What can you do with a Pond Scoop?

[DonWorrell]

I bought one at an auction yesterday. Only paid $55.00 for it. It looks nearly new. I don't even know what one would cost new.

Now what kind of jobs can you do with one? Could you clean ditches with one? I don't have a FEL and I have a small mound of dirt I need to move. The scoop I bought can be hooked to so you drag it or push it. It is 3PH.

Any advise please let me know. I might of be what my dad called a "leaverite", which means leave it right where you found it, it is useless. I really don't know. Did I pay too much?

Thanks for you advice in advance.

Don

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I use mine A LOT. Paid $66 for it off Ebay. Mine is 24wx24Lx12h
I have moved a LOT of dirt with it. Takes 7 scoops to make a cubic yard.
It probably stays on my tractor more than any other implement.
Works better forward than backward. But I have used it a lot backward.
Be carefull what you back into. 3pt hitches are made to pull, not push.
Getting a reversible scoop for $55 is a really great deal.

Pooh Bear

 

[MJPetersen]

I wanted a scoop badly enough to make one. There is not one to buy here. I put alot more than $55 worth of metal in it, not to mention the time.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/98421-dirt-scoop-3-pt-first.html?highlight=dirt+scoop
I move a lot of dirt and building debris with it because like you I lack a FEL. It works great and I tend to use it more pushing than pulling, I have limited maneuvering room. I have beefed up the arms though.

Mike in Warsaw

 

[oldhippy]

I have a pond scoop for my tractor and have moved several truck loads of dirt. It is pretty handy for hauling tools and just about anything that will that will fit in it. I had mine facing back so that I could drive it in piles of dirt for moving dirt around yard. I would dump dirt then turn around and drop bucket and run back over pile to spread it somewhat. I have since installed a FEL and don't use it as much as I did. Pond scoops sure are handy tools for the price. big dan

 

[Kenster]

I assume this is the same thing as what a lot of people call a "Dirt Scoop?" If so, you got a great deal. TSC sells them new for $317.00. I'm not sure how they'd work in a pond. I wouldn't want to drive my 8n anywhere near a wet pond and you have to get real close with these little scoops.
I bought mine at a farm auction last week. Got to try it out scooping up gravel from our washed out driveway after all the rain we've had here in Texas. I think the scoop will be very versitile. I can also use it as a carry all.

 

[wolc123]

A pond scoop is a handy tool and has many uses. If you add stabilizer bars to the lower links and have a low enough reverse gear, they work well facing backward to move hard packed dirt piles. Skip the stabilizer bars and you will bend your lower links. They work very well for moving crushed stone or loose soil (stabilizer bars not always necessary here). Only hold about as much as a wheelbarrel but it is much nicer to load and move with tractor vs manually. They work well for moving small trees, trench around the sides with shovel, back scoop under, chain trunk to frame, lift and move. On a two wheel drive tractor a pond scoop may in some cases be more effective than a front loader because traction is gained not lost like with the front loader when the scoop is loaded. Facing forward they can be used to dig ponds, I have done it, but due to small capacity, you need a lot of time. You will find many more uses with the scoop facing backwards.

 

[BTDT]

Welcome to TBN Don, sounds like you got a good deal on that implement. Any pics, I'm just curious to know if what you bought is the same as a dirt scoop?

 

[JoeinTX]

If you are short a front-end loader, you'll find uses for that scoop you probably haven't thought of.

$55? Take it and run.

We have a Ford rear bucket, 1/3 yd model, and it has done everything from build roads to clean out tanks (ponds for the non-educated for 25 years on the back of NAAs and 8ns. Most often we use it in reverse, but, using it forward facing and it almost acts like a miniature scraper when trying to move dirt.

 

[Tom_H]

For those who asked, pond scoops and dirt scoops are the same thing. You don't scoop stuff out of an existing pond. At one time, when lots of people had farm tractors with no FEL, they were popular for excavating new ponds. I have one that I rarely use as the FEL is more efficient. I will probably use it to excavate for a new sidewalk because the FEL bucket is too wide.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Way back when, my dad actually dug a pond with one. It took a while, but with a pond scoop and a Ferguson F-40, he dug a 2 acre pond on his place. I've heard 'em called pond scoops, slip scrapes, and a number of other names. They're handy for digging swales and shallow ditches. I used one for years to pick gravel out of a creek bed to build a driveway at my old place. If you decide $55 was too much, send it my way. They're handy even if you have a front loader.

 

[Dargo]

...they were popular for excavating new ponds.

That'd have to be one mighty small pond! When I dug my pond I ended up moving a total of just over 20,000 cubic yards of dirt. The 3 pt hitch scoop I have will move, maybe, 1/10th of a yard. When I built my pond, I moved my dirt an average distance of about 300 ft. So, I would have had to make around 200,000 trips. Estimating that it would take 5 minutes to make a round trip, that would have taken me 166,667 hours, which is 694 days solid without no stops. Being that I only worked on weekends; about 10 hours a day, it would have actually taken me 8333 days, or roughly 23 years to do the job if I had no equipment failure or rainy days where I couldn't work. Of course, that does not count any time at all to spread and level all that dirt I moved. And, as I gained some depth, it would take considerably more than 5 minutes for a round trip. By the time I factor time in for that, I'd likely be dead before I finished. Now, this is only for a 1 acre pond as well, not some huge lake. Based on these calculations and real life time, I'd think I'd call mine a dirt scoop.

 

[Slamfire]

I use mine a lot in driveway maintainence. I've a lot of clay that keep migrating downhill. Places where I turn the water out of the drive, tend to fill up with silt that washes from the ditches on the low side of the drive. Depending on the amount of rain we get, 70/year average, I have to do this every quarter or so.
I back into the turn out, lower the scoop, and drive forward to fill it. Carry the dirt to the worst washout and dump it. Then lower the scoop again and back up to spread the pile and grade. One thing I've found is when the scoop is really full you can't trip with the scoop in the air, but lower it, trip the latch then raise the scoop, is easy as pie. Reverse the tractor and the scoop pivots closed.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

That'd have to be one mighty small pond! When I dug my pond I ended up moving a total of just over 20,000 cubic yards of dirt. The 3 pt hitch scoop I have will move, maybe, 1/10th of a yard. When I built my pond, I moved my dirt an average distance of about 300 ft. So, I would have had to make around 200,000 trips. Estimating that it would take 5 minutes to make a round trip, that would have taken me 166,667 hours, which is 694 days solid without no stops. Being that I only worked on weekends; about 10 hours a day, it would have actually taken me 8333 days, or roughly 23 years to do the job if I had no equipment failure or rainy days where I couldn't work. Of course, that does not count any time at all to spread and level all that dirt I moved. And, as I gained some depth, it would take considerably more than 5 minutes for a round trip. By the time I factor time in for that, I'd likely be dead before I finished. Now, this is only for a 1 acre pond as well, not some huge lake. Based on these calculations and real life time, I'd think I'd call mine a dirt scoop.

When dad built his 2 acre pond (approx.) , not every cubic inch of the pond basin had to be dug out. It was built in a natural swale where water drained down from hills above. He loosened the dirt on the banks of that swale with a 2-bottom plow, then used a rear blade to drag what dirt he could, FINALLY using the pond scoop to carry enough dirt to finish the dam. That dam only needed to close off one end of the swale. That was about 100 feet long across the top, and maybe 15' tall. It wasn't the Hoover Dam.... Not a billion cubic yards.....No 23 year project. With the shape of the swale, the location of the dam, and the over-all lay of the land, he ended up with 2 acres of water, a great deal of it 15' to 20' deep. The relatively steep banks meant water was 4' to 5' deep with-in a couple feet of the waters edge. It caught and held quite a bit of water. It took a while to build, but it didn't cost much to do it his way. The pond is still there. I fished it 3 weeks ago. (Caught a few nice bluegill!)

The old Dearborn "POND SCOOP" was more than enough for the task at hand.

No, I wouldn't want to dig an entire pond basin out of a pool table flat piece of ground with one.

 

[Dargo]

FWJ, if you notice the times on the posts, I was running my calculator and posting at the same time as you, not in response to you. However, I am more of a calculating, Mythbuster, type of guy. Not to argue, but I'll stick with my calculations for what I stated it would have taken to dig my pond with a dirt scoop. A decent sized excavator and dump truck makes digging a pond much easier.

Happy 4th!!

 

[Farmwithjunk]

FWJ, if you notice the times on the posts, I was running my calculator and posting at the same time as you, not in response to you. However, I am more of a calculating, Mythbuster, type of guy. Not to argue, but I'll stick with my calculations for what I stated it would have taken to dig my pond with a dirt scoop. A decent sized excavator and dump truck makes digging a pond much easier.

Happy 4th!!

I'm not questioning how long it would have taken to dig your pond. Never seen it, never will most likely. Mostly, I was commenting on how long it took and with what equipment my dad built his pond. There weren't a lot of excavators around in 1959. And dad wouldn't have cared if there were. That was a different time. Money left in the pocket meant more than time spent/saved.

Also, I'm trying to relate how a pond scoop would be used in conjunction with other tools to build a pond. (ie rear blade, natural landscape, ect)

No, I don't question much of what you have to say regarding any topics. You're in that rare BTDT class who seems to actually base their comments and opinions on reality. That is in short supply at times.

 

[Dargo]

I'm not questioning how long it would have taken to dig your pond. Never seen it, never will most likely.

Well, you're welcome anytime. Bring a pole and a six pack. I don't mind chatting and debating at all. And, I don't even mind when I'm proven wrong (see post on where I was looking for a small tiller ) because that means I learned something! About all I know for sure is that I don't know it all. Actually, my kids are at the age where they don't think I know anything. But I recall the time I didn't think my dad knew anything either...I missed on that one too!

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Well, you're welcome anytime. Bring a pole and a six pack. I don't mind chatting and debating at all. And, I don't even mind when I'm proven wrong (see post on where I was looking for a small tiller ) because that means I learned something! About all I know for sure is that I don't know it all. Actually, my kids are at the age where they don't think I know anything. But I recall the time I didn't think my dad knew anything either...I missed on that one too!

Dad used to have a favorite saying. "It's not what you know that counts, It's what you DON'T know". Took a while but that finally soaked in (coincidentally, about the time my kids started talking....)

The greatest pleasure I've had in recent years was seeing my son have to deal with a teen-ager of his own. What comes around goes around

Jonathon thought I was a dummy. And then I had the great honor of being there when my granson Jake said to his dad, "Run Forrest, RUN"! . And all I could do was laugh

 

[DonWorrell]

Dad used to have a favorite saying. "It's not what you know that counts, It's what you DON'T know". Took a while but that finally soaked in (coincidentally, about the time my kids started talking....)

The greatest pleasure I've had in recent years was seeing my son have to deal with a teen-ager of his own. What comes around goes around

Jonathon thought I was a dummy. And then I had the great honor of being there when my granson Jake said to his dad, "Run Forrest, RUN"! . And all I could do was laugh

Farmwithjunk,

You absolutely made my day. In my line of work I must work almost all holidays. This morning is July 4th I am at work. Nothing to demanding at this moment so I thought I would check out TractorsbyNet. I read you last post and laughed my butt off. I can just see the kid telling his Dad "Run Forrest Run". Mine never told it to me but I know he thought it a number of times.

Thanks for making my day more enjoyable.

Don

 

[MJPetersen]

One thing I've found is when the scoop is really full you can't trip with the scoop in the air, but lower it, trip the latch then raise the scoop, is easy as pie

Slam fire, I can trip mine even when it is heaped up and overflowing. Although it is a little more difficult. The trick is that the trip lever does not drop very far over center. I built my dirt scoop and when I pondered the trip mechanism I realized that if I allowed it to travel as far as it could it would be very hard to retrieve under load. I set it so that the trip is just over center in the latched position, but placing a block under the handle. I will get a picture and show you. Probably not tonight it is raining and the tractor is at church. With a roller and the balanced trip you can dump under full load.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/98421-dirt-scoop-3-pt-first.html?highlight=dirt+scoop

Mike

PS I do have a picture of what I did in the link given above. You can see the round stock that I used for a stop.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

The greatest pleasure I've had in recent years was seeing my son have to deal with a teen-ager of his own. What comes around goes around

About the time you find out your Dad was right
you have a son that thinks you are wrong.

Pooh Bear