Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Need some advice, please

As you know I'm trying to stop my pond from leaking. The pond is drained and I've covered over the wet basin with river clay. I dowsed the area and found a wet hole about 2 feet in diameter by 2 feet deep filled with clay/sandy soil. I assume this is my leak spot? It's located just off an underground stream which I discovered while dowsing.
How should I go about sealing off this sink hole? I have clay and bentonite on hand.
Your expertise will be greatly appreciated.

scruffy,
would be best to pack at least 2 feet in small lifts w/ dozer (to move dirt) and sheeps foot roller (to compact). if you cant get large equipment in, u may need to rent a hand compactor. bentonite is a plus, you could till it in with the clay on hand. moist clay soil placed in small (6-inch) lifts with as much compaction as possible would be the key in my mind.

Good advice from DIED. If going the hand compactor route as he suggested you'll probably want the "Jumping Jack" style. The plate style compactors aren't suited for this purpose. I think Brettski used a jumping jack when putting in his overflow pipe. Maybe one of the dirt guys can give you a recipe for how much clay and/or bentonite to use.

...and holy smokes, does it do a great job compacting. Ryan is right on the money.

Hadn't thought of the jumping jack type of compactor. Now all I have to do is find one for rental in the area. How well does it compact (approx. depth in loose wet clay)?
The pond is only a .01 acre with a basin about 25 feet wide by 60 feet long shaped like a pork chop.
Heavy equipment is out, wouldn't be able to get into the pond site anyway because of the soft soil surrounding the pond.
I might try using my Kabota tractor, but I'm not sure I can climb out of the hole with the steep slippery sides.
Thanks for your respounces.

If the ground is sopping wet it'll probably just churn the clay into pudding. How about a pond liner with underlayment?

Right again, Ryan. If the soil is wet, it's gonna be a useless mess. The compaction on dry soils is very impressive. If the layers to be compacted are kept at 6" - 8", you will do a killer job of compacting. Heck, even at a 12" thick layer of loose soil it rocked. The drawback to it's operation, tho, is that they are difficult to impossible to use on slopes over at 15 degrees. If it is a reasonably small area to be compacted on a slope more than this, you will have to lift the unit to the top edge of the work zone and allow it to "walk" downward. Then, pick it back up; repeat. They are lousy for working uphill.

The basin is still wet were I've put down the clay. It did dry some, but with the rainy weather it's tough to get it to dry out. Anyway to excelarate the dring process?
The side slopes are pretty steep and if the jumpng jack will only work on moderate grades how can I expect to compact them?