Hi all, this will be a long post with a lot of pictures, I hope I don't bore anyone.

I started my pond(s) project in the summer of 2006.

I bought a Caterpillar D6C dozer hoping that would be the only tool I needed for the job.

My plan was to dig two ponds and connect them with a culvert. This was to facilitate driveway between them, as shown here:

Pond(s) plan

Here are some pictures of the very early stages of the small pond, it's only .32 acres in size:

Excavating 2006

I ran into a problem at about 8 ft deep, the gray clay was soaked, and I was afraid to get my dozer stuck. So I had to abandoned the digging for that year. I was disappointed, I wanted to get to 16 ft deep.

It was a very wet fall & winter, here is what the pond looked like the next spring/early summer:

Spring 2007

In the fall of 2006 I bought a CAT 225 excavator, as I needed to dig the small pond deeper, and knew I needed something to dig the large pond with.

The spring/summer of 2007 was very dry, I pumped out the ~7ft deep pond, and made a ramp down in, and took my CAT 225 as far in as I dared. I was able to get to ~14-15ft deep using my 225:

Deepening the small pond

I finally ended up with this:

Finished small pond

Now it was on to the larger pond with the CAT 225.

I am not an experienced heavy equipment operator, and it probably shows in my results, but here is how far I got with the large pond last summer:

Digging large pond

Cross section of channel

Unfortunately, I only got 2/3 complete with the excavation before winter & wet weather came. I can't dig in the fall/winter months if it's too wet, as my dump truck is just a Louisville tandem axle, I don't have a articulating dump. The pond stated to fill up quick:

Large pond filling

Ponds pretty full late winter

Finally, here is what they look like now:

Ponds, spring of 2008

Now, I know I have a lot of work to do with the banks, and the slopes in some areas. I wish I could have gotten everything done as quickly as the pro's do it, but that didn't happen.

All this time I have been concerned about just getting the holes dug, I really did not think about structure for fish.

Mainly, these ponds were dug because I needed the dirt to build up the land for 3 houses, mine, and my two brother's homes.

However, I want to have fish in these ponds.

What type of fish can I have up here in the north east? Some winters, the ponds could be covered with ice form November to April.

From my observation, LMB seem to be the only fish that can survive that...

What type of structure do I need in the ponds?

I have 1/3 left of the big pond to dig, should some of that be shallow? Most of the banks on what I have dug so far are 3:1 or 2:1. Do I need a shallower section with a more gentle slope for fish to spawn?

ETD, looks good. The experts will chime in shortly - they'll want to know where you are located.

I am located where the red dot is on this picture.

Western New York

Hi, ETD66SS.

Welcome to the forum.

That screen name of yours is sure going to be hard to remember.

I haven't read the entire post yet, but plan to do so.

Bruce

Important question...

Where does your water come from? I might have missed if you mentioned it already.

It's a very important concern to know if your water comes from groundwater, well or runoff.

Well, without any rain, the pond filled up from ground water to about 6 ft deep. The rest was from runoff...

I have not checked the depth yet, but a good guess would be that it's 14 ft deep at its deepest point.

There are no creeks or ditches leading to the pond. The terrain is very very flat.

Here are a couple of aerial shots from 2006 when I was struggling with the small pond, the large pond was not started yet. It will give an idea of my surroundings:

Aerial

None of those farmers' ditches run into my ponds...

14 feet of water, or basin?

I dug 18 ft down, the water is about 3-4 ft from the top of the basin.

Interesting. I'm no hydrologist, but if water fills up six feet with ground water I think that means that water can also drain down to that point via the same avenue. Does it seem like the pond is retaining water nicely during dry periods?

Back to fish for a minute. Have you considered SMB or YP?

Well, only the small pond sat for an extended period of time with water in it.

However, that was before I got it to full depth.

The basin was 8 ft deep, after winter it had pretty darn near 8 ft of water in it.

It sat in hot dry weather for 2 months before I pumped it out to finish the excavation.

From the ice melt in April, to early June, you could see the water wicking into the banks. I lost maybe 1 inch per week of water level.

This large pond, I will be pumping out soon. So I will not get a good indication of that for both ponds until next spring/summer. As I will be pumping out the large pond into the small pond and letting the excess run through my overflow system, then finish the large pond.

I do have a lot of clay, and am still wondering if I should be lining the banks of these ponds to ensure the water level does not fall drastically. So far I have not see any drastic water loss, but none of the ponds has sat a whole year without me pumping them out, etc...

As far as fish, I'll put in whatever my pond can support...

I'm not really picky.

Most ponds around here have BG & LMB.

I fished in ponds a lot around here as a kid, I don't think I ever caught a SMB.

YP = Yellow Perch?

I found this article:

Northern Michigan Ponds

Probably very close to what my pond can support up here in Western New York

Oh, I have very sandy soil. Topsoil is 7.5 ft thick of sandy loam.

EDT66SS

On my way to work but will look at the pictures sa soon as possible.

OTTO

Here is the pond site evaluation that was done by the Niagara County Soil & Water Conservation District.

Pond site Evaluation

I told him I'd like to dig to 20 feet, I only could get to an ~18ft deep basin due to the rocks in the glacial till, it was very hard digging. Some of the rocks were bigger than my CAT 225 excavator bucket could handle.

So in winter/spring, the water should be a maximum of 16.33 ft deep.

If the water can fluctuate 50 inches, it means in the middle of a hot dry summer, the water could drop to be as low as 12.16 ft deep.

I have not decided yet if I want to line the banks with clay that I dug up from the pond. It is a very silty/sandy type clay. When it's dry it just crumbles in your hands. The banks are too steep for me to pack it down with my D6C dozer, so the best I could do would be to just spread it on the banks, and hope it does not just slide down into the pond bottom.

I was supposed to stick to a 3:1 slope, but in my excavator inexperience, some of the slopes are 2:1...

I also have to assume some of the sandy loam will erode from the banks and slide down into the pond. So I will probably lose 1 ft of depth there as well...

So all in all, I will end up with a pond that will fluctuate from 15 ft of water in winter spring, to as low as 10-11 ft in a hot summer. Unless I can line the banks with clay to hold more water in the dry months. Since I can't sheep foot the clay on the side, I'm not sure I should put anything there but topsoil & seed it ASAP to stop erosion.

Here is the pond location in relation to the soil map:

Soil Map

EIA sandy loam is what makes up the banks to 7.5 ft down, then I hit clay...

EDT66ss
Got a lot to say just don't know where to start.A deep hole is great but only if it has water in it, if the sloops are to steep to pack any material on they may be to steep to walk up and down.

Do you have room to cut the top 7.5 feet back to a softer sloop then pack the clay. This will also make the access easier.

OTTO

I plan to take the Excavator around the banks and make a friendlier slope, yes...

At least get them back to 3:1, 18 degrees.

I'm just not sure if I need to pack clay there? Will the clay I have even work?

If you read that pond site evaluation, it does not say I have to line the banks with clay, it only says that is an option if I wish to do so.

The clay I have is so silty, it looks grey when I dig it up, but piled up next to the sandy loam & dries out, it almost looks the same. I'm not sure it would be good for sealing?

Here is a picture of my spoils piles:

Piles

Here are a few pictures showing the clay when freshly dug up, it does not look like this when it dries, it looks almost just like the sandy loam soil:

Clay

I could go around the banks, remove some of the soil, replace it with clay, then add a layer of topsoil, like this picture depicts:

Bank Construction

My big question is, will all that effort provide results? Or will all the diesel fuel be used in vain if the clay I have just lets the water run right through it?

Would I have to line the island banks with clay as well? I would think no?

I did dig a test hole a few years back:

Layers

I tried the soil test where you take a wad of the clay and try to roll in in your hands. My clay was very silty, and crumbled, but I could do the test and IIRC, got about a 1/2 in diameter piece to get about 3 inches long before it broke. It was certainly not like modeling clay however...

Well I measured the depth of the water tonight, a bit disappointed.

The water depth was only 11 feet, not 14 like I had guessed.

The water level to the top of the basin stands at 34 inches. So at most, the depth would be maybe~12 feet with the water table at it’s height, and as low as 8 feet deep during the dry season.

The small pond was at the same depth, 12 feet.

I still have 1/3 of the large pond to dig, I guess I will have to spend more time chipping away at that glacial till if I want a spot that is deeper...

Has anyone ever had a GPR (ground penetrating radar) geological survey performed?

The soil conservationist who has been helping me with my pond design has stated that I must not hit bedrock, as that is like adding a drain to the bottom of your pond.

I dug the basin 15 ft deep, but if I want coldwater fish of some type, I need to get to at least 20 ft deep. He told me to keep a minimum of 2 ft of glacial till between the bottom of the pond and bedrock.

I really don't have a place to dig a 25 ft deep test hole to look for bedrock, nor do I want to waste the diesel fuel to do that.

I was hoping I could get a GPR survey done. The radar's look almost like little push mowers, and I only need a small area surveyed.

I have contacted a the place that did my survey, as well as a few other places, but can't seem to come up with anyone who even has the equipment.

Oh, and yes I did think of core drilling, but that looks more costly to do than just wheeling a radar over the ground. Plus I have a lot of large rocks in the glacial till, undoubtedly you'd be drilling more than one hole due to all the rocks down there...

Any ideas?

Here is a company who manufactures the units: GSSI

I think your ground radar use would be a first here. Very interesting implications in areas where bedrock is close to the surface.

Still trying to get a hold of what is going on, This groung radar sound like a good idea espicall if it could take the place of gigging test holes. So far the smale model you describe has not been around here, but still looking.

As far as bedrock. When you dig and hit the rock stop digging and cover the rock with two feet of clay. be sure and pack the dirt.

Sometimes mother nature will not allow us to get everything we want without spending more money that the place is worth.

Have some more pictures:

Second day of pumping:

Pond level after 2 days pumping

Third day of pumping:

Pond level after 3 days pumping

The pictures helped out a lot. It still looks like the slops are steep enough that any kind of working of them adding clay would be tuff.

You have to pump them out to work, maybe they hold water good enough that no clay needs to be added.

DO YOU HAVE YOUR PLANS MADE TO COME TO THE CONFERANCE

Otto

I'm re-cutting the banks with my excavator then spreading clay with my dozer. Trying to end up with a 3:1 slope.

Banks

You will be a lot happier with the new slope send some in progress and after pictures

otto

Unfortunately the best I could do on the slope was 4:1 down ~7ft to the clay layer.

I tried a steeper slope but got my dozer stuck on the bank, the tracks just spin in the loose soil at a 3:1 slope, luckily I had my excavator to help pull it up.

Will a 4:1 slope all the way around the pond create vegetation problems for me? I don't want cattails, etc...

Latest pictures: Rear Banks

The normal rule is if the sun's light can penetrate the water and hit the dirt something will grow. A little steeper might have been better but if the dozer was already getting stuck you did all you can do.

OttO

Well, this water gets really clear, so I'm probably going to have a fight on my hands with weeds.

I'll have to manage them I guess.

I would like a steeper slope, but then I'd have to use my excavator bucket to spread the clay out with, that would use a lot more fuel and take a lot more time to do...

You need to be proud of the work you did it looks great. Your weed problem will not be as bad as you think.

otto

Hi guys: I have a 3/4 a. new, muddy pond with zero structure except for a large rock ledge slmack in the mniddle of the pond. Basin is about 12-14 with most of the depth at about 7-8 feet. I am beginning to add structure this weekend. I am putting 6-8 10 ft. cedar trees in cemented buckets,wired together and standing upright. I have 3-5 20 foot cedars to lay on their sides with cinder blocks to keep them down. In the shallow end I have spread 15 tons of creek gravel, and plan to put wood pallets weighted down with large boulders, in that area. I also have about 75-80 basketball (or larger sized rocks from the property to dump (hopefully strategically) into the pond for addl structure. Question: Should I drop a large oak into the pond or will the tannin acid be too much for it to handle? Any other suggestions will be greatly appreiated. I plan to begin stocking this fall, but will put some baitfish in shortly. I am shooting for a bg, red ear, lmb pond.

jd, if I recall correctly you want to aviod putting an oak in your pond if it is still fairly green, if it's been dead and dried for several years you should be OK. Hopefully someone else with some expierence using oaks will chime in.

JD I use oak a lot. We have a running debate here if green oak will cause problems. I say it is ok if you have adequate alkalinity , some others say it may cause a problem.

Having said that , I don't think you need any more structure than you have described in your post. The general rule is one or two pieces per acre is enough. It sounds like you have about 10 times that much.

I will never again put freshly dead oaks into a pond. I did it and poisoned my water for a couple of years. I finally pumped it dry. That's a huge thing in arid North Texas.

Try something. Cut a piece of the oak and put it into a bucket of pond water. If the water turns black, don't do it.

Don't take the chance like ewest said you have enough.
It would still be interesting to see if the water turned black like Dave Davidson said. Try that experiment and let us know.

Otto

OK guys - I'm a little out in front on this one. I cut a one foot piece from a freshly cut black/post oak, put it in a clear plastic tub and within 6 hours the water was turning black. The next morning the water was real black. NO OAKS in this pond unless they are root wads 1-2 years old. I'll back off some of the structure. Sounds like you guys think I may have too much. I'll cut it back and add if I need to later on. Thanks for the help fellas. JD

Those post oaks must be different. Never had a problem using red , white ,black jack , or any of the other 20 types around here. No post oaks here.

I am having a problem with black water , alkalinity of 55, and ph of 63. Already put 6800 lbs of lime in. U of A at pine bluff is checking my soil tomorrow from the pond. They are already saying I will need much more lime. Guess what? the pond is loaded with red oak, white oak, and pin oaks. does that answer everybody's question about oaks?

When I did it, I stocked to see what would happen. It killed everything within hours. Next, I tried experimenting with bleach. I added a couple of drops to a jar of the water and it cleared beautifully. Then I went to a swimming pool supply place and bought 10 pounds of chlorine, enough to sterilize 2 Olympic size swimming pools. Nada. 175 pounds later, I had changed the color slightly. I then pumped it dry and let Texas summer cure my problems.

I've seen it several times. Live, standing timber that floods doesn't cause a problem. Older, dried oak doesn't cause a problem. However, the tanins in fresh cut or pushed oak is a deadly toxin. It is used in tanning hides and, if I recall correctly, a tiny, tiny bit goes a long way.

Lusk once told me that in certain soils, the alkilinity is such that it doesn't cause a problem. I just don't remember the specifics.

My wife is the director of aquatics at our local indoor facility which hold 480,000 gal of h2o. With her degree in chem., minor in biology, and 7 years experience balancing alkalinity, ph, acidity, etc., I've got a built in "expert". All she needs to know is how all that relates to a "pond" with fish, instead of a "pool" with a bather load of 400-500 people per day, hee hee!! I think she'll make the transition well, cause she's my crappie fishin buddy also. We are going to begin water testing this weekend and as we make progress, and add chems etc, I'll give yawl some feed back, for what it is worth. Feel free to jump in with suggestions. Gonna be fun.. JD

jimmydee

This is great. Keep your wife on the case for us.

Bring her to the conference with you.

Otto

My pond thread has been hi-jacked!

Happens all the time around here.

Etd, I am in gasport NY and have a small 3yr old pond and have the same water depths as you. I am in the third year of my stocking plan and I am seeing great growth rates and my fish are very healthy. I started with fatheads as feeders and allowed them the run of the pond for a year to get established. We can talk about the structure I added for a new build so the minnies have a place to hide if you want. The second year I added LMB and Yellow Perch I added them at 3-5 inch fish and they the LMB are to 8-14 and the YP are 9-13. I hand feed twice a day and suppliment with 2-3 lbs of minnows every two months. I just put in 30 sunnies to breed feeders for the established preditors. I am not a pond pro like most of the guys on this board but I am in your area and so thought this info may help. Buy the way your concern about winter die off is not an issue I have not lost any fish to a winter dieoff the herons are the only fish killers you will have to worry about.
Hope this helps
Scott

to keep the herons out stake a white ribbon 1 inch thick around the perimiter of the pond right at the waters edge, stake it every 20-30 feet or so. ive heard this works

Chris
let us know if that works White ribbon is cheep.

Otto

I had herons come as soon as I started stocking fathead minnows. Four or five a day. I bought a heron decoy from Bass Pro Shop and have had One heron in six months. I was told they are territorial. Worked for me.

My decoy looks very real and seemed to work for a few weeks, but now the herons aren't fazed by it. I've seen them standing within a few feet of it. I've been told I should move it frequently, but...I guess I'm too lazy.

You did get the model with heat-seeking laser blaster, didn't you?

There's a falcon decoy that flaps its wings and screeches. It's supposed to be very effective, but pricy I would think.

hey Schreoder

My decoy has been sitting in the exact same spot for 6 months and only one heron challenged it. Mine came from bass pro shop for about $36, maybe yours didn't look real enough? I don't know, but I live in an area that is infested with fish eating birds, maybe it is the detail on the decoy.

I'm almost done digging, and I want to get some seed on the island and perimeter after a bit of landscaping to help with erosion next spring.

What should I plant?

It won't be mowed for a few years probably, especially the island...

Here are some progress pic's The first pic shows how little digging I have left.

Almost done digging

ETD our pics look great. I live in NW PA about 25 miles south of Erie, just wondered how far west you lived in NY? I am digging a pond here on a much muddier site than yours, it's been a real SOB to dig but I am gaining. I will not have any trouble keeping water if the amount that comes out of the ground is any indication. I went to college at RIT just wondered more about where you were and would love to come see that pond when you have it finished, even before it is full I'd love to take a look at it. Sorry to hijack your post yet again, heh heh, just liked the looks of your project is all, good job!

i would think yp or bluegills would also survive well
what kind of temps does the pond have in the summer
if it stays under 70 degree's trout might survive too

the water table thing scares me too!

JoeG, I live in Newfane NY, which is about 35 miles due north of Buffalo.

Here are some more pictures, almost done digging. I can't believe I'm almost done. I started this project 2 years ago!

Almost there

ETD66SS, That is an awesome pond, great job with the design and creation. Is bottom and side structure next on the list?
Maki

There is a lot on the "list", but yes, I do need to think about some bottom structure, but nothing that will eat fishing lures...

Here is the rest of this years list if you're interested:

Here is the overall plan for my layout:



These pic’s show where I dumped many loads of loam to build up the area where my future house, front & back yards will be, I'm not currently dumping or spreading any where my barn/appt. will go, as I plan to start building that on virgin soil next year, will just backfill to the height of the rest of the area:

[URL="http://usera.imagecave.com/Whitedwarf/Pond-7-12-08/Pond_0599-01.JPG"]http://usera.imagecave.com/Whitedwarf/Pond-7-12-08/Pond_0599-01.JPG[/URL]

[URL="http://usera.imagecave.com/Whitedwarf/Pond-7-12-08/Pond_0600-01.JPG"]http://usera.imagecave.com/Whitedwarf/Pond-7-12-08/Pond_0600-01.JPG[/URL]

The very next step is to line the rest of the banks of the large pond, and then the small one with clay. Dump some topsoil around the ponds and box blade the banks and the island, and get some seed down. Still don't know what kind of seed to use.

Then I need to get some sonotube and put in 2 or 3 concrete pilings for one end of the bridge on the island. I will probably leave the land bridge in until I get the steel/wooden bridge designed & built. The bridge will have about a 60 ft. span.

Then landscape the area until I get the slopes I want. I'd like the high point to be where my future house will go, sloping back towards the pond, and the front yard sloping towards the swale. Then get some seed on that.

Then I need to finish grade my driveway area, as well as my younger brother’s driveway area, buy geotextile and get stone down.

My younger brother’s house will be to the right of my lot, in front of the drainage swale. My older brother’s house will be where the spoils piles are. My younger brother plans to build with me next year, my older brother probably not for 5-10 years. So I only need to concentrate on 2 areas for building right now. The spoils piles can be dealt with over time as we require fill.

Then after all that, I need to get back to cutting & splitting firewood to sell. I try to make up for diesel costs by selling firewood. I designed & built this log splitter 2 years ago:

[URL="http://usera.imagecave.com/Whitedwarf2/Splitter/"]http://usera.imagecave.com/Whitedwarf2/Splitter/[/URL]

I need to get all that done in the next 3 months.

The most lure-friendly structure is "stick-ups" made from floating poly pipe. Cut 3/4" poly pipe into 2'-4' lengths (according to the water depth). Plug 1 end with clay, and it will cause the pipe to sink and stand upright on the pond bottom. A group of 20-40 make a nice little artificial weed bed, with no worries about snagging your lures.

I was thinking more natural structure like this:

Pine Trees

Not as lure friendly, but easy to do, especially around Christmas time...

Find a plumber and get his left over pvc pipe. My brother has his own plumbing business, so my wife and I started as soon as the pond was complete, a 3 acre pond. As the water filled, we would start a new row of colored Christmas tree looking stands. As the water filled those we would start a new row, this way we had deep cover as well as shallow. Get all different sizes, colors, and lengths.
Take the 4" pipes (3-4') and drill 1" holes through. Then push 1" pipes (3-4') into those holes in the 4" pipes and glue with plumbing glue for pvc. Drill tiny two holes in 4" pipe, 2-3" from bottom and screw in 3" screws half way. Take your shovel and dig a hole as deep as the head of the shovel, then set the Christmas tree looking pvc pipe tree into it, pour a little quick crete, add very little water, and then cover with the wet soil you dug up making a mound at the base.
Use three 4" black pipe 5-6' long, or ( 5-6 1" yellow,green, gray rolled pipe 5-6' long), all with screws in base. Stick these in a shovel hole the same as above, but build a larger dirt base. You may have to use a tree branch or stick to prop them up off the ground at first, but as water comes they will float up like tree roots or like tree spouts. Awesome to see.
For protecting your minnows, go to a service station or tire store and get their old tires. Use about 10- 16 per location. Stand the upright in no particular order or size. Cover with 1" chicken wire, making sure the wire cover all the tires with some lying on the pond bottom. ( my wire was only 4' wide so I weaved 1/2" pvc pipe through the seams of wire to make them one piece) Stake the wire to the pond bottom (stake it good) with stakes at an angle. Over the stakes place two holed concrete blocks and then fill the holes in the blocks with quick crete. As an added touch I put about a dozen or more concrete blocks (sometimes called foundation blocks) on top of these minnow beds just to add more protection and character. These will allow the fatheads and rosey reds to enter this area and the bass can not. The minnows will lay their eggs inside the tires and hatch safely.
My dam is 560' long. Every 100 feet I used a pallet of concrete blocks or foundation blocks, to make a small rock line (about 3-4' wide) from just below the surface to the deeper water. Throw the blocks turned every which way and on top of each other about 3 blocks high.
I got lots more things, but one last one. Take 5 plastic garbage bags. Open one and place one bag inside that one, then open that one and place one inside that one and so on. Now with 5 inside each other lay flat on ground with a cotton string 4-5" from closed end of sacks. Ly the string under the stacks going from side to side. Place a large rock or brick inside the bags all the way to the closed end. Take a knife and shred the plastic bags from the cotton string to the openning of the bags. Pull the string around the bags with the rock inside the bags and tie. Now just drop into pond and in several days the cotton string will rot and opens into a plastic plant held in place by the brick that you can easily pull lures through.

Lots of good stuff. Most of the time your imagination is the only limiting factor with structure.

Otto

That's true Otto, and I have stuffed my 3 acre pond. A great one is if your pond is full, take tires that you can get for free from tire stores or service stations,and drill holes in tread and sides of half the tire. The other half screw 3 -4 screws into the tire going all the way through to the inside of the tire. Set the tire upright with drilled holes at the top and the screws on the bottom. Pour some quick crete into the bottom of the tire with the screws (screws will hold quick crete in place) and mix in some water. Let it set, then drop them out of a boat anywhere you want them in your pond. The sand crete will drop first and the drilled hole end will stand up.
I also found a junk yard (some people call them antique stores) LOL, that had broken plastic tables, commodes, and sinks. Got them for almost nothing. Set them up in the pond before the water came up. Looked like you were suppose to sit on the commode at a table. LOL! Many people have things that would be safe to put in a pond and would be happy to have them hauled off.Quick crete is cheap and a great way to weight down holding things in place. Many of them are almost snag free for the lures.

That is perfect.

I just don't know. It seems like littering the bottom of my pond with plastic & tires is not what I want. I liked the Christmas tree idea because it was "natural" structure. But I'm sure it's not as good a home for small fish as some of the stuff you describe...

If you want your fatheads and rosey reds to survive and produce, you must give them protection, not only for breeding, but for daily life activities. What is under the water on the bottom of your pond is never seen, so tires and plastics don't effect my view, and I can see my pond from every single room of my house. The pond wraps around my house for about 1200',and on one side is as close as 80' or less. It will also make it more of a challenge to fish.

I have seen a bunch of pictures of contraptions people made.

Is there a good website that has pictures, and even design drawings of structure from PVC, etc.

I'd like to browse a bit more and try to decide what I need.

My pond is only 1 acre, I don't imagine I need more than 2 pieces of structure...

Lots of ideas and pictures using different materials in the Archives Structure thread

Perfect!

Thanks.

There is so much you will learn from just looking at the pictures in the archives. You will come up with some of your own ideas.

OTTO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I took last week off from work.

I was able to get the banks of both ponds lined with clay, and also get a bit of landscaping done.

I only have the land bridge to the island left to hog out.

I need to get the pilings for the deck & bridge put in before I remove that last bit of dirt.

Here are a bunch of pictures:

Clay-Lined-Banks

I did this yesterday in my new pond. Take four pieces of 4" pvc pipe, 24 inches long, and sandwich them between two wodden pallets. Wire this config. together, attach a cinder block, and dump it in. Nice as a BG condo, and some place for FH to breed.

EDT66SS
pic looked great.

jimmydee

Sounds like you are having fun, Keep it up.

Updated Pictures

Latest Pictures

Man that looks cold, cold, cold.

3.5 ft to go!

I don't think the ponds will fully fill up this spring...

There is a pond down the road that was dug 2 years ago, only now does it look full.

I guess I just have to wait & see.

ETD66SS, keep your fingers crossed it's only march, nice setting for a pond.
Just a comment, and I know some farmers call them sissy bars, but consider putting a roll bar on your tractor, stick around so you can enjoy your pond.
Good Luck.

Thanks for the pictures, They look great

Here is a picture from April 2008:



Picture from the same spot in April 2009:



Here is a bunch of the latest pictures taken today. Going to do landscaping & seeding of grass on the rest of the bank of the large pond soon.

Ponds 04-23-09

Looks good, is that an island?

Yes, that is an island that I will be building a bridge to get on to.

Very cool set up... Keep us updated with future work via pictures!

I dug a test pit last week, let the pit fill in with ground water for 24 hours. Then compared the water level in the pit to the levels in both ponds with my transit & survey rod.

The larger pond level is 8 inches above the test pit level, and the smaller pond 23 inches above.

It looks like my clay lining is holding so far.

Great looking pond, that island would be a great place for a Gazebo or small cabin.

Latest pictures, finally finished landscaping around both ponds, planted the last bit of grass seed. Now my attention turns fully on grading out the rest of the area that will be my yard.

Pictures

I have a clay lined pond and so far it is holding good.

I'm wondering if someone has any advice on a valve I can use to manage the water level in my ponds.

Unfortunately, there is not enough watershed to refill my ponds during the fall after a dry summer.

I dug a ditch to the pond from neighboring farm fields, and that filled the ponds up in 1 day after a good rain. I know field runoff is not the best option, but it's all I have.

With the water at it's highest level, the ponds are still 6" lower than I want the water level to be in the spring.

What I need to do, is have a culvert with a shut-off valve in it. In the fall, I open it, let the ponds fill up, then shut the valve. Then let them fill up with snow melt in the spring, this will get the ponds to their maximum level. Then as summer rolls around I'll start to lose water via evaporation. Re-open the valve the next fall, etc.

I have a length of 15" dia plastic smooth bore culvert pipe. I have been unable to find some type of gate/butterfly vale to use with it.

I have found a 10" dia PVC butterfly valve, but it is $700, and just not the right application for it.

Any ideas?

Look at this thread and look at the links.

culvert valve

I have a similar discharge from my 1.5 acre pond in Michigan. I got some help from Agri Drain. They modified a water level control box for me. They raised the discharge rubber boot that fits a 12" CM culvert, to the top of the box instead of having it at the usual bottom of the box. Basically this is a stop log type device made of very heave duty thick fabricated plastic material. I ordered a 2' deep and 20" wide standard box and the modification only cost $25. I also bought an extra 3" high "board" because it comes standard with 5" and 7" high boards which did not allow fine tuning of the pond level. I put this device on the end of a 24 foot culvert which goes under my wagon trail and so far it is working great. The whole business cost me about $450. (excluding the culvert)

any pics TMK?
during installation?

I'll take a pic of the installed unit if we get a snow melt, but did not take any pics during the install.

Here is a picure of the installed overflow control box attached to the end of my 12" dia CM tube.



You can see that the water level is about 2" below the top edge of the "stop Log". My main discharge plumbing is actually trough an 8" dia pipe from the bottom of the pond. This box is intended as a flood control only. I added the expanded metal mesh to keep the muskrats out of the tube.

How well do they seal up to keep water from leaking out around where the "boards" are?

The boards have what look like felt strips that are lubricated to seal in the aluminum channel, and on the bottom of each board. They are water tight. The box comes with a special tool to lift out or slide in each board. I have another smaller box for my main 8" bottom discharge control. I don't see any leakage in either box.

I'm also intending to build a bridge on my pond. What kind of structure are you planning to use?

I took pictures yesterday:

Water Level

The water is as high as it can be at the moment due to drainage. I would like it 1 ft higher. I will definitely need an Agri Drain setup, because when the water recedes in the late spring it will be 1.5 ft lower than these picture show, which is 2.5 ft lower than I want.

The Agri Drain setup will go in the swale I show in the above pictures.

As far as the bridge, all I have is bridge peirs so far:

Peirs

I'm not sure how I will construct the bridge yet. Maybe as simple as steel I-beam with a wood plank deck. Not sure. It's a 50 ft span.

Great foundation planning, ETD. 18" base pier? 10" columns? What are you using to tie them together?

The base of the center piers is a plastic 55 gal drum cut in half, so 23" diameter x 17.5" tall.

On top of those I have 4 ft of 12" sonotube, then on top of those 6 ft of 8" sonotube. The piers on either end are just 4 ft of 8" sonotube in the ground.

Inside the center concrete piers is a steel 3" I-Beam structure I welded together and poured the concrete around, you can see two cross members in a couple of the pics. I also added rebar vertically in all columns about 1-2 inches from the wall of the sonotube.

The word "stout" comes to mind. Nice work.

I like it. Have to ask; what is "sonotube"? Looks like maybe a square steel tubing? Are you thinking about raising the bridge high enough to get a small boat under it? I'd like to see your plan for the top structure when you get that far.

Maybe I should pump my pond down next August and do a similar foundation. I had been planing to use 4, 4"x6" pilings to support a 32' span, and I'm having trouble finding a contractor to do the job w/o costing an arm and a leg. Your approach looks like a good do it yourself project for a reasonable cost.

sonotube info My best try at describing them is layers of waxed constuction paper in a tube form.

a little more visual stuff with sonotubes

Brettski, where'd you rent the "post hole" digger?

Newest pictures showing the water level and the temporary dam I put in to hold back the water until I put in an Agri-Drain system.

Latest Pic's

Moved

Latest pictures of my ponds.

There has been a lot of rain up here this spring, and the ponds are about 1 ft higher.

I'm in the process of installing an aeration windmill. Hopefully I can get it to work with all the trees around me.

Ponds 2011

nice place

I've heard that an aerator can help control duckweed growth.

Also this site about duckweed says that many animals will eat duckweed and keep it in check. Im thinking of combining fish with an aerator and hopefully I wont be skimming every few days.

The site also has some other ideas for controlling duckweed but doesn't really say what works or what is the best way to go about it. Suggestions? Anyone know a site with better info about duckweed?

Welcome to the forum! How big is your pond, and what are your goals for it?

I've found that while the animals and fish listed on that site will eat duckweed, none of them will eat enough of it to control it unless that is the only thing that is available for them to eat.

Diquat when sprayed on duckweed according to the label, does a good job.

I made a satellite picture progress document of my pond digging.

Pond Project

Nice piece of land you got there! It's interresting to note that the tree in the "island" survived. You just never know what they will do.

Eddie

Nice. What did you use to get the satellite pictures?

Satellite

I don't know if other states have such a resource.

The last sat pic in my pdf there is actually from Google Earth, as they had the newest pic I could find.

I normally use that link above, plus zillow.com, and Google Earth to see who has the latest pictures.