I’m planning to put in my first pond next year. I’ve spent countless hours over several years lurking around this forum in an attempt to educate myself.
Ahh, so it was you.
If you don't have a copy of
"Perfect pond: Want one?" get it. It is the best $27 you will ever spend towards obtaining a pond.
Contractor plans to bring in an excavator, rent a D8 (he owns a D5 and says it’s not big enough for this job), and potentially a sheep’s foot. He’s estimating a week rather than a weekend. Obviously, this brings me to cost. $3000 vs. $20,000.
IMHO you definitely want to figure on a (vibrating, preferably) sheep's foot roller to compress the dam core, DIY or contracted.
I’m leaning toward using a contractor and getting the piece of mind that a proper key way and gentle dam slope would provide. What should I ask this contractor?
How many ponds has he built, especially in similar terrain, that he can refer you to? You want to look at his prior work and talk with the owners, see what he did right and what he did wrong. (If our excavator was still in business, I would be happy to talk to potential customers about his work.)
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