Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site First Pond--Northeast, TX (atlanta)--suggestions?

Well its finally my turn to enjoy what most of you have already. Site has been under construction for about a month now. First dozer had mechanical problem and was to small for the job. My dad seen this and bought a dozer and is taking over. Here is where we are at so far.....






The dam is still in progress. I am headed this afternoon to pick up another 20ft of pipe to attach to the first 20ft so we can get the proper slope on the dam.

Dad is headed back Friday morning and will be pushing dirt all weekend.

Any suggestions?

and again you guys have a great forum

chuck

Welcome to the forum. I can;t believe I got to welcome someone before Jeffhasapond. Anyway, looks good. Give the experts of which I am not a little more info, i.e. size, depth, goals, aerating, feeding. As a person who has not yet finished my ponds (see "starting the dream" under site selection)the guys here can and will answer almost any question as they have answered hundreds of mine.

Good luck and welcome.

Thanks Kurt..

Ok the end result should be an acre. It is currently at llft and we are planning to go a little more as we clean up all that loose dirt. My plan is to creat a lmb pond, but my thoughts have not included aeration nor feeding so info there will be greatly appreciated.

Got additional 20ft pipe connected and graded appropriately and started covering. Now just waiting for the 4wd john deere 7210 to get here tomorrow to clean all the pushed out dirt.

my thread feels so lonely.

Hello bnc92102 and welcome to Pond Boss.

Many people on this forum turn to me for my expert opinion, my vast experience in pond management, my virtually limitless knowledge in all things in the pondom environment.

I shall impart upon you one mere nugget of a recommendation, one sliver of brilliance, one glimpse of genius, one small jewel of knowledge that will change your pond forever.

Prepare yourself for this vital information, this truth of the universe, this life changing revelation.

Sit in a comfortable chair.

Clear your mind of all thoughts, images and extraneous voices.

Be prepared to fill your glass of knowledge.

There, are you ready?

My recommendation is...

Get the guy out of the bottom of the pond before you fill it.


Thanks for joining up and posting. Hang on for more feedback.



The dog ate my homework.

On behalf of all the forum members, let me apologize for Jeff. The forum should come with a Jeff warning. just kidding, Jeff.

If you are not a Pond Boss subscriber I would highly recommend it. Also, look into purchasing one of the books. I bought and have read "Want a perfect pond..." more than half a dozen times, usually at night when my wife is trying to talk to me about something (usually it is about how I don;t listen or something like that).

I started by downloading many of the free articles on this site or at Bass Resources.

I believe Brettski along with others have put together a great thread on structure, cover and habitat. Get that structure in before filling. They can give you the link or go to my forum and you can find it.

There is more info here (and silliness) than you can imagine. Jump in and swim around.

bnc,

Welcome aboard!

Did you dig a core trench and pack it under the dike? Are you compacting the dike with sheepsfoot roller a layer at at time or something at least as effective? Also does your pipe have one or more collars? If not, you could be looking for trouble. It may not be too late to change this if you haven't done the above. It would sure beat trying to make changes after the pond fills.

It would also be better if your soil was damper for better compacting. It looks very dry in the pictures.

Not trying to dampen you're enthusiasm, just trying to prevent headaches in the future. This site is replete with folks lamenting about leaking dikes.

Compaction will be an issue. If you aren't compacting that dirt, with some moisture in it, your pond will leak. Also, if you intend for it to be a fishing pond, you should consider fish habitat.
What are your goals?

That is actually a very good idea. Most of my personalities agree with you.


Well there you have it Bnc, now you have the attention of THE Pond Boss.

Cecil,

yes it is being compacted. also i know you mentioned the collars it has two. we just decided to add another 20ft to get the proper slope on the back side of the dam.

we are compacting it you are seeing photos where i had been dumping dirt with the front end loader then he is compacting it behind me.

BNC: How wide is your emergency spillway? How much watershed?

Bing

Bing,

Just started the emergency spillway today. Its currently about 4ft wide and it runs into the same dry creek bed that the tinhorn does. What i was told was about 13 acres of water shed. The state came in and installed another culvert on the south side of my property which cuts the original flow to my property in half. But it now creates a perfect spot for pond number 2. I will post photos of that as well.

Here are some more photos from today. WE were just moving all the loose dirt from the main area of the tank. My dad would push it out and I would scoop it and drop off on the back side of the dam. Since we had to raise the dam 6ft above normal ground level we are using alot of dirt on back side to create a safe slope. Going to give it hell tomorrow as we have a chance of rain for the next ten days.















GUARD DOGS

Good deal. Just hope you soil has more moisture in it than it looks. I compacted a dike on a small pond with very dry soil during a drought. I had leakage although it had since dried out. Otherwise I'm glad to hear you are doing things right!

Cecil,

thanks for being concerned. if you take a handfull of dirt and squeeze it it compacts very nicely.