The gully to pond project

[jinman]

I talk a lot about my land and gullies because at least half of my property has deep gullies from eons (aeons) of erosion. I have slowed much of this erosion by terracing and controlling where water flows, but there is probably no telling how long ago some of this terrain formed. Now that I've purchased a fairly new loader-backhoe, I plane to reshape some of the gullies and dam up narrow passages to see if I can convert the unusable land to ponds.

The attached picture shows the view from the deck on the south side of my house. The near gully is the first I want to convert to a pond with the far gullies at a later date. The mounds of dirt in the middle will be moved to fill in other washes and pits as well. Oh yes, in the photo you can see a single t-post in the foreground. This is my marker for my aerobic septic system sprinkler to keep me from running over it.

 

[jinman]

My wife snapped a couple of pictures of me on the tractor as I started the excavation.

 

[jinman]

Here are a couple of photos from opposite sides after I began moving dirt. You can see how the hillside drops. I have several terrace plans to direct water from surrounding areas into this central pool. In the second picture, you can see a depression in front of the tractor at the top of the rise. This is going to be filled in completely and planted with grass to hold down erosion.

 

[jinman]

In these two photos, you can see the bottom of the gully and where there is a ditch between two hillsides. After I get all the dirt removed, I'll dam across the ditch up to a level of about 25' or more for the dam and 40' wide at the base using red clay.

 

[jinman]

Here is a better photo of the area I will completely fill. I've used this area as a sand pit and now I need to fill it in so I can make it smooth for mowing and a nicer looking yard.

 

[jinman]

Finally, here are four pictures that show a panoramic view. I was standing on a mound in the middle of where the pond will be and moving from left to right to show the terrain and where the current ditch is that drains the gully. This is going to be a challenging project and one that I'll have to be very careful with since there are many opportunities to roll my tractor. Even so, I think it is doable and I look forward to the finished results. I'll just keep digging and posting photos as I go along. It won't be as big as Eddie Walker's lake, but it should be fun.:thumbsup:

 

[DaveOmak]

Great undertaking. Terracing to improve your land is a worthwhile endeavor.
The one thing you need to remember is, mother nature originally used that area to dump a lot of water at times. She may again want to dump lots of water there.
Prepare for another flood and have the water go where you want it to go. Dave

 

[Thomas]

That's heck of one man project Jim.
Glad temps are cooler for all that seat time ahead..looking forward reads w/pics.

 

[MacLawn]

All I can say is, man, how can it get much better? Enough land, time, and your own tractor with back hoe and FEL to do that! Looks good to me. I know nothing about pond building, except in my county, you must have someone come out to let you know if you can build a pond on your property. The only requirement I know of, is you must have 10 acres. Looks like you beat that! Happy tractoring!

 

[davo727]

Looks like fun! I just looked up your location- I go that way up hw 287 to my mothers in southern Oklahoma.

 

[twarr1]

Great project! Is that caliche you're moving around?
I look forward to seeing the progress. Keep the pics coming!

 

[ronjhall]

If you work on the project all winter. I may have a water view site to park my motorhome at. :thumbsup:

 

[jinman]

Looks like fun! I just looked up your location- I go that way up hw 287 to my mothers in southern Oklahoma.

As you pass from Wise Co. into Montague Co., you are just 1 mile from my house, off to the West behind the Sunset Cemetery. My road is across 287 from the Sunset RV park and about a mile back in the woods. Water draining off the Sunset RV Park eventually ends up in our soil conservation lake.

 

[jinman]

Great project! Is that caliche you're moving around?
I look forward to seeing the progress. Keep the pics coming!

Yep! Nothing erodes quite like caliche. My place is proof.

 

[jinman]

If you work on the project all winter. I may have a water view site to park my motorhome at. :thumbsup:

I don't know if I'll have it finished by the spring, but that first erosion swale should be filled by then. I figured you might want some stick time on the LB75.

 

[ToadHill]

It's hard to tell from the pictures but the soil looks very sandy, will it hold water or will you have to line the pond with clay?

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Lookin' good, jinman! One of these days (years, decades...) I'd like to put in a pond. I'll be keeping up on this post for ideas.

I also kind of wonder about that soil holding water for long periods, but hard to tell with pictures. If you'll pay for shipping, I can send you all the Kentucky clay you want.

 

[EddieWalker]

Great pictures and a worthy project for your new tractor!!!! Looks like fun, and I'm sure by the end of the day, you can see some serious progress.

Where will the red clay come from?

Eddie

 

[jinman]

Where will the red clay come from?

Eddie, that's a very valid concern from you and others who have asked about the sand. It turns out that I have a foot to 18" of red clay in a layer above the white sugar sand and caliche. I'll be keeping the red clay in a separate pile so I can use it to build the core of my dam. I also have a mountain of material that was dug out of my pond. I called it pond silt at the time, but it is quite water tight and I will cover the top layer of the dam with this. Where I have that pile now has sodded in solid with bermuda grass. I don't have a clue where the bermuda came from. It just appeared and covered the silt. If I can get it to cover the dam in the same way and timeframe, I'll be one very happy guy.

 

[TWD]

Looks good :thumbsup:

After reading this I think I may just go work on my own pond :laughing: