I did cut it wide enough to make sure I get some good material in there to bond with the old dam. The problem is it is just solid enough to drive the dozer on the material along that side of the pond where the break enters. I have been using that side part time to make a circle after spreading the material behind the dam to get back to the point of pushing material. I'm afraid if I start pushing through it I will just destroy my access point as I don't think it would stand up. The other problem is two nice oak trees are directly behind the area (which I want to leave) I would need to push material into before I could spread it behind the dam so would be very limited in any area to stockpile.
Plan A was to do all the work in the bottom of the pond and get as much material out of the bottom before rains came. The "plan" quickly went to plan B as I ran out of room to stockpile and the pile I created was getting tall enough and slick enough it was getting hard to get any decent amount of material moved. So I had to move the pile to its final destination to get room to work again. I imagine I will get about to plan L or Z before this is all done.
It is coming along. Just kind of slow where the push is considerably longer than I would like it to be. That said, on this smaller pond it is not any longer than the length I pushed material in my new pond although all the really long hauls were done with a scraper.
I'm taking some chances here. Chances that a contractor or perhaps someone paying good money for a contractor would not want to risk the investment. I just want to point this out to anyone following this thread should they decide to do something similar. The muck I am pushing out is going mostly behind the old dam to strengthen it and give it some "backup" should the old dam be not quite as sound as I think it is. After all, there is no easy way that I know to really know what the inside looks like without destroying it and starting over (and that might have been the better choice). But the material I am using is mostly sediment muck. Not what a person would really desire for the dam, were he building a new one, to be made of. I'm just going by the seat of my pants and what I have seen done for small cow ponds around this area for as long as I have lived. They seemed to have worked, although some of them with minor leaks. I am hoping that the sheer volume of material I will be putting behind the dam will be adequate should the old dam have some internal damages from old roots or rodents. If a person was paying good money to have his pond renovated rather than a semi-retired farmer taking some of his farm equipment and doing a freebie for his son and family I suspect they would not want to rely on "hope" that it would work out. That being said, I really do believe there will be enough mass involved to cure any weakness in "the plan". I just wanted to point that out as well as that I am not a professional contractor, construction equipment operator or pond consultant so should anyone try what I am doing like I am doing it they do it at there own risk, as I am. I will report if we end up with a leaky, undesirable pond though.
I don't know exactly what I am doing but that has never stopped me before. The new 3.5 acre pond we built we did "by the book" from a NRCS plan and it turned out very nice. The old pond we renovated an eighth mile away I went by the seat of my pants quite as an afterthought (the dozer ran out of anything to do on the new pond while the scraper was working on long hauls so I thought, what the heck, Ill push around in this old dried up pond for a half day. A half day of projected work turned into many days over a period in spits and spurts of a year but it turned out nice).
I welcome suggestions (thanks for yours) and even criticisms and pointing out what might not work as I progress. I already know the trees are problematic for longevity. It is somewhat of an experiment that I think will turn out ok but lots of things I have tried have not over the years, so this might not either (no risk, no reward).
I have never got around to doing my profile so here are a couple pictures of the new 3.5 acre pond and the old renovated pond not far from it. I just got the old pond dam smoothed down and seeded before starting on the son's pond. Both ponds are about a foot below full pool because of extended dry weather, although they have both been full to the point of overflowing.
