is a little like sharing the enjoyment of digging the pond.
I started one of my own this summer. I will post the pics of what all was done in a few days. I would have liked to have finished it this year but, alas, wasn't in the cards. I live near a lake and this entire valley is an old floodplain. Soil is the greasiest clay you can imagine. And backing out of the hole with a full bucket is a job in its own right. Next summer I will have the backhoe for my L3200 and will expand what was started. The pond that now exists turned out great so getting the hoe is now on my wife's list as well as my own. I think she just wanted to watch me suffer without it so I wouldn't get too spoiled. Here is one of many photos of the first phase of our little project. At the end of what you can see is the duck island. Hoping to finish another 1/2 acre of pond beyond the end of this view.
Your pond as well as Mr. Walkers and a few others got us to decide to do it and we have enjoyed the effort so far. Glad yours worked out well for you and thanks for a great read.

:thumbsup:

 

[bindian]

I have also just finished reading this from start to finish. It was a lot of fun to watch this all happen. And reading the story is a little like sharing the enjoyment of digging the pond.
I started one of my own this summer. I will post the pics of what all was done in a few days. I would have liked to have finished it this year but, alas, wasn't in the cards. I live near a lake and this entire valley is an old floodplain. Soil is the greasiest clay you can imagine. And backing out of the hole with a full bucket is a job in its own right. Next summer I will have the backhoe for my L3200 and will expand what was started. The pond that now exists turned out great so getting the hoe is now on my wife's list as well as my own. I think she just wanted to watch me suffer without it so I wouldn't get too spoiled. Here is one of many photos of the first phase of our little project.View attachment 339697View attachment 339698 At the end of what you can see is the duck island. Hoping to finish another 1/2 acre of pond beyond the end of this view.
Your pond as well as Mr. Walkers and a few others got us to decide to do it and we have enjoyed the effort so far. Glad yours worked out well for you and thanks for a great read.

:thumbsup:

Aginn,
I'm glad you had were entertained reading my thread and I feel good that my thread (I have another one titled.........I finally started my pond) helped Y'all decide to put a pond it. Your pond is looking beautiful as it is now. When will you be getting your BH? How about a photo of your tractor? How deep will it be? How deep is it now?
hugs, Brandi

 

[aginn]

The pond is now only about 8 feet deep, but I will need to drain it next year so I can get in it and use the hoe to dig and remove the rest. The clays that are down there make it impossible to go any further with the FEL. And it goes around the island at the end of the photo. We spent most of this year clearing brush and trees so that the ground was clean for digging the pond. And truth be known, I really wanted the hoe instead of digging it all with the FEL. I did enough digging so my wife would see what she could get by ok'ing the hoe purchase. She loves it so new toys are in the works.
So far this tractor has made cleanup a breeze. The grapple on the bucket makes it very versatile. I would recommend it for anyone that does not have a quick change bucket, that yearly has massive cleanup on their property. I am near 60 now and the constant on and off of the tractor was making it less enjoyable every year. Now I rarely have to get off to do the cleanup. And as you can see, it makes gathering firewood very easy as well. All but 3 cuts on each log can now be made with my wood off the ground which makes it easier on the back.:cloud9:

 

[bindian]

Aginn,
What do you have on back of the tractor for counterweight for that huge log? Yes, grapples are worth their weight in gold as we grow older.
hugs, Brandi

 

[aginn]

All that was on it was my flail. The log came from 30 feet away. So I just kept it low to move it to where it is in the pic. The only time it got elevated was to cut it.
We has one week of rain here and my burn piles were soaked. 6 inches of rain in a week that came from every direction. A 15 by 20 tarp on each pile was almost useless. Oh well. Got half of the piles gone. I will pick through them for next year and plastic them off a bit better. I had 3 piles to burn , all about that size. That is a 15x20 tarp on it for reference.
And there is my buddy Henry. He goes to work with me every day. He is either my best bud or he is afraid of missing a meal. I won't ask him which it is.

 

[bindian]

Here is what 6 inches of rain in 24 hours does.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

I got a few sprinkles out today on the Big RED Beast. But I kept going. I had put out more rye grass seed, then finished grading the dam's shoreline and knocking down the crown where I had not had a chance, with my grader blade on the BH bucket. Then I put out more rye grass seed and drug the drag harrow over it. I am glad I bought that drag harrow on credit at half price. It is worth it's weight in gold, as you can see by the finished product, below.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

That drag sure makes your dirt look nice!!!!!

Have you used it in areas with brush, branches or just stuff growing? I'm curious if it holds stuff like in it?

Eddie

 

[bindian]

That drag sure makes your dirt look nice!!!!!

Have you used it in areas with brush, branches or just stuff growing? I'm curious if it holds stuff like in it?

Eddie

Eddie,
Thanks Eddie. It really did a good job. I had the long teeth down and digging in, so it picked up a lot of debris. Turning (hanging half way up in the air) around on the high side of the pond caught a lot of pine limbs and needles.

It can be reversed for less of a "bite" or flipped over for just easy leveling. So there are 4 levels of bite adjustments on it. I first thought I would need to hang it from the BH with the boom hanging to the side on the bank to get down to the water. Which I didn't want to do on the slope. But it worked fine dragging from the corner hook on the loader bucket.

You can see a couple more photos and more talk about it here... http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/277658-amazing-find-drag-harrow.html
hugs, Brandi

 

[tractorshopper]

I did the exact same thing this weekend. I have the smaller section 4'X4' drag harrows, and I pull it with my Rokon. When you reverse it and flip it over to maximum bite, it will loosen up hard clay pretty good. I didn't take picture, but I probably will once the grass comes up. Still hoping to do it one more time in the spring, but to actually sod it.

 

[bindian]

I did the exact same thing this weekend. I have the smaller section 4'X4' drag harrows, and I pull it with my Rokon. When you reverse it and flip it over to maximum bite, it will loosen up hard clay pretty good. I didn't take picture, but I probably will once the grass comes up. Still hoping to do it one more time in the spring, but to actually sod it.

Tractorshopper,
What is a Rokon?
hugs, Brandi