Victor's (and Victoria's) Dream Re-Visited - 04/02/08 06:33 PM
After some encouragement from Brettski, I am asking for some help with our pond planning. We live on 6.5 acres of mountain ground. There is literally one spot on the property where a pond can go, and it would be no larger than 1/4 acre. That is OK with us. Many of you have done great things with ponds this size.
Goals: A pond we can walk around and watch wildlife. I would put smallmouth and YP in similar to Eric in NY just to populate it with something. Fishing is not as high a priority as just adding to our experience here in the mountains. Admittedly though, it would be cool to fish in it.
Soil: This spot is best described as a boulder field in that there are boulders across the surface to a depth of about two feet. They are anywhere from twenty pounds to three hundred pounds or more. Underneath them is a sandy loam type of soil. I dug down four feet and had a mostly sandy mixture with some clay and then hit very hard soil at about four feet. It was not rock, but required a digging iron to cut into it. The boulders are sandstone. They become less frequent the deeper you dig.
Our house sits on a level area that was excavated into the mountain. When we dig around the house we usually digging into clay. The house foundation where we find the clay is about six feet under the level of where the soil used to be. Not sure if this makes sense, but I feel like there is clay under the four foot level of sandy loam of the test hole. The house and pond site are about 150' apart.
I would like to move all of the boulders off the site, excavate and build, and put the boulders back in if possible.
I took the dirt from the test hole and made a mud ball. I dropped it from head height and it stayed entirely together when it hit the rock I was standing on. When I tried to roll it into a cigar shape, it crumbled.
Water Source: The area where there is a pond would be is where two natural swales converge. It does not get a huge rush of water when it rains, which I think is a good thing. Just enough. Anyway, the test hole was full from rains we had a few weeks ago, but has since started to drain slowly. I believe that a pond would not have a problem filling.
Two folks from the NRCS were up to the site. They liked the slope of the land and the water source, but thought that soils were going to be a challenge. She was up before I dug the test hole.
I plan to aerate. I also plan to have the pond be about two to three feet deep around all sides for ten feet into the center before sloping down into a deeper area. I am not sure how deep we could go, but ten to twelve feet is not out of the question if the slope allows.
Pricing: We have received three prices. The first was over $20,000 and included bringing clay in to construct the dam and cover the bottom. The second was for about $12,000 and had no provision for clay. That builder said that they would build it with whatever clay he could find within the site. I had discussed a liner with him and he suggested that they build it first and add a liner later if it doesn't hold the water. The last price was from a friend who lives a few hours away but who owns his own excavation company. He builds a few farm ponds a year. He thinks he could do it for less than $3,000.
We have not looked at any of the work of any of the three companies yet, but will if we get closer to making a decision. There are two other small ponds in our area with similar soils. Both hold water all year long. One is just an excavated 40' x 20' hole and the other is about 1/4 acre.
We have a three to four foot deep 20' x 14' excavated goldfish pond that requires a liner. Again, it is built in that sandy loam type of soil.
A penny for anyone's thoughts...
Goals: A pond we can walk around and watch wildlife. I would put smallmouth and YP in similar to Eric in NY just to populate it with something. Fishing is not as high a priority as just adding to our experience here in the mountains. Admittedly though, it would be cool to fish in it.
Soil: This spot is best described as a boulder field in that there are boulders across the surface to a depth of about two feet. They are anywhere from twenty pounds to three hundred pounds or more. Underneath them is a sandy loam type of soil. I dug down four feet and had a mostly sandy mixture with some clay and then hit very hard soil at about four feet. It was not rock, but required a digging iron to cut into it. The boulders are sandstone. They become less frequent the deeper you dig.
Our house sits on a level area that was excavated into the mountain. When we dig around the house we usually digging into clay. The house foundation where we find the clay is about six feet under the level of where the soil used to be. Not sure if this makes sense, but I feel like there is clay under the four foot level of sandy loam of the test hole. The house and pond site are about 150' apart.
I would like to move all of the boulders off the site, excavate and build, and put the boulders back in if possible.
I took the dirt from the test hole and made a mud ball. I dropped it from head height and it stayed entirely together when it hit the rock I was standing on. When I tried to roll it into a cigar shape, it crumbled.
Water Source: The area where there is a pond would be is where two natural swales converge. It does not get a huge rush of water when it rains, which I think is a good thing. Just enough. Anyway, the test hole was full from rains we had a few weeks ago, but has since started to drain slowly. I believe that a pond would not have a problem filling.
Two folks from the NRCS were up to the site. They liked the slope of the land and the water source, but thought that soils were going to be a challenge. She was up before I dug the test hole.
I plan to aerate. I also plan to have the pond be about two to three feet deep around all sides for ten feet into the center before sloping down into a deeper area. I am not sure how deep we could go, but ten to twelve feet is not out of the question if the slope allows.
Pricing: We have received three prices. The first was over $20,000 and included bringing clay in to construct the dam and cover the bottom. The second was for about $12,000 and had no provision for clay. That builder said that they would build it with whatever clay he could find within the site. I had discussed a liner with him and he suggested that they build it first and add a liner later if it doesn't hold the water. The last price was from a friend who lives a few hours away but who owns his own excavation company. He builds a few farm ponds a year. He thinks he could do it for less than $3,000.
We have not looked at any of the work of any of the three companies yet, but will if we get closer to making a decision. There are two other small ponds in our area with similar soils. Both hold water all year long. One is just an excavated 40' x 20' hole and the other is about 1/4 acre.
We have a three to four foot deep 20' x 14' excavated goldfish pond that requires a liner. Again, it is built in that sandy loam type of soil.
A penny for anyone's thoughts...
