The gully to pond project

[pacerron]

:laughing::laughing::thumbsup:

Ron, why not feed "cat" food?

Have done that, but the dog loves catfood so much, he jumps in the water and challenges them for it.

 

[jinman]

I had a setback yesterday, but think I may have found a cure. While I was haulin' dirt to the 2nd pond's dam, something caught my eye on the backside of the 1st pond. While the sun was just right, I could clearly see four seep points on the back side of the dam. It's not in the dam that I built, but the hill that was there originally. I made sure that I notched my key trench into this hillside about 10', but the leaks were all at exactly the same level. In the first photo below, you can see the points line up perfectly in a horizontal line. These points are just above the hard caliche "shelf" that you can see in the right of the photo. The water is seeping through a sand layer just above the caliche.

In the 2nd photo, you can see the one exposed area where I did not get clay lining the walls of the pond. From this point to the area of the leaks is about 50' through the little natural hill that existed here in the beginning. In an act of desperation, I hauled about 6 yards of the gray clay from my clay mine and dumped it into the exposed area. The gray clay is not clumpy like the red gumbo clay I have, so it spread nicely as I dumped it along the waterline. Sure enough, the leaks slowed by yesterday afternoon and may have stopped. I'll add another 6 yards of "insurance" clay and hope this seals the area where water is seeping through the sand. I don't want to have to drain this pond and rework this area, but I'll do it if I can't get the leak sealed.

 

[jinman]

On a brighter note, I've had my pressure washer in the barn and unused for well over a year (probably 2 years would be more accurate). I decided both tractors need a power wash because leaks have attracted a lot of dirt to the underside of both tractors. The tires were flat on my washer, so the first thing I had to do was air up the tires. Next, I checked the tank for old gasoline. The tank was dry. I must have drained it before putting it into the barn. It also has a fuel shutoff to the engine, and I make it normal practice to shut that off and run the engine until it dies. I put fuel into the little 5.5 hp Honda engine, opened the gas petcock, pulled the choke, and gave the starter rope a quick tug. The engine fired instantly and ran perfectly. WOW!:cool2: I was sure I was going to have to clean the carb, but I didn't. I bought this little sprayer at Sam's Club several years ago and it has been a perfect performer. I don't use the hose and nozzle that came with it though. I have a 50' hose and spray nozzle off of a professional sprayer that I attached to this sprayer. Here's a photo of my grandson washing the backhoe before grease started flying and he found out that pressure washing is going to get tractors clean, but you dirty.:laughing:

 

[jinman]

Success! The leak seems to have stopped due to the clay. I put a 2' thick layer (minimum) over the sand and the leaking area is just damp from yesterday's seeping. I suspect by the weekend to see it dry or nearly dry. My heart sure sank when I first saw the leak, but 20 yards of clay later, I think I'll win this one.

Oh yes! I've been reading about pond fertilizer and they all say something like 12-25-0 is best. The high phosphate is the key with low or no potassium. Anyhow, I checked several local feed stores and all offered lawn fertilizers like 36-0-0. I don't really want to mix in a phosphate detergent like Tide with the fertilizer because that's just a guess. Anyhow, I went to Walmart today and looked at their fertilizers. They had all the usual and a small bag of Scott's Starter Fertilizer. I looked at the composition and it was 24-24-4. Good enough!:thumbsup: I fertilized my pond today.

 

[pacerron]

Success! The leak seems to have stopped due to the clay. I put a 2' thick layer (minimum) over the sand and the leaking area is just damp from yesterday's seeping. I suspect by the weekend to see it dry or nearly dry. My heart sure sank when I first saw the leak, but 20 yards of clay later, I think I'll win this one.QUOTE]

That is great. Little seep holes like that can become a catastrophe overnight.
Maybe you should have your clay analyzed for Bentonite content...
You might be dumping millions $$$$$$$ over the hill

 

[ben2go]

This is actually a large pond in my area that had a dam failure today.

Dam Issues Cause Upstate Lake To Lose Water | WSPA

 

[jinman]

Wow! Ben that looks like an overflow pipe malfuntion or maybe the soil was not compacted around it as it should have been. That lake is draining like they pulled the plug on a bathtub.:shocked:

Luckily, I have zero problems with the dam I built. The only problem is the water above the level of the sand layer in the native soil. My little pond was leaking down at a rate of maybe 3" per week at these seeps. Actually, 1 inch could have been evaporation, and the rest was actual leaking. My biggest concern was the fish I stocked last week. If the water gets too low, the oxygen content goes away without an aeration system. Since all the leaks will eventually end up in the next pond, I could pump the water back into the high pond and get aeration at the same time, but I'd much rather have a leak-free pond where I didn't have to add make-up water.

The illustration below shows my case. The yellow sand in the top graphic allowed water to seep through. In the lower graphic, I added enough clay to cap the leak and stop water flow.

 

[ben2go]

Wow! Ben that looks like an overflow pipe malfuntion or maybe the soil was not compacted around it as it should have been. That lake is draining like they pulled the plug on a bathtub.:shocked:

Luckily, I have zero problems with the dam I built. The only problem is the water above the level of the sand layer in the native soil. My little pond was leaking down at a rate of maybe 3" per week at these seeps. Actually, 1 inch could have been evaporation, and the rest was actual leaking. My biggest concern was the fish I stocked last week. If the water gets too low, the oxygen content goes away without an aeration system. Since all the leaks will eventually end up in the next pond, I could pump the water back into the high pond and get aeration at the same time, but I'd much rather have a leak-free pond where I didn't have to add make-up water.

The illustration below shows my case. The yellow sand in the top graphic allowed water to seep through. In the lower graphic, I added enough clay to cap the leak and stop water flow.

The over flow pipe that runs through the base of the dam collapsed and busted.Luckily the sediment slowed the draining and prevented a complete dam failure.

 

[jinman]

Pond seems to be holding well since the repair. I don't think it is down more than about 1" in a week and that's probably evaporation.

Ron and Betty Hall have been here since Saturday. Ron and I laid out my terrace and used a surveyor's transit to mark elevations of high and low spots along the run where the terrace will direct water. I'll try to get a picture of the flags posted. Ron and I also rigged my dump trailer to use the tractor's remote hydraulics. With the tractor running around 2000 rpm, the trailer raises in less than 30 seconds with the trailer empty. It's not much slower when the trailer is full. It really moves up and down now. Here's a YouTube video I posted.

 

[pacerron]

Ron and I also rigged my dump trailer to use the tractor's remote hydraulics. With the tractor running around 2000 rpm, the trailer raises in less than 30 seconds with the trailer empty. It's not much slower when the trailer is full. It really moves up and down now. Here's a YouTube video I posted.

Jim,
Saw you taking a dump on U-tube
I have a dump trailer like that with a built in hydraulic pump, motor, and large single center piston that runs from an aux battery or could be wired to tractor.
It developed a problem of squirting hydraulic fluid at the top of the lift, like the motor doesn't shut off soon enough, and at the drop back to the trailer frame, which isn't powered. The fluid comes out the holding tank cap.
It isn't overfilled.
Any ideas what the problem could be?