I trenched and ran over 2000 feet of pipe this weekend. 2" Electrical lines, 1 1/2" water line and 1" for cable/phone.... Didn't slow down long enough to take pics but the lines are run and trenches back filled
Any of you following the thread know that a while back i got some bad news about my soil. Soil tests came back very silty and was told it wouldnt hold water. We commenced digging the catfish pond(1/4 acre) and found it to be very silty just like the guy told me. We dug about 16 ft deep and no change. The brainstorming begins. I noticed the opposite side of my property would hold water after a rain so i had my pond guy go dig some test holes there. To my surprise all the holes had black jack clay down to 12 ft.
Needless to say, we moved the bass/bream pond to where the clay is and will be taking clay from that pond and packing it into the catfish pond. After a good rain the bass/bream pond is full to the brim and holding full. you can see the difference in the dirt below.
Howdy Beaux! Fellow offshore worker here(supply boat captain). Your project sounds so similar to mine, with the complete opposite soil problems! My 15 acres is also combo woods and pasture, with the reverse soil issues. Good topsoil to 3 feet then solid clay to the earths core! I had no problems with the pond holding water, but my septic system for our home became a major issue when the home was built. Of course it was nothing $$$ could'nt fix. I'm posting this because all of my focus was on the pond and not on the home. It sounds like you should have no problem with your septic from what I have read about your soil conditions on your post.
Glad to hear that you found a source for some clay right on your property to line the ponds with. Although my pond and dam had a good clay bottom and core, I still had a little bit of leakage through the dam in one spot. It was a compaction issue. The pond was dug with a dozer and that is also what was used to compact the dam and pond bottom. Consider compacting your pond bottom with a sheeps foot roller to maximize the compaction and avoid a leaking pond. The dozer or excavator tracks will not give you nearly the results because of the area they distribute the weight over.
We just started living on our place a few weeks ago and I gotta tell ya, get ready to live the good life! Keep the updates coming and good luck with the entire project!
Thanks for sharing that Gareth. I had not thought about the septic system I will have to put in and the fact that it wont drain well if I install it on the side of my property with all the clay. I will keep that in mind to install it on the other side of the property with silty soils. Good luck to you as well, with your new place
Good topsoil to 3 feet then solid clay to the earths core! I had no problems with the pond holding water, but my septic system for our home became a major issue when the home was built. Of course it was nothing $$$ could'nt fix.
Welcome to my world. 90% of the septic systems around here eventually have a spade dig a hole and open the end to drain. Which is completely illegal, but it happens. When we put in a new drain field, loads and loads of crushed 2-3" limestone lateral rock in a deep backhoe trench covered with fabric before the soil went back in. So far, so good. Septic systems in clay pan soils are a challenge.
A few pics of some of my fish habitat. I built a wooden crate and will jam pack some fishiding structure inside of it for the small fish and left the gaps big enough in the crate for the bass to swim in and out of easily. Not quite finished the crate yet, still needs to go up a couple more layers with 4x4's. Hopefully it works out pretty well.
Very nice that the ground is flat right up to waters edge. I like that. That's one advantage of a dug pond as opposed to one created in a ravine with steep banks or a dam with steep banks.
Looks good. Know what the final size is?
Next up, the stocking decisions, then watching the fish grow!
Thanks Snrub, the edge should make for easy cutting of the grass. I didn't make any measurements yet but it should be at least 1 acre. I could fit the whole thinkin the pic. Wish I could take an aerial shot, it has a lot of bends and points to the shape.
When I get back home in 2 weeks I will check my water temps and see if it's still adequate for stocking. If so, I will be driving up to see Todd Overton in Texas. I've used him before, he has great feed trained fish. I'll be stocking 1000 small CNBG, 500 redear and 20 lbs of FHM... I can't wait !!!
