Thought you might like to see the progress I have made in three years part time with my little kubota. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2293/1729634740_233c10631a_b.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2087/1728784315_c1e667cbf7_b.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2332/1728786319_c8d2adb7ca_b.jpg

Great work Biil 1, really great work, congratulations! I have a little 16hp Kubota. Not tried what you have done and dont have a front end loader but people are always surprised what I can do with a breaking plow and a box blade.

What size do you have?

I showed up once to fix an older woman neighbor of mine's drive way with huge holes where the dumpster backed up, she also had drainage problems going from the hwy towards her house. Her son when I showed up gave me this smirky smile, "what can you do with that toy." Hour and a half later holes filled a broad gradually sloped drainage trough catching the water from the highway and draining away from her house and her "u" shaped driveway (two places to the hwy) was built up about a foot. No more smirks from her son, a astounded look. A year later everytime I see her she still offers to pay me.

But I am really impressed on what you have done. Pat yourself on the back for me.

Keep the pictures coming.

Are we to believe that you created that huge hole with just that tractor and front-end loader??? Holy Crimony...I'm flabberghasted. You musta read Eric-from-New-York's book on pond building. He prefers a shovel and a wheelbarrow.
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Seriously, it is an amazing feat. Can you provide details, volumes, anything...? Got a before pic?

You are to be congratulated. That is quite an accomplishment.

How Many hours do you have on the tractor now? You must have wore it out digging that hole. Is the pond dug in sand or clay?

Nice Bill, do you have plans to compact the soil with a different machine?

that is astounding! I have a kubota bx-24, which i truly love, but would never attempt a project like that with it. Your soil must be pretty unconsolidated. I had a lot of trouble digging with the front end loader , once i got to the clay.

I found this early picture to show how the project began. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/1736251504_fc3bdd5487_b.jpg The field had a slight depression so I began to dig and use the spoils to level the sides. You can see the water in the test trench I dug first. It has been at that level for the last 3 years! The material being removed is almost pure beach sand so its easy digging but a bitch to drive out of. The area is approximately 400ft by 500ft and 15ft deep. I should be done with this phase by December as I will be to the water table. Next I will have to hire an excavator to remove 3 more feet of sand which gets me to the clay that I need to line the sides. Then I will rent a compactor to assure a good seal. I have 710 hours on the b7800 so far with no problems.

I guess the runoff just continues to run-off, huh? Have you ever had any large amount of water that has stayed in the hole for very long? One hell of a job!

Bill, you might think about stopping now before you get to the water table. The water table is an aquifer that will both give and take. In other words, the impounded water will run backwards into the aquifer. I wouldn't go near it.

Congratualtions Bill. That's quite a feat. I guess you just about wore the seat out on that Kubota. I did just about the same thing in a 1.5a pond, in some really hard clay. I put 400h on my 29hp tractor, about 200h on my 35hp tractor. I would break up the clay 2-3" deep with a disk harrow, then push it up into piles and move it out. Prayers were answered when someone loaned me a 125hp Kubota and a JD650H dozer to finish the job. If not for the equipment loans, I would still be digging.

I began to get worried when I hit sandy clay, and because my neighbor's pond appears to leak. So I stopped 1-2 feet short of my original depth goal. Good luck with the sand!

Note to self: Don't buy a used tractor from Bill.

Scary thought . . .

A B7800 that is reasonably maintained should be good for at least 5000 hours without major work. If Bill keeps going at this rate, we're going to be reading that the Mackinac has collapsed and we don't need The Soo anymore because Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron have all been joined by some troll digging a pond below the bridge!

Neat project Bill. Welcome to Pond Boss. Keep sending pictures.

Ken

Dave I would like to get your opinion reguarding the ground water. I have explained what I would like to do in the soils section under "Ground water vs well". I really don't want to haul in clay to line the whole bottom as well as the sides when I have clay just 3 feet down that I could use.

Bill if the clay is in or below the water table You might have to excavate with a track hoe or steam shovel and let it dry out. Then come back with a paddle wheel scraper and spread it out to line the pond. One of the professionals here could probably estimate if that is cheaper than hauling it in. It would probably depend on how far the source is from the job. Either way is costly cause the dirt has to be moved twice rather than once.