LOL! Otto! In addition to renovating the pond we are building a house and reconditioning the 20 acres. I figured that by the end of this project it would be an epic saga to rival "Gone With The Wind!" It seemed appropriate to put it into a similar style. I think I am Scarlett and Ronnie is Ashley!
Eddie thanks for the tips but I do have complete comfort and confidence in Ronnie. His excavator is a 25 ton model and my dam unfortunately has no core and is mostly sandy soil. It is also only about 10' wide. The backhoe was practically hanging off the edges. Also, it is a borrowed piece of equipment that is owned by a friend of his. Apparently it was purchased from United.
In all honesty we did not think the breach would require anything larger than the backhoe and Ronnie is not charging me to do this stage of the work. Before we hired him I did get a couple of references and saw a couple of his projects. I met with two of his customers and they were happy with his performance and the outcome of the projects. He also comes highly recommended by the NRCS agent here. We are paying him based upon the machine hours once the digging starts in July and one of us will be on site for the entire project.
He really did not have any difficulty operating the machine. It was only when we stopped and he got back on the machine. Instinctively he would start out as he would with his excavator. He'd mutter a little bit and then get to work. My dam is so narrow, that it was a challenge to get the trench deep enough because there was limited space to move around and we did not want to dump the backhoe in the pond or trench.
Thank you though for the concern and the information. I will surely stay on top of everything once we really begin to dig.
