Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Creating my Lake

This is what I watch all day long.

It still amazes me what is level and what my eyes think is level. Since I know not to trust my judgment, I get out the lazer every couple of days to see what's going on.

Eddie

...ya gotta luv the look of gold rollin' off the top of the blade!

It's been a good week of moving dirt!!!

I piled up my topsoil and about half of my burn pile back behind where the dam. The pile was pretty large and not compacted, just sort of put there as quick as possible so I could get down to the clay for the dam.

The dam is in place and now it's time to backfill.

Eddie

After I spread out the topsoil, I put another two feet of clay over it. While I did this, I also added a bit to the dam.

Eddie

After I spread the topsoil and bad dirt, I covered it with two feet of clay. I just dug from the bottom of the lake and pushed it up the dam.

Eddie

This is the shallow end of the lake and when full, there will be 6 feet of water. I'm still digging and as long as it's dry out, I'll be taking more dirt from the bottom.

Eddie

This is what it looks like at the top of the dam. I want this to be a flat grassy area that is allot wider than the dam. Kind of like a place to have a picnic, or maybe set up the tents and camp out.

Eddie

This is the view from the other side just to give some perspective of how it turned out. I have mental pictures of what I'm trying to create and it's what I see while I'm working.

What's nice is when it turns out better than I hope for!!

Eddie

To smooth out my tracks and the rough spots, I drag a heavy oak log with a cyclone fence wraped around it behind my Century tractor.

The yellow case on the front bumper is my lazer level.

This view is from the back of the dam and one day it will be covered in bermuda grass. Hopefully soon.

Eddie

Eddie, looks great. The pictures really help. When do you find time to sleep (posting at 1:25 AM)?

1:25am

What's the saying "early to rise" and some such? hahaha

OK, Steph and I are watching the series 24 on DVD and once we put in the DVD, we're up until the last episode.

Eddie

eddie,

Looks like you seeded just in time, take a look at the radar...I hope you catch it just right. Pond looks great.

Gator

Eddie, I hate to get of subject, but I've blown thru season 1 & 2 of 24 and will start #3 tonight. I don't know about you, but I think that
David Palmer's the best President we've ever had - except, of course, for Ronald Regan.

Rmedgar,

hahahaha Yeah, he's what we always dream of in a leader, but somehow it's never happened.

We've been hearing about the show for awhile, so ordered it from Netfix. After watching the first disk, we were hooked, but unfortunately, they sent us season 2 first and we didn't realize it. haha So we watched all of season 2 and are now on disk three of season 1.

Allot of it is pretty rediculous, especially the urgency they create for their emergancies, but since we enjoy pointing out the silly parts to each other, it's allot of fun.

We still can't figure out what the reason for the daughter is in the show except to frustrate us with one bad decision after another. hahaha

Gator,

I'm watching the radar, but nothings happening. It's like somebody wants to keep Texas dry until I finish digging!!!

Eddie

Eddie, that poor daughter has seen a lot of adventure for an 18-19 year old. That show couldn't exist without the cell phone.........ring "Bauer: how's my daughter, cross-check an apple, a broom and a Buick, get back to me"....click. Nobody ever says goodbye - they just hang up. Oh well, I like it.
Randy

I decided to measure how long my dam is today. It's not exact, just a wheel that measures distance.

My dam is 940 feet long.

Eddie

What the mutha pond meister is going on here!

A dam over 900 FT long, oh crockie!

Either you are going to have a good-sized lake or you have been dealt some bad luck in your local topography!

Your right, I really should call it a dike or a levy. I don't have a good place for a lake, so I did it the hard way and dug out a low area and built up the sides.

Eddie

Eddie,

Its nice to see the progression of this project. Thanks for taking the time to post updates and pictures.

I've been a little distracted from this project with the my wedding. We eloped to Boulder, CO.

Eddie

The lake is basically done. There is still some dirt in the bottom that I'd like to get out, but I'm just being greedy. If I did nothing else, it would still be well beyond what I'd hoped or even planned for.

I have 12 feet of depth at the deep end with 8 feet through most of it. There is an area that is only 4 to 6 feet deep, so I'm trying to bring that down to 8 feet as well.

Here are the dirt piles I need to haul out.

Eddie

The dozer isn't very efficient at moving dirt very far. I have an 8 way blade on it, and it's better for digging and shaping. The manuel says it's rated for 3 yards, which can add up real quick, but not over any distance.

My dump truck is a 1983 Ford F-600 that can haul 6 yards at a time. It's cheaper to run than the dozer and can move the material allot faster!!

The problem with old equipment is it wears out, or is never maintained.

The truck has a 370 gas V8 that lasted me a year, but it's got nothing left. The clutch is also worn out and there are a dozen little problems with it that I've been dealing with.

My Dad is visiting me, so we decided to pull the engine and tranny. I put part of a chery picker on my bachoe bucket to pick it up, which works really well.

The pistons were much worse than I imagined. I think at one point, somebody put the wrong sized spark plugs in and they broke off in the combustion chamber. All the pistons had the same marks on them, but two were as bad as the picture.

Eddie

The block had already been bored .60 over, so it was junk. I had to get a replacement block for $250 and still had to have it bored .40 over. All the exhaust valves were junk and they cost $40 each. The exhaust manifold was coroded away in places and needed to be welded up and machined flat. This plus the normal machine work, plus new oil pump, camshaft, timing gears, gaskets, bearings, pistons and the other stuff came to $1,600. The new clutch, filters, belts and fluids was another $400.

My step-son loves to help, so this was a dream come true for him. He got to tighten all sorts of bolts and dig through the wrenches to find the right size. What's realy funny is how good his eyes are. He can tell if a bolt is 9/16 or 5/8's from a distance just looking at it!!!

Now I have a brand new engine that fired up on the first try!!! She runs smooth and has a huge amount of power. I barely give it gas and she goes!!!!

Eddie

Yee haw...congrats on the nup's, Mr and Mrs Walker! Handsome groom, stunning bride, and a backdrop of the Eddie's next project inspiration for increasing D.O. in his lake.
Ed-man, outstanding job with the lake. You set a bench-mark for DIY that I can only aspire to. You must be very satisfied...it's a beaut!
Is that a shot of the top of one of the pistons or a telephoto of the moon?....smoked!