Source for fake large boulders?

[ronjhall]

Larry
Finding artificial rocks to build a falls may not be the best way to approach your project. Most of the falls around my area are built with a liner to make the water flow where it’s wanted.
I have attached a picture of a pond with a waterfall that was built with a liner to get the water flow in the proper direction. I have more of the same pond. It has four different falls.
From your picture you may already have enough rock to complete a fall. In my area it is easy to find ledge rock to make the falls on top of the rocks you have. Your Bio shows you had a Case 580 D. It should be able to move some good size ledge rock with it.
With the height you have set up for your falls. I would be concerned about erosion at the bottom of the falls. That would be the main reason to use a liner. Then stack rock on top of the liner.
Another concern will be noise. Dropping 11,000 GPH 14’ will create a lot of noise. I hope there a no homes close by.
I can provide some more pictures of similar falls if they will help with you project.

 

[CTyler]

What kind of juice does it take to run that pump? Sounds like it could be spendy run. It would be pretty cool though!

 

[Larry_Van_Horn]

Harv: Seems as though you have some experience in this area. Have you done something similar?
Art: Yeah I have a bunch along the ends of my fields as well, but they are much too small, and round /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Ron: Nice falls. My water will only fall about 8' given that the wall extends 6' below the surface. Also the case that while the pump is 11,000 GPH that is at a zero head height. Once I pump the water up I figure that I will be much more around the 6,000 GPH range. Still a nice flow however. I am going to pull water from rather far away in the pond such that it generates circulation. I would love to find some more ledge like rock around here, but the local quarries have these blocks from blasting around here. If I could find a could of big slabs that would be ideal, particularly if I could cantalever them out a bit.

 

[art]

Got a big truck? We have plenty of big stone in our area! I bet some of the farmers will even load for you. We have to be less then two hours out. Not that a pickup will carry them but we have ample the size of a pickup box around.

 

[Larry_Van_Horn]

Art: thanks for the offer! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I can go around the corner one mile to the Hanson quarry and they will load flat stackable rock on my truck with a grapple excavator. My truck can haul about 7 tons at a time. Some loads I have only had 2 rocks, thankful they are only a mile away. The problem without a grapple excavator on my end is that I can't get them off!! Believe you me when you don't want to try and push them off the truck (even if you could) Danger Will Robinson Danger!!! The 62 tons that I did bring in beat the daylights out of the flatbed of my truck.
Lar

 

[LOUIE44]

ronjhall that is a very nice fall , i have a pond and wanted
something similar, but have a hard time gettin the water to
go over the rocks . how do you do it. i have liner with
rocks on top , would love to see more pic s of falls

 

[ronjhall]

LOUIE44
I did not build the pond and falls. The pictures were taken in Wixom, Michigan at a new housing development. The place where I shop for pond supplies supplied some of the equipment to make the pond. Its name is Pond Place. Click Here

To get that amount of water required a very large pump and large hose. If I remember it was 3 or 4" in diameter.

You can see some of my pond pictures when I built my pond a year ago. Click Here . I do not have a large waterfall. About 2500 GPH. If I had a pond like Larry's I would like to have that type of water flow.

I have attached another picture of most of the pond that I showed in the first post.

As nice as this pond looks it is very noisy. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Harv: Seems as though you have some experience in this area. Have you done something similar?)</font>

Morning Larry,

Here's some pictures of about six hundred pounds of Colorado boulders put together with stainless pins that is plumbed for a controlled water affect.

The principles are the same for your situation except you have a much larger palet.

I love water and rocks because the water changes the rocks from stones into jewels. The rocks I picked out for the fountain were chosen because of their shape. But when we got them wet it was almost like Cinderella came to the dance.

If you look through my pictures you'll see how I like to use chisels and a sandblaster to modify stones. I like to arrange them into unnatural positions just to make one do a double take.

Today I hope to finish a lamp on a gate post that has one stone as a base and another as the shade. I've never seen a stone lampshade before so I'm making one.

I woke up early this morning making a barrier that was made of stone and steel. It's for a stone yard. I figure it would be too kewel to have a thirty foot piece of steel across a driveway and have the counterweight (same priniciple as railroad crossing guard) a large stone.

What would be extra trick would be to have the end of the barrier rest in a groove cut into a matching rock on the other side of the driveway. And instead of using a padlock have a piece of steel that floats in and out of a hole in the rock to retain the barrier. To unlock one would need a strong magnet, something most thieves don't carry. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I've also thought that if I made it out of pipe when the barrier is in the open (up) position it could be a flag pole.

The yard has an artist who's real good at chiseling neat designs like addresses etc in flag stone. I've also thought it would be interesting to have him do a stop sign and we attach it to the middle of the barrier, just for effect you understand.

One of these days before I'm gone I want to make a tree from pipe and stone. Pipe sculpted and textured like the trunk and limbs with stones for leaf clusters. Of course I'd want to have the stone leaf cluster hollowed out so that it's a vase holding Moss Roses. I think it would be pretty.

If you cruise through the yahoo site check out the man on a horse picture. That's what happens when you allow an old man to play with blast resist, sandblaster, and countertop granite scraps.

 

[ronjhall]

harv
I like your project. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I start out with something that is your size water fountain. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Then with the wife’s help it ends up being a whole summer project. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[LOUIE44]

NICE POND, similar to one i built, don't you get alot of
algae with rocks on bottom or does that uv light take care
of the problem , i had quite alot of string algae in the summer