No pond builder but I have built a few ponds. grin

Too wet to compact properly.

Soil too dry will not compact properly and too wet will just squish (a technical term) around the compaction device rather than compress vertically.

One way to help that is to mix in some dry clay to take up some of the excess moisture or wait till it dries to the proper level.

We find this same phenomenon farming. We have little concerns of compaction on dry soils. Saturated soils if we have a wet harvest make terrible ruts in the fields to contend with, but do not really cause compaction problems as the water acts as a lubricant and the soil just squishes around. But at certain moist moisture levels excess trips across a field will cause problematic compaction layers. Best (or worst if you do not want it) compaction happens at moist but not saturated soil moisture levels.

Make a ball of clay with your hands. If it will not stick together it is too dry to compact. If it tends to squish between your fingers it is too wet. Somewhere between those two stages is just right.

Last edited by snrub; 01/11/19 08:20 AM.

John

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