I am looking for some help with a farm pond that came with or new home. We moved in a little over a month ago from CA the Air Force finally sent me back to my home state to work and we bought the farm of our dreams. The Pond in question is about 1/4 of a acre I am finding out the depth tomorrow. The only other thing I can say about it is that we have hunderds of bullfrogs and thousands of tadepoles and one less snapping turtle now o yeah and a ton of leeches. The leeches is why I have not tried to walk it yet I know the deepest part right now is around 5 ft deep with about 1 to 2 foot deep of muck. I am really looking for some one to point me in the derection of some one to come out and look what I have. The wife stoped by the USDA/NRCS and they said they do not do visits anymore but if they were out or way they might stop by. I live in Bond county IL in Sorento. You might have seen that I work for the air force so uncle sam does not pay that much so I would like some help that would not cost me a arm and a leg and I am willing to do some work my self. I have been reading alot on here latley and there has been a lot of good pointers on here this is a great site. I will also post pics tomorrow with the ture deepth of the pond. Thanks again for the website.
Welcome, trapper53! Glad you've joined in with us. Congrats on the move home and the farm purchase! What an exciting time it must be for your family! And thanks for serving our country - your efforts are genuinely appreciated here!
Hang on for some input on your questions. In the meantime, give us an idea of what your goals are and that will really help the experts here to give you meaningful responses. BTW, there are lots of great and knowledgeable folks here on the forum who live in IL, so you'll get plenty of input from people who have lots of local knowledge.
Again, welcome!
Well got water levels today and it is just over four foot deep in the deepest spot. I would love to have a swiming hole and fishing hole for the whole family.
It looks like you are East of St. Louis. I don't know if fish will over winter in that shallow of a pond if you get much snow and ice cover.
Well now for my next question does anyone know, are have a idea how much it would cost to have the pond dug out. Also will a .18 ac pond do good in holding, and rasing fish, or should I just scrap the idea of digging it out and just trun it into a frog pond?
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This is a photo of the pond its not that great but I am deployed right now so not able to get any photos right now. Any help would be great I would love to do something with this when I return home.
I know sorento very good.. I live in Greenville now grew up in Pocahontas.. PM me I might know you.
Hallers excavating in Pocahontas will give you the best deal on digging or making you a new pond. He's made ponds in the past and knows what he's doing he charges about $90-$100 an hour for dirt work, he's fast too.. 4' deep would be only good for frogs, turtles, and Mosquitos. I'm sure it's been under snow and ice for a few weeks now..
That size pond will work but needs to be deeper. Before you spend the $ to get it deepened first check to see if the geology/dirt will sustain the depth needed. Fractured rock , springs , high water table , karsts all could be problems if they exist.
Suggest you contact Dave Sefton (Mongo here) in Brownstown, IL with your area questions. That is his business (building ponds). Have seen some beautiful small ponds he created. djsefton@frontiernet.net
Dave is definately the man to contact.. Hallers build pond but not specialized in it..
Thank you all I just emailed Dave so we will see hopefully I am enjoying a great fishing hole in a year or so.
Are you sure theres just 2ft of muck on the bottom? If its an old farm pond chances are the clay bottom could be hidding under 4ft of that muck and silt? When I cleaned out my 50year old plus pond it had 6ft of slop in the deep end.
Oh and tons of frogs and millions of tadpoles! No fish
Well the two feet of muck is just around the bank I have not walked out any deeper than that. My pond also has tons and tons of tadpoles and forgs. It also has tons of leeaches as well and a few snapping turtles, but no fish. I just hope when they dig it out they hit a good soild clay and when there done we get the same amount of rain as we did last year to fill it up.
I will upload some pictures of the before and after removal of 6ft of muck you will be suprised! Gota goto work post them tommorow.
Wow! That is a heck of a lot more affordable than I figured a job like that would run. So what's the story on the mud? Are you just leaving it in place and waiting for it to dry out and expand some level area on your place? Other plans?
Thanks for sharing that great series of pics. I am getting inspired to consider a similar deal on my 1/2 acre pond as I suspect it's got at least 3 feet of muck and perhaps more in some areas. Congrats on that great project!
Whoa pic #2 looks like Labrea(sp) tar pits! and the camera angle of that brimhead makes it look bigger than that Pol. Hawkeye!
That muck put became part of the bank last year
I am putting a aerator in this year so lets hope before I die I dont gota do that again! Its beyond cool when you can walk all over your pond and stand on hard clay, even as a kid 25 years ago that pond had sludge in it. Never again, I hope.
The tar pit:
It sure looks different (and a lot better) now.
Thanks for the post cody that made me feel alot better knowing that is can be done and not cost as much as a new car. I am on an tight budget with the wife finshing school and the military does not pay that much. Thank you all for the post now I have some thing to look foward to when I return home from this place and the weather should be nice back home then too. I can't wait.
Cody did you drain your own pond or did you have some one else do it for you?
Im sorry I missed your qustion till now. Rented a trash pump from United Rentals. Took me 6 days. Should have took 3 but had a huge rain. NOTE: I did flood the farmers field about 6acres away.