I use a John Deere CTL 322 ; a rubber tracked skid loader ,digging my ponds - one 2.5 acre under construction presently and there is nothing -nothing that I cannot do with this machine - a lot of dirt can be moved in several hours - of course distance is a big factor. Sure one could do it faster with larger and more equipment, but hey the journey is the most important part of the trip. A 78 inch bucket and an 84 inch blade and good clay earth make one happy pond builder.