Hi Uplander, and welcome!

Do I understand you want to dig the pond with the backhoe, or just do maintenance on the ditches?

If you have a good dam site and the right contours, you can build an excellent large pond in no time. If you have more than a fair amount of digging to do, you will need a dozer, drag line, track hoes, dump trucks, etc.

What size pond are you planning to build?

Not to worry about operating your equipment. You will become proficient within a few hours. There's nothing like owning your own equipment for motivating you to learn it.

Shrimp