Yes, another pond started.....

[MotorSeven]

I know it is late in the year, but i began working on the pond yesterday. Within an hour i had a 50' swath dug 4' deep, then hit gumbo & got the dozer stuck. Had to hook the Kioti on & have the wife pull me out. The pasture is bottom land & the creek is about 75' away. Even though it has been very dry this year the pasture is holding alot more moisture than i expected. Bedrock should be around the 6-8'mark, but it will remain unknown untill i can dig deeper.

The plan is for a 50x100' odd shaped pond with a catch basin in one end. The reason for the catch basin is i have this fantasy that i will be raising freshwater prawns for personal consumption. Ponds in my area usually hold well for a few years, then the limestone kasrst formations underneath allow holes & they dry up. So, i will be putting in a liner. The plan is to install a solar panel/battery pack to run a pump to draw water from the creek to keep the pond full.

This will take a a long time pending the weather, but i will post photo's & progress as go along.

RD

 

[coreshot]

Looks like a cool project. Beautiful place you have there. Mmmmm....prawns....

 

[shvl73]

Beautiful place you have! You helper appears to be checking on your progress.

 

[MotorSeven]

Our 2 Clydsdale colts are like big lap dogs & are always sticking their noses into any activity in "their" pasture.
RD

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

cool

a pond is on top of my "list"

lookin' good, keep us posted!

 

[EddieWalker]

Nothing like a pond to make your land complete!!!!!

You have a beautiful setting for it. I especially like the way the hills and valley come together. It makes it look like a natural setting.

A few things that I learned when digging mine was to start digging closest to where you are piling the dirt thne work your way back, creating a slot. The sides of the slot will allow the blade to hold more dirt, and by starting at the begginging, you will travel less then if you started at the back. Cat did a study on this and there is a significant difference in how much back up time you will have.

With the wet stuff, I found that stopping when I hit it and letting it set for a week would let it dry out enough to go back and dig it out. I would have several slots going and would spend pretty much an entire day digging just that one slot. I would leave about two feet between each one, which made it easy to knock them dow and push them out when I was done with the slots.

It took me two years to dig my big pond, so dealing with rain and standing water was always a problem. Sometimes, you just have to wait it out, but when the weather is good and the dirt is dry, there's nothing like it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the pics, I'm looking forward to following your progress.

Eddie

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks Eddie, i was pondering how much to leave between slots. I also learned the hard way to start the slot at the "pile" end, then back-up a little more each time deeping as i go. Also, that "pile" got real big real fast, so i had to start pushing the dirt up and over it to get rid of the spoils.
The gumbo really snuck up on me, & i got into it on one scrape of about 3" or so. I hope the weather lets it dry, because this is a natural low spot in the pasture that turns into a disco frog nighclub in a few hours. It is easy digging with no rocks which is unusual for my area. I am going to spend a few hrs on it today & try not to get stuck again....

RD

 

[RobJ]

Sometimes its hard to tell from the pics but the pond area looks really flat. Guessing that's true becuase you will be using a pump to keep water in it instead of a natural catch. Since it small about 8 hours with a track hoe and you'll have it done in a weekend!! Use the dozer dress it up.

I like to post these pictures of a friend of mines pond. 8 days, a D6, good location on a spring feed creek, and a guy who really knows how to operate one of these. Because of the creek it filled in a week!! The atvs give you a clue of the size..

Keep the pics comming!! Great place you have there to!

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

that's a great looking pond! that last pic is beautiful...

Sometimes its hard to tell from the pics but the pond area looks really flat. Guessing that's true becuase you will be using a pump to keep water in it instead of a natural catch. Since it small about 8 hours with a track hoe and you'll have it done in a weekend!! Use the dozer dress it up.

I like to post these pictures of a friend of mines pond. 8 days, a D6, good location on a spring feed creek, and a guy who really knows how to operate one of these. Because of the creek it filled in a week!! The atvs give you a clue of the size..

Keep the pics comming!! Great place you have there to!

 

[RobertBrown]

Hey Motorseven,
You've probably already got this coverd but......
I Don't know much about ponds or horses. But it seems like that horse might fall in the slot if he gets the chance.
That would'nt be good.
Best regards
Nice looking place you got there.
RB