Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations $8k for 1/2 acre dirt work?

Does $8k sound steep for a 1/2 acre pond build? No material removed from the property... just pushed around. The whole area is nothing but clay which sucked for my family who farmed the land but is great for my pond ambitions. I talked to the dozer guy that a few guys at work told me about and then talked to a few of the people he has built ponds for. Everyone is pleased with his work but nobody I talked to seemed to have any real knowledge about their pond other than there is now a hole in the ground with some water in it that they like to sit on a bench and look at.

I'm not looking for any fancy dirt work... my goal is a roughly 5 acre rectangular pond with a 1 in 3 grade out to a max depth of 18' but I'm not paying $80k for a hole in the ground.

I looked at dozer rental prices online and you can rent a D8 for $2k/day. Even if his markup is 100%... does $8k seem steep for nothing more than some dozer (I think he uses a D5) and no roller work?

Maybe I should spend the time and money at the local trade school learning how to operate heavy machines and build my own pond?

I know it's not that simple but $8k for 1/2 acre seems like way too much.

I have a 1/2 acre pond and have much more than 8K into the dirt work. Not too mention the bentonite I had to add to stop leaks. So 8K to me sounds very reasonable. But then again many factors go into this and some sites are better suited for a pond than others.

Two things I would do, is find out how many hours he's estimating for the job, and then his hourly rate.

Then I would call other dirt guys and see what the average hourly rate is. That seems high for my area, but I'm willing to bet TX rates are cheaper. Dirt work runs $100 to $150 an hour around here.

Having said all that, 18' with a 1/3 grade is a lot of dirt to be moved. And, every foot of dirt he has to remove for the pond, has to be pushed somewhere. So, a 1/2 acre of dirt removed, requires 1 acre of dirt moved.

I would say that number is well in range. Around here a D6 would go for about $150/hour. But that is a lot of dirt work for just a dozer. As mentioned above, it all has to be moved. The top soil should be piled for reuse on the dam and other disturbed areas.

The dozer also has to be moved to and from the site with a big truck and trailer. It may not seem like much, but that is probably another two hours plus mileage at somewhere between $1-2/ mile.

I just had a one third acre pond put in. I didn't have to pay for most of the dirt work, but I figure that it would have cost me around $12k, plus pipe, rip-rap, etc. I've probably got at least another 20 hours of frontend loader, backhoe, and excavator time with personal equipment.

Ken

Did he give you an estimate of how many yards of dirt that he would be moving? If it is more than 2000-3000 yards, $8k doesn't sound to bad.

I'm sure the expert dirt guys will have some good information for you when they get a chance to respond.

Myself I had a 1/2 acre pond built and the bill was $7500. Most everyone else around here wanted much more. In the end I'm not sure my guys were the best and certainly wish they had used a sheep's foot to properly compact and seal the pond. Int he end I have some minor leakage, but the builder refunded my money. It was either that or completely rebuild the pond and I'm not sure I would of gotten any better results.

Just for comparison. Had a 3/4 Ac. Pond built in "07" no dirt left the property 9' deep. Excavator spent two full days on two CAT 953's and half a day on a skid steer. Total cost $5,200.

I've been told that a ballpark price for a professionally built pond is about $10K for each acre of lake. So a 5 acre lake would roughly be about $50K.

My experience may not be the norm around here, but I had my contractor out here with 3 pieces of equipment (a high lift dozer, a cat skid steer and the sheeps foot roller). He used the skid steer and dozer for about 9 hours the first day (18 total hours) and all 3 pieces for 8 hours (3 guys were there)the 2nd day (24 hrs). It was right around 1/2 acre for the pond and they wanted the dirt that they excavated. I also traded about $1500 worth of other work and ended up giving him $950 for the 2 days work. The pond is at the absolute lowest point on my land and no where to drain to so I didn't put in a pipe or anything either. It is slowly but surely gaining level with each thunderstorm that rolls through.

Another way to look at it is to determine the going rate per hour for each piece of equipment. If it's $100 per hour, you have 80 hours of equipment time. It may be easier to visualize based on hours of equip time required to accomplish the sum total of all the dirt projects that must be executed to build the project.

Ask the guy what he would charge if you hired him by the hour.

I think you are getting a great deal especially for not moving dirt off-site. But then I am comparing NY pricing to OH.

I'd love to see some pictures of the $8,000 to $10,000 price range ponds.(1/2 to 1 acre). If I could get something nice in that price range, my 2nd pond would be coming in real soon.

I had a 1/4 acre pond dug in 07. Shoddy job, did'nt use a Sheepsfoot and thus had a slump on top of dam that required alot of personal work to stop erosion problems and have a leak that makes my pond a groundwater level pond. Actually too many complaints to air here. Cost $5700. I would do it all over again but not with Doug Wilson out of Edgerton Oh. In 5 yrs myself, kids and grandkids have had probably $50,000 worth of enjoyment from my hud hole. Gotta love a pond!!!! PS Thank you BC and CB1