Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site starting the dream

Decorate those PVC trees for Christmas!

P.S. Get some "reel weed" for garland.

I feel for you and your family Kurt. I'll add you to my morning prayers.

Having just spent 26 months in litigations, and a four day trial in Circuit Court, I am burned out. Did not win, but I did not loose, it was more of a push.

My law firm made two mistakes at trial, and two witnesses that were subpoenaed to testify never showed up. I could have charged them, but decided to let go.

Lawyer sent me a final balance bill a bit over 58K, while I already gave him 37K.

I just sent him a copy of the contingency fee agreement we had.

According to this agreement, all I had to pay for was costs like postage, court costs, witnesses, and the like. I should get a refund!!!

Haven't heard from him in months, also, the lawyer handling my case was fired from the firm a few days after the Bench Trial.

For all of you lawyers out there, I have not got one thing in my heart against lawyers. We sometimes need your help, make sure you do your best.

Even though, it is a journey to recovery after all is said and done.

I wish the best for you and your family.
J.

J - as one of those lawyers, I totally appreciate your sentiment. Sometimes it's hard to have as much of an emotional interest in our clients' cases when we have a large number of things pending at any one time. But, one thing I learned from parents who taught me the meaning of respect is that no matter how busy I might be, I treat every one of my clients' matters with the same level of importance that they assign to it. It's normally the biggest thing in their lives at the time we represent them, and I make sure that those in my firm know to treat it with the same respect and importance that our clients do. It's a great lesson and one that I certainly appreciate you commenting on here. Sorry to hear about what sounds like a very difficult situation you've just wrapped up.

And so as to no totally hijack the thread, Kurt, as the others have said, I'm really sorry to hear about the issues you're dealing with and agree with JHAP that you should at least consult with a reputable real estate attorney and get fully advised as to the options available to you as you decide how to move forward. Best of luck.

Thanks JBK, and everyone. What a terrible journey for JBK. There are probably more stories like that out there.

I spoke with the neighbors where the land is located and they are in the same boat. They brought the extra plots to sell in the future for their retirement. They can not build on the other two lots either. We are hoping to set up a face to face with the county zoning and township chairman.

After talking with my wife we are moving in a slightly different direction. We do not need to build a barn, garage or pole barn for the most part. We are looking at buying a used pop up trailer to leave at the the land for when we visit. The trailer would provide beds, water, toilet and place to hang out after fishing or swimming. I will build several small sheds, under 100 square feet (10 x 10) for storage. We can put a table and folding chairs and all the tools and fishing equipment in the sheds. I can run electricity to the lot and have water. I can build a nice fire pit, dock and may be a deck. I would like to build a 20 by 20 foot concrete slab (patio) upon which to set the camper and sheds and table and chairs.

I think this will be cheaper than a 3 car garage or similar building and allow us to utilize the pond and land until the road issue is resolved.

The big point is that we were not going to build a house until the kids are out of high school which is not for 14 years and we really do not need any type of outbuidling except for what I mentioned above. There are no covenants against camping or pop ups so at this point I do not see any problems. I hope the road issue is resolved by then.

I meet with an excavator today to continue to rough tune the pond work and design. At this point we are still moving a lot of dirt due to the rock and the basin limitations. Pond size is bouncing around and probably will need to come down to 1 to 1.5 acres. Once we get a fairly strong design and cubic yards amount (price) than I will bring in the pond consultant to begin the deconstruction and finalization of the plan.

All in all, the dream moves forward, slower than desired and more cautiously.

Happy holidays to everyone.

I am changing subjects a bit but keeping it here in the "dream" forum so as not to create too many separate threads. I hope that is okay.

I just received the next edition of Pond boss and I broke the rules. The magazine needs to last 2 months until the next one arrives so usually I must ration how much I read. I could not hold back and began into the Mr. Bob Lusk's article or follow up about converting the SM pond.

The question here is about riprap. Because of the abundance of rock at the pond site we want to riprap the entire pond. I have read about the beneifts and since I will have SM it seems to make sense.

Bob's article mentioned putting down fabric to help with weeds coming up through the riprap. He was doing an experiment. Considering the amount needed for even just a 1-1.5 acre pond, is this needed or is there another way to deal with weeds through the riprap? Do most people lay down some type of fabric under the riprap? I guess with the amount of work and money going into the 'dream', I want to do it right and best if possible.

There is probably a thread for this but any input is appreciated.

thanks

It all depends on the goals and type of cover you are creating. In my instance, I did use the weed block fabric, because with the water level fluctuations, the rip-rap would be soon become a weed choked mess.

hello friends
This ia really nice platform of that site. This ia a good site for given the information of the articles to read it.I always wishes to everyone the dreams will be come true....
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Ema

ema ?

I think we have moved to step 3 out of 1000. There still exists the no structure policy due to the road issue. My windmill for aeration is even a 'no go' because a windmill would be considered a structure.

I am holding onto straws here. The well is approved and I can run electric to power the well. I guess I will have to go with an electric aerator for now which is not end of the world.

Soil and Erosion are on board with the project. That covers the last permit and approval that I needed so I think we will start digging within the next few weeks.

We are hoping to removed the topsoil and start digging out all the rock so we can see what shape and size and material is there.

thinking positive and thanks for all the inputs.

Thanks for the update Kurt, please continue to keep us in the loop as to what is happening.

As another person who has battled legal trouble (mine deals with a neighbor building damns and trying to sabotage my project), I feel for you and your family. Be diligent and record everything. Take notes on conversations that you have, and try to get people to sign things. I have had several conversations with people from my county who supported what we were trying to do, who completely denied what they said when it got legal. Hang in there, and keep pursuing your dream.

Good luck and do keep records and pics.

I have been reading here for about 6 months and I have posted some really dumb questions but I am sure that this next one will win an award. I am a bit hestitant to show you all just how limited my understanding of pond building is but here we go...

My understanding is that I want to grade the banks at a 3:1 slope to limit weeds. Since I am digging out much of the basin and widening the sides by removing the rock and will have a bottom depth of about 15 feet (this is the height of the banks to the botoom). The banks will run down from the shoreline to the bottom at 3:1 slope. Here is the question...

That means that the entire bank is a slope until it hits bottom. My understanding is that I want to place the fish structure at around 6 feet, PVC trees, Christmas trees. The spawning beds will be in shallower areas.

How do you place the structure on the slope? Or do you cut ledges in the slope to go around the pond? In Southern Wisconsin at what depth do I want ledges?



You can congratulate me now but please help me before sending the medal.

The reason for 3 to 1 is twofold. One is to get deep enough to help reduce weeds the other is so the slope won't be so steep you can't work on it. It is not critical to have 3 to 1 slopes in the pond. On the back side of the dam if you have one you don't want a steep slope. Many don't use a 3 to 1 in the pond. Instead they rim or cut the edge so it goes from 0 to 6 feet as fast as possible. The exception would be places to get in and out of the pond (swimming areas) and spawning areas. I would put some structure at all depths below max ice thickness. Ledges are good for spawning beds and for fishing. Beds can be from 1 ft to 10 feet depending on the situation.

Just a quick update. The last agency Storm and Erosion Control finally gave approval for the project. We will move the machines up to the site tomorrow morning and begin the process of creating the dream.

This has been a fun 6 months of searching, learning and planning. I think I have read and re-read about 15 different state pond management booklets, two books by Bob Lusk and et al., every relevant article from Bass Resource and Aquaculture websites and many back ordered Pond Boss magazines BUT now I am ready to begin the process of creating. There is still SO MUCH MORE I need to learn but I am excited about this next phase.

For all of you who have already treaded down this path, I will continue to seek your insights and wisdom as the construction begins. I really am grateful for all the help. I can not imagine trying to do this pond by myself.

kurt:

If you haven't done so already, get a move on building cover to place in the pond. I really, really regret not having done so before the pond was completely dug. I'm still trying to get cover in the pond, over a year later.

Building some structure or cover was one of the things that kept me sane and occupied during the winter. I have built 9 PVC trees, re-used several artificial christmas trees and have people dropping off 20 or so pallets next week to make into triangles. I have rock at the site for mounds and spawning beds and there are a few large trees for brush piles. I will order a about 60 cinder blocks for stacking. With YP, SM and WE I am hoping this will be enough to start.

too exciting

Don't forget to bring your camera for the construction!!!!!

Multiply that by your audience of about 5500. We are ready for the next production. You're ON.

What a rush to see the dirt finally moving though in reality we moved more snow than dirt. The easement needed plowing before the crawler and track hoe could make their way to the land.

It is pretty cool to see the big machines doing 'their thing'. I was never much of a car or motor guy but there is something about machines ripping through the frost line and moving big chucks of dirt.

I'll post pictures next time. They are going to dig through the weekend moving the topsoil.

Kurt, ewest has sent out a thread with great pictures of pond structure ideas. Eric if you read this you should send that thread to Kurt to check out.

Here is the link to the archive on structure/cover.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

Kurt
I liked the part about the big equipment moving the dirt.. Get the camera out and learn how to post the pictures.

Otto

I love the smell of diesel in the morning. Since I often spill it on me, I get to enjoy the aroma all day.

Cannot say I love the smell but it is true if you get it on yourself it will be there all day.