Silt Happens!

[jinman]

You can't say I don't know what it's like in the trenches. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Does anyone recognize the hillside in the background? That's where we had our TBN fishfry last year. A drought sure makes the place look different, doesn't it?

 

[jinman]

And this is how you carry two buckets-full at one time. The bucket holds a little over 1/3 yard. This may not be 2/3 yard, but it ain't far from it. I really do like this 16LA loader. Others might be just as good, but this is just the one I know. It sure has performed well for me.

Oh yes... I grease it twice a day when I'm doing work like this. I want it to keep working good for a long time. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

Here is a shot across the pond with the sloping peninsula in the middle. When I finish my dirtwork, I'll put rocks all over this part of the peninsula and give a good structure for fish. That way we can cast out over this area and see if we can entice a hungry bass to take a bite. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I still have lots of work to do around the pond, but I've almost completed all my dirt work. I know my wife is ready for me to find another project to work on for awhile. She's tired of being a "tractor widow." /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[scott_vt]

Wow Jim,
Those series of pictures are impressive!!! Your machine looks like its doin some serious work!!! I would have to say your testing the outer limits there /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I would say you will need to be a good swimmer to surface dive and touch bottom when your done /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

scotty

 

[Bird]

That just looks like too much fun for one man. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Jim

I was wondering about your pond. Are you getting any water in it? Are you getting any rain???? I foget how the overflow worked. How are you gonna handle that?

One of my biggest headaches is keeping the water out!!!

Your pond is looking really nice. I'm enjoying your posts and following along with your progress. I'm especially interested in how you finish it off!!!

Have you ever read the posts on www.pondboss.com?

There's allot of good pond building and maintaining advice there like on this site. No tractor stuff, but some really good stuff on types of fish and habitat.

You have everything you need in the lake to stock your pond, but if I remember corectly, some of those fish would be better than others for stocking. Are you gonna stock your pond from the lake??

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Cliff_Johns]

That third from the last photo looks like you're stuck farther in the mud than one would think possible. You can't see the trench from that angle. That's a poster child photo for stuck and you aren't even stuck.

Great photos.

Cliff

 

[PineRidge]

Looks like a massive project for any one person with the help of any one tractor. But seat time is always good time I reckon. Great pictures Jim.

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I was wondering about your pond. Are you getting any water in it? Are you getting any rain???? I foget how the overflow worked. How are you gonna handle that? )</font>

Eddie: I guess I'm "lucky" with not having to worry about rain. We've had a little less than 2" total over the last 30 days and only once did I have to deal with any water pooling in the pond. I just dug a deep hole and let the water drain into it. I used the bucket like a big dipper and hauled out the water. THe only bad part of that was I got clay mud caked solid between the rear tires and fenders. It took me over an hour of digging just to get the tires clear and another hour of digging a few days later to get the dried clay out of the tractor. If it's that muddy again, I'll just use a trash pump to drain the pool and postpone digging. I don't want to repeat that waste of time cleaning caked mud off my tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

The overflow is a channel between this pond and the next one. I had a small culvert that wasn't enough and I'm taking it out. I'll just make a cut and fill it with small football/basketball sized rocks. Kathy has plenty of those on her place just waiting for me to collect. I'm waiting for the time when I can't work down in the pond to start the rock work. With a little rain, the bigger rocks will be easier to pop out of the ground too. Sooner or later, we'll surely get some significant rain. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Cliff: In a way I feel "stuck" whether I am or not. I really should have rented a bigger tractor to do this finish work, but I just have not had the time to be able to take two or three days off and do the work. I'm just far enough out from the Dallas-Fort Worth area that getting equipment delivered is about as much as the rental or even slightly more. The nearest rental place is almost 50 miles away. The place with all the equipment I need is 70 miles away. So I kind of feel "stuck" doing this with my tractor even though at times I feel like I'm emptying the ocean with a teacup. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif The only advantage I have is I can work two hours or 10 hours. Anytime I have some time, I can jump on the tractor and do some work. The other advantage is I can do exactly what I want with the spoils as I dig them out. I've been dumping them on the back side of the dam to make it a little wider and widen my road across the dam. My tractor is just the right size for doing these jobs, so it has both advantages and disadvantages to be using a smaller machine. As PineRidge pointed out, it is a heck of a lot of seat time. I know I have at least 200 hours of seat time for this project. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif But that includes all the brush clearing, road building, and terrace building. My tractor has been like a Swiss Army Knife in performing so many different jobs. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm attaching another picture that shows some of my terracing. It's hard to see many details because there isn't enough contrast, but you can see that they are all flat. Considering the tops of these areas were 3' to 4' clay mud balls when the track loader finished, I've made good progress at getting things under control here. So all my time hasn't been spent digging down the sides of the pond. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[zipp669]

Congrats Jinman on your project.
A couple things I have read regarding your concern with silt entering the pond when done.

You stated one to control the dirt is to plant a nurse crop of wheat. excellent. You can also throw in some oats, rye & annual rye. I assume you will throw in your permanent grasses also. I will not recommend what to throw in for a perm grass as you stated something earlier and I have no idea of your soils in Texas.
Something you can do to prevent silt entering your big bathtub is to line it with around the peremiter, or at least where the majority of the water enters, with strips of either 4' or 8' wide wood excelsior mat. the 4' roll is 180' long & the 8' is 90' long.
this product is used for erosion control to help keep dirt out of where you do not want it. It looks like ramen noodles in a mat form between a plastic netting.
you can prep your soil like you were to seed, plant your seed and then right b4 the pond to keep the silt out, unroll this and staple it down. usually use 6x6x2" staples.
when it rains this 3/4' thick mat will hold onto the silt and it will build up behind it.
you would not have to cover all the ground. just for this purpose, you have a 40' gully that funnels water in. the gully is 12' wide. you can just take a 4' piece the width of the gully and staple it at the bottom. then do another piece about 20' up from there.
hope this helps & hope I did'nt ramble