My loader is a New Holland Lx985. It is 75 H.P. and weighs around 9,000 lbs. with the solid foam fill tires. I have over 4000 hrs experience on a skid steer loader (most people call skid steer loaders a Bobcat).

I have been working on my pond for 4 years now. I hired a contractor to clear the site in fall 2004. It was really thick, I couldn't even ride a ATV thru it. He spent 36 hours on a track hoe taking out trees and piling up the logs and brush. I spent many weekends in 2005 cutting firewood and burning brush. I didn't get much time in 2006 as I was busy with my concrete business. Although I did manage to get my topsoil cut and moved out of the pond site.
In this picture you can see my loader with an 8 ft bucket pushing topsoil.


The previous land owner had a road thru the middle of what would become my pond. It was 8-9 ft high, 10 ft wide, and 120 ft long. My plan was to move this dirt to fill back in the road where it was cut from, shape the site so it wouldn't hold water, then hire a contractor to build the dam.
This is a side view of the old road


Spring of 2007, I moved the dirt from the old road back to where it came from.




Summer 2007 I had 2 contractors out to look at my site, but neither one ever called me back with a price. Then I decided to try it myself. July 8, 2007 I cut my keyway and started pushing dirt.




As winter fell I had half of the dam up to grade with only 2 feet to go on the other half. In the picture below you can see that the lowest part of the dam was a about the middle. March 18-19, 2008 we had 9 inches of rain in 24 hours. Even with the 6 inch drain flowing unobstructed, the 18 foot deep pond filled to the full level. The spillway was not cut in yet, so I dug a spillway to the far right with a shovel 2 ft x 2 ft x 20 ft long, as it was too muddy to use my loader. I am glad it did not rain any more. It was within a foot from going over the middle.


After the springs rains dried up I started pushing dirt again on the weekends. By Sept, I had the dam up to grade when the hurricane came thru Indiana . We had about 75 trees on our 80 acres blown down. That kept me from working on the pond for a while. Since then I have completed everything except my siphon drain and dock. The finish height of my dam is 19 feet 11 inches with 3 feet of freeboard. I have a 6 inch pvc drain thru the bottom with 2 concrete anti seep collars. My spillway is 16 inches above the full level and 24 feet wide. My watershed is approximately 50 wooded acres. I am going to install two 6 inch PVC siphon drains to handle normal rains. In the pictures of my dam you can see in the middle where I didn’t seed and straw yet will be where I place the siphon drains.

This picture is looking west toward the dam


This one taken standing on the dam looking east


This one looking south across the dam


This is my spillway to the creek


This will be where my SMB will hopefully spawn


After we get thru this winter, I will put in the siphon drains, build my dock, and stock with FH, RES,YP, SMB, and maybe some HSB. I plan to aerate and pellet feed. I also have another small grow out pond planned (60 ft x 120 ft) in a ravine about 150 ft up from this pond. I will use it to grow fathead minnows and maybe grow out SMB for later stocking into the bigger pond.


I have been reading this site for some time and thought that I would share my story. Any thoughts or suggestions please respond.


My 11/19/2017 edit was to change the pictures from Photobucket to imgur.

Very impressive. Nice to hear your story and your commitment to accomplishing your task.

Thanks,
Eddie

Welcome DC. Great first post.

Welcome to PondBoss!

Looks like you are going to have quite a nice place.

Bravo DC! Nice job. Where in Indiana do you live? Your pond looks very similar to mine. Built mine in 2006.

That is nice DC. The fall color on your trees is really nice and will really enhance the appearance of your pond. I am jealous we don't have too much fall color changes in our trees in South Texas.

Yessirree, another man on a mission....and I dare say, mission accomplished!
Welcome DC70.
Yep, that is really a beauty, and a great story behind the marvel. Thanks for dropping it into our storybook.
Did you just happen upon Pond Boss, or have you been soaking it in for awhile? Where did you get your guidance for construction?
-
I'm curious. You show a nice shot looking up to the dam that appears to be completed and seeded, yet the basin is void of water. Yet, there is a shot just above it that shows an incompleted dam with a pond full of water. Which came first?

Very pretty setting. I look forward to your future posts.

Great job DC. I too have a skidloader and was initially intending on digging out my one acre pond using it exclusively. Then I recalled an uncle of mine who owns a bulldozer.

Welcome to the site. I'm new too.

Great thread DC. Those skid steers can do some amazing work. I had some road work and a pad cut this year and the contractor used a Takeuchi TC 130. That 67 hp machine moved an amazing amount of dirt for it's size.

Looks like you are doing a fantastic job!

DC70,

As someone who also built my pond the hard way, I can appreciate your effort. Congratulations, it looks great. Believe me, your rewards will be many, and have hardly begun.

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I am about 70 miles south of Indianapolis.

I have been reading the forum since the fall of 2003, and PB subscriber before that.

I had some experience renovating another pond 4 years ago, but most of my knowledge of ponds comes from reading this site and the PB magazine.

The pond full of water came first and was not intended, just a big rain event early 2008. When I stopped pushing dirt last fall, I never dreamed that one rain event could fill my pond especially with the 6 inch drain in the bottom.

Welcomb to the forum DC
That is may be the be the best story ever. Most people at this place can tell how good a project is but few really know just how much work you did with the BOBCAT. The job should have taken a fleet of equipment and lots of helpers and you did it by yourself with little more than a shovel,

Great job.

Otto

W O W !!! Great job DC. That is a beautiful setting. I like the low slope to the dam.

Otto,
I have a friend that just got an estimate on building a 3 - 3.5 acre pond for $30,ooo. He came and looked at mine and asked me what I thought about him doing the same. Buy a new 75 hp skid loader for $30,000, build the pond, and keep the loader. I told him definetly not.

Ewest,
I have an existing lake with a 20 ft tall by 600 ft long dam with a 2/1 slope on the back and it is really difficult to mow, so I went with a 3 to 1 front and back on this one.

DC70

Do you have a fish supplier lined up for next year? Just curious as to who has SMB in your area.

n8ly,
I talked to Jones from Ohio 2 years ago but have not made any arrangements. I will probably only stock the RES and FH minnows to start with. Then either in the fall or the following spring stock the rest.

Very impressive!

This is what I did. But I bought a dozer for $25,000 and spent two years digging and fixing the dozer to dig mine. While I could justify the expense of the machinery since I'm using it for other things on my land, and will sell it when I'm done, I couldn't justify the expense to hire it out. I honestly don't know if I would do it again as it was allot more work and headache then I ever imagined. In the end, it was worth it, but there was more then one time when I wished it was over with and I had never started it.

It's an interesting situation on whether to recommend buying the equipment and building it yourself, or in hiring it out. Both have there pros and cons. I honestly don't know which way I'd go on this without knowing the person really well. If they are the type to finish what they start, fix what breaks and overcome obstacles, then doing it yourself is probably the most satisfying way to go. If there is a good contractor with a proven history of getting it done on budget, and who doesn't disappear when there is a problem, then hiring it out is the way to go. Either way, it's expensive and time consuming.

Eddie

in my case, it sure didnt hurt to have a friend that wanted to put 160 hrs on a track hoe in two weeks. i rented the equipment and maintenance was on the rental co. thats not a bad way to go.

i cant recall someone who completed their project, giving credit to pondboss the whole way, then showing up on the forum w/ no questions, even has the stocking plan down.............just a perfectly beautiful project..........incredible story dc70, thanks for sharing it.

DC70,

What about stocking the BG when the FH & RES go in?

Congrats DC70! Looks great, thanks for the pictures!

Eddie,
I just about bought a used Case 1550 dozer 4 years ago, but chickened out after talking to an excavating contractor about the potential cost and intensive labor involved on breakdowns. I had some down time with my New Holland, but nothing bad enough that I couldn’t get it loaded on a trailer to take to the dealer or local welding shop. I read your thread on your pond building experience. My hat’s off to you, no obstacles that you couldn’t overcome.

Died,
I thought about renting equipment, but decided not to. I woried I would get it stuck, or it might rain too much, or that I would not have time to run it.


Blaine,
Even though BG are my favorite fish, I am not stocking BG or LMB in this pond. I want to try something different.

DC70

I bet a lot of people are now waiting for your stocking plans. Not me though. I can wait a day or 2 before I explode.

Merry Christmas to all!

Bobad,
How many fish do ya s'pose you can fit into that Christmas stocking?

bobad, I plan to stock with FH, RES,YP, SMB, and maybe some HSB.

DC70 - Your idea of fish combination for your location should work well. HSB will be compatable with the other fish you plan to stock. However, I would not stock the HSB until the others, your key part of the fishery, have had time to be reproducing and become established. Initially don't over stock number of HSB per acre (5-10/ac) unless you regulary feed pellets. As you probably have learned from readings here, you always want ample forage or small fish available as a backbone to feed the predators (in your case lg YP, SMB, some HSB). Shiners would be a good addition early in the stocking history. You can always add more HSB if needed or desired. With your chosen combination, if you ever decide you want BG & LMB they can always be added later and they will eventually (5-8 yrs after intro) become the dominate two fish species in the pond - they always do.

There are a lot of stories good and bad about doing the work yourself. If you have the time and enjoy getting out and working in the dirt go for it.
If you run into a problem most people are glad to help, You can always call me and I will be glad to tell you what I know.

Most of the time the bad news comes from the equipment.
Watch what you buy and know a mechanic. Renting might be the best way to go, but there is usally a time table with rented equipment.

This is where all my problem came from. Wrenching and buying parts for repairs killed my budget, but doing it all myself, I was able to build a bigger pond then I could ever afford to hire it done.

Eddie

Congrats on a great pond with such a small piece of equipment. I am surprised you didnt put a set of tracks on your skid steer to help with dozing the dirt up.

I toyed with the idea of excavating a 1/2 acre pond with my 30 year old backhoe but decided against it. I am glad I did. I hired a friend with a Cat excavator to dig the pond, but I moved over 4000 yards of sand and did all the landscaping. My old backhoe has moved a lot of sand in the last few years, and I have had about $3000 in repairs, doing all the repair work myself. I also bought a 5 yard dumptruck, and have sold enough sand to pay for a lot of the repairs.

Selling about $2500 worth of logs from the pond site helped defray costs as well. I still have all the equipment also.

As Eddie said very wisely, this kind of project is not for most people. It take a lot of time and patience. The right kind of friends are also a must.

WOW. Impressive.. I have a skid steer and tracks. I am planing on building a pond about the same size... Some questions:
How many hours did you put on the Sidsteer building it? What type of breaks and wear did such work cause on your skid steer? what size bucket did you have? did you have teeth on your bucket? what would you do different if you did it with a sidsteer all over again?

Thank you for your example and photos... you are an insperation

I owned an lx665 turbo w/tracks and tooth bar. It was a digging machine but I can also testify that the ride fell short of that of a Cadillac! 2.5 acres, thats amazing! Looks really nice!

All I can say is WOW, nice job.

Very cool read, great job! I can't wait to get my pond dam started! Again, great job!

Looks like you did a great job.

I don't envy you sitting that many hours on a skid steer. It did look like you took time to keep your work area smooth. That helps.

Its been awhile since I've looked at this thread. Anyways to answer questions and or statements, here I go.

Sitting on a skid steer that many hours was tough. My New Holland had solid filled tires and that took away any Cadillac ride that skid steers never had in the first place. I sat on a pillow.

I used forks to break up the soil a couple of feet deep as I didn't have a bucket with teeth.

Tracks increase the load on the engine when operating the machine. If it is too wet to push dirt without tracks, then it is too wet to work the dirt. Having tracks on the machine would have only slowed me down.

There were several reasons I did this pond myself. The pond builder I wanted to build my pond died in the middle of another pond renovation he was doing for me (nothing to do with my pond). I tried 2 other contractors and they never got back with me on a price. The recession that occurred at the same time. My work was slow as a result giving me time on my hands. I really don't recommend doing this yourself, but I take pride every time I look at what I accomplished, which is daily.

Also I didn't stock it like I wanted. Fish washed down from a neighbor upstream giving me LM bass, bluegill, green sunfish, and crappie. I had stocked RE sunfish and fathead minnow before I discovered the unwanted other fish. The cool water stocking plan got revised.

Thank you for your replies and I am sorry that I was absent so long from this thread. I just had someone I know tell me they came across this thread and it prompted me to look at it again.