Well, in about two to three week I may be on a pond building project. We have a new client that has a good sze house and plenty of land and she's looking to maybe digging a pond in her backyard. Nothing large, but we would still need a mini-ex and skid steer for the job. Now, I was wondering if anyone could explain the pond building process to me and any tips. Right now, next to my Dad, I am our best operator (We're only a 4 man crew, but do mostly tree work and landscape installs, so only Dad and me know how to run equipment) Just looking for info and tips at the moment. Also, if anyone has any pics feel free to post as many as you want. Thanks!!
Well my first question is how do you plan on keeping it full of water? Is there a stream or a spring that will run into it? Or are you taking about one of those little Koi ponds that have the plastic liners... If so I'm not much help, but if it's a natural one i'll feed you all the info you want! What size is it going to be agian?
I'm pretty sure its going to be a natural. There's some nearby streams and we've had over 16" above normal rain so far this year. It's not going to be huge, like I said. We don't have any rough dimensions yet (Landscape architeuct is coming out next week) but all I know is that she mentioned a pond in the near future. I know it's going to be enough for a mini ex and skid steet like I said, but nothing like the ones you build Chris. I'm looking for some tips on depth and how to make it slope on the edges right now, etc. (She's a big nature freak and loves birds, etc, so I would suspect fish would also be in the pond later on)
If there are going to be fish in the pond it needs to be atleast 3' deep in the shallowest end. I like to go ahead and make it around 4'-5' becauase the little ponds tend to silt in fast. I'm sure you will need to build some sort of a dam, be sure to dig a core and fill that and build the cam out of compactable clay. Be sure to pack good around your drain pipe, size of drain pipe is determined by the amount of water that is flowing in the creek, then add a few sizes to account for flooding. also be sure to dig a spillway for the extra water during a flood to run around and not breach the dam. Check out " Pictures of my work" under the Showtime forum and you should find everything you need.
Maybe you should sub this one out to a contractor with pond building experience. Watch and learn how to do it for the next time. There's a lot more to building a good, stable, and safe pond than just shoving up a dam. We're in the process of repairing a dam right now that was built by "the low bidder". It was an estimated hour away from the dam blowing out and washing over a highway and a couple houses before we got a trench dug around the dam to drop the water level and lower the pressure against it. Could of gotten ugly real fast.
Getting enough water to the pond when it rains is always a big concern. If there isn't sufficiant runoff from the water shed, then the pond wont fill up, or it will dry out, and become a major eye sore. If there is not sufficient water shed, then there needs to be a source of water. Pumping water can be very expensive if the pond is of any size. How big is it going to be? When the pond is full, how it exits the spillway is critical. Most pond failures are from imporoper spillways. You can have two spillways or just one, but the one must be an emergancy spillway that can handle the most extreme water shed. If the water runs over the dam, it will erode the dam to the point of failure. The best spillways go across virgin soils with good vegitation. Mine is bermuda grass that locks the soil together. It is also important to keep the spillway as gradual as possible. The slower the water moves, the less erosion that occurs. Make sure the ground is of good clay and will hold water. I've seen allot of ponds that were built that will not hold water. The owners then go through the nightmare of finding clay, betonite or a liner to make it water tight. All these options work, but are very expensive. It's usually cheaper to fill it in then fix it. What type of fish are planned for the pond? If it's just perch or catfish, then size isn't all that critical. If it's bass, then it really should be over an acre is surface water. Bass need allot of food and if you don't have enough water to support their prey, then the bass won't make it. Depending on the evaporation rate, depth needs to never be less then four feet in my opinion. Anything less and you have oxygen , tempature and water quality issues. For a fishing pond, you want structrue and contours to the bottom. Steep drop offs are importart for your predator fish and shallow areas are needed for your feeder fish. If it's just ornamental, then all that's important is keeping it full and having a good water source, which goes back to figureing out the water shed and how much will get to the pond. Good luck, Eddie
pond digging Ive dug a bunch of ponds, but Ive never dug one with a mini Excavator, and unless its only going to be about 3-4ft deep, I dont see it doing the job. For one, it will take forever, I guess you are going to re-locate the dirt with the skidsteer. This can be done as you are thinking, but make sure if you have to rent the machines, that you give yourself enough time and enough money for the job, to cover the rentals. You can get into alot of trouble, digging a hole, if you dont know all the regulations. Its big fines, if you dont do it correctly. Good Luck
As far as your question on getting the slopes right, when you get the pond laid out and find out what kind of cut your going to have, you will no how to do your slope. For example if its going to be a 5ft cut to the bottom of the pond and lets say your going to have a 3-1 slope, your slope will be 15ft from top grade stake to the bottom of your pound.
I'm trying to do that exact thing right now with a Bobcat 323, and wish I had a dowser or a loader, even -- it's just that with all the trees in the yard, the Bobcat was the only thing that could maneuver around everything -- and if you wet the dirt before (and during) the dig, you can make some headway. Because I didn't plan the exact dimensions of the pond like I should have in the beginning, (and I didn't figure out what I was going to do with the dirt I was digging AS I was digging) I ended up making more work for myself -- (sometimes moving dirt 3and4 times before I had it where and how I wanted it to be. The Bobcat fell in the "pond" once already, (had to have somebody pull me out - and ofcourse the hydrolics locked) THEN to boot, yesterday, my track fell off -- so I'm out of commission again (and I'm trying to figure out how to get my track back ON. (anybody know how to do this, please write back!!) But, in answer to your question -- I do believe it can be done -- with the right equipment, and rather inexpensively. Not a pond expert by any means, but here's what I've already learned: 1) Plan the whole thing out before you start 2) Check with your HOA (if applicable) to make sure you have approval/permits 3) Water down your soil as you dig - easier and faster to move 4) Pond stores have the big, solid sheets of plastic, that you can line the bottom of pond with, after it's been graded in compacted - if you've got high clay content, and you put rock on top of the lining, even if it does eventually leak a little, the clay bed will absorb it 5) You'll still want a really good filter (and place it at the lowest part of the pond) 6) Take the other guy's grading advice, and shoot it with a level. Slopes are deceiving, so don't leave it to chance, shoot it with a level so you'll know exactly how deep of a pond you're going to end up with
To reinstall the track just open the zerk located in the middle of the track portion of the undercarriage, after the idler loosens up put track on and pump the idler back tight.
In my area you can go to the soil and water conservation office and get all the info you need to build farm ponds. They will gladly come out and give recomendations free of charge and you do not need a permit.
thank you!! it worked -- back in business
I always say we like to do things the hard way first time so that we learn proper...sometimes we do it the hard way twice just to make sure we learned good! :Banghead
Something else to consider in the slope of the pond is plant growth. Most shoreline plants will grow down to four feet of water. The quicker and steeper that you make the slope, the fewer the plants that you will have growing out into the pond. Depth of the water is important for fish, but also in having clear, open water. Water Lilies can go down 6 feet if conditions are good with 4 feet being very common for most varieties. Cattails are the worse things in the world for a pond and can also live in 6 feet of water. The fish will spend most of their time in 4feet of water or less, but the plants will take over a pond that shallow. Also take into consideration evaporation. In my part of East Texas, I can lose 2-3 inches of water per week or a foot in a month. I've spent hundreds of hours working my land to catch and channel water to my ponds to get every bit of run-off that I can when it rains, so I fill up and stay full as long as possible. If your client has a pond that is dependent on rain to fill it, then you should plan on it dropping several feet during the dry seasons. A five foot deep pond can easily turn into a 3 or 2foot mud hole. Then it will get taken over with plants and really become a mess. Eddie
I'm not for doing things the hard way ... EVER! I'm all for working SMARTER not HARDER, although my compulsiveness (and pefectionism) makes things harder than they have to be for me, sometimes. What started out to be's attempt at divert the pooling problem I had going on here, turned into a POND!
I just looked at a pond project this evening. Landowner is wanting a 120'x80' pond. It is at the lowest point of about 10 acres of pasture. He wants it at least 7' - 8' deep in the center. This topic has some valuable info I can use but I am trying to decide if I want to rent a 20,000# excavator for one day and get the majority of the depth done and then use the T300 and Kubota Kx 121 for damn and spillway and dressing it up nice. I can rent a John Deere 120 total for around $800 for a day, plus fuel. I know with a man on the mini and on the T300 we can put a good dent in it in 2-3 days but just wanted some opinions. Thanks Greg
A 120 is about 28,000 lbs. around here I pay about $600 for a 200 size plus fuel so it is a no brainer. anyway if you are renting because you need that extra reach go for it. But if not I think I would stick with the 121 for the day. Are their delivery prices for the 120 also.
Yes, that includes drop off, pick up, taxes etc. The excavator actually rents for $575 a day. I guess it comes down to the productivity of the big excavator versus my two machines. The cost for machinery/labor is about the same once I calculated it out. By the way fuel has dropped yesterday, I paid $4.31.
I always have built my ponds with a dozer.But the most important thing that I have found in building ponds is the type of soil you have.If you have some good clay you are in good shape but if you have rock or rock ledges you are in trouble.With bad soil means you have to either haul dirt or put in a liner or both. And either way its going to cost alot more money and time.
At 80' wide, you will need to be moving dirt twice from the middle, at least. You're looking at about 2500 yards of material to be removed, if it's the size you state at 8' deep. If you think you can do that with a skid and a mini in 2-3 days, I'm impressed. Couple weeks ago I dug a pond approx 40x120 with a 28K lb excavator, and had a JD 650 dozer pushing the piles out of the way. Now, it had a lot of curves etc to do for the shape, so a lot of time was burned up just keeping it pretty, but it took the better part of 3 days. (Depth was likely about 12-13' though.) Without knowing more of what the plan is for the excavated material, it's hard to make a suggestion. If it's basically going around the pond, and also being used for a dam, (therefore not going too far) I would think about renting a dozer for a day to take a chunk out of the centre and push it where you need it, just get it there in a pile , you can shape it with your ex and skid later. If you have the manpower to run all three machines, have the other two going and they can shape the sides, or the spillway as you go.
Yes, that 2-3 day estimate was just tossed out there.Probably closer to the 4-5 days!! The material will be used to build a dam which will have to be bermed and dressed up with a little character to Also the new road to the new home site which will require probably 60 yds of dirt moved roughly 100' away, the remaining can be spread on the property fairly close. As far as the soil it is a mix of sandy loam and clay. I could find sand stone down there but will just have to wait and see. I will check on the dozer rates. I used to have a deere 450h-lt and I just thought the excavator would work best. I really appreciate your help. I have cleaned out several ponds during our drought period 04-06 and always took longer than I expected. This would be my first pond from scratch. Actually on something this size it seems like the mini would just be in the way.