I had to look up what a Toro Dingo was.
Toro Dingo Holy cow. If you did a quarter acre pond ten feet deep with that machine you must be one tough guy. Cant offer any advice on resolving your problem but hopefully others can.
Welcome to the forum.
Another "welcome to the forum."
I had to look it up your machine also. I recognized it when I saw a picture of it. They look like great machines. When I go into town, I see contractors using them for all kinds of stuff in subdivisions, from stump grinding and delivering mulch in tight areas, to drilling piling-holes for decks, to plowing/piling snow off the sidewalks in the winter.
I know they are pretty tough machines, but I'm not sure they will work with a box scraper to pull roots. My little 4WD diesel tractor weighs about 4000 lbs without rear attachments. It has a tough time pulling my 5-foot box scraper when it hits big roots. Sometimes I can put a "middle buster" on this tractor to take out these roots. Usually it takes my backhoe to pull them.
But, I've got more questions. What the heck is a retainer? I've been playing with springs, ponds, and lakes for well over 50 years. I've not heard of a "retainer" in this context before. I grew up, and still regularly visit relatives, in the excavating business in counties just north of you in MN/WI. It just isn't a term, local or not, that I'm familiar with.
I'm thinking that may be why you haven't gotten more answers.
I noticed that my senior partner is crime and ponds, Dave D., welcomed you, but didn't provide any answers. He is kind of quiet and slow-talking, but there isn't very much he doesn't know about ponds, trying to retain water, and heavy farm equipment. If Dave didn't provide answers, then, North-American-wide, there may only be Mike Otto or Bob Lusk to pipe in. They've literally "written the books" on these subjects and are regulars here on the site. Mike's latest book is "Just Add Water" which has a lot of insight about water retention. It is available here on our website.
You sound like a very interesting person who would fit in very well with the rest of us on this site. Please keep asking lots of questions. Photos of your dilemma would be extremely helpful.
I now live in the mountains of West Virginia. My wife and I are far from being "preppers" but we could go for a heck of a long time without any outside services.
I'd be more than willing to share what we've done to prepare for hurricanes and blizzards -- both of which hit us every few years.
Regards,
Ken
