What I did last summer(s) - never again

[Dutchman]

It is said you can dig a pond with a teaspoon. I felt like I was using one the last two summers as I built this pond. It is approximately 180' x 75' (widest point) and is about 10' deep at the deepest point. I needed fill for my house (shown in another pic later). The ground is very heavy clay with rocks out the kazoo. Some are shown in a small wall I built along one portion of the pond.

The first pic is the first (larger) hole. I thought I would not need as much fill as I eventually needed so I actually dug two holes for a kidney shaped pond. I used the backhoe to loosen the material and the FEL to remove it.

 

[Dutchman]

This pic is looking toward the smaller hole. To the right you can see the rock (boulder) wall I made. Positioning the boulders was a lot of fun! There are some smaller rocks deposited into the small hole. My intent was to provide some cover for the new inhabitants of the pond. Also not the gravel lining the banks. I discovered the pond bottom was very muddy and my two dogs really stirred the muck up. The gravel worked wonders in keeping the muddy water at bay.

 

[Dutchman]

Looking toward my house and the rock wall 'peninsula'. At the right of the house, you can almost see the fill I deposited.

 

[Dutchman]

Last pic for now. Again toward the house but shows the newly completed dock. The fill around the house is more apparent.

I rode the Cub Cadet and its backhoe/FEL pretty hard. It worked like a champ (just one busted hose on the BH) but was really undersized for this project. Next time I hire a big boy to come in and do the job in a couple of days.

I haven't taken a pic of the pond filled yet. When I do, I'll post it.

Dutch

 

[millsnhills]

Great looking Job!

 

[JerryG]

Dutch,
Great looking pond. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gifWhat is the estimated hours that it took to complete?

 

[Mrwurm]

Nice, even grade on the banks. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Dutchman]

Waddya mean complete? I'm still trying to find and plug a leak around my drain pipe /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. I'm guessing that it took about 200 hours of tractor time, backhoe included. Part of the excavation included the berm for the pond on the large hole. You can see it in the first pic. The rest of the time, I loaded my 1/2 ton Chevy truck with the fill and deposited it up at the house. I have a "LoadHandler" for the truck, so I just cranked out the fill from the bed of the truck. After a while, even that got real old! I think it would have gone much faster if I had chosen a less rocky location.

 

[Dutchman]

Actually, that wasn't too hard with the backhoe but it was just slow going because I was taking such a little bite. It got a little scary at times because of the slope. Of course I never was sideways on it but it felt like I was really leaning back at times. Before this project I would sometimes get a little careless with the seatbelt as I tooled around the property. This project reinforced a very good habit to have...buckle up!!!

 

[snowman]

Nice job.

What is your water source? Are you just using the natural water table or are you drilling some type of well to fill it?

Is the water that's in there from the water table?

I'm kind of curious because I'm going to try to do the same type of project - digging a pond in a field. I had a need for topsoil and and mixing the two projects by using the dirt from the future pond. I don't have a back hoe. What I've been doing is loosening up the dirt with my tiller and then scooping it up with the FEL; it's nice because the dirt is all ground up and easy to work with versus chunks of dirt.

A problem I have is that the water table is only a foot or so under. If it rains, my little depression in the land (at this point) fills right up and I have to wait for it to dry (it's very slick and easy to get stuck in if its wet).

If you do get water table water in there, how did you work around it (or did you just dig in the water)?

Thanks.