Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? DIY pond renovation

It was just a little over an acre. We'll be raising the water level 18" which will make it a little larger.

So how long they estimate it will take them to clean it out?

Did they have to cut the dam and repair it?

The answer to your first question is until they send me to the poor house.

The only thing they did to the dam was cut a trench to put the new horizontal overflow pipe in. The old vertical to horizontal galvanized one will be filled with concrete.

I would like to have a horizontal pipe put in as well, but I think you better make sure they know what they are doing, seems like there could be issues of water seeping out around it. Then again I worry about things too much.

The little pond we have doe not eve have one at all, it just runs over to the side. Is this better or worse who knows, I think we were told it was the only way he could or would do it, or he may even said it was the best or recomended.

I have had a problem with leaving old rusty over flow pipes in ... Water tends to find its way out over time. I would remove it all the way. You should be able to push muck to him with your crawler. You get stuck that trackhoe will get ya out.

Mrhello, the other pond I bought last year is the same as yours with no overflow pipe. I asked the contractor about that and he said it was a fairly common practice some years ago if the pond is only fed by runoff during or shortly after rains.
The one we're working on here has springs that run to it most of the year so it needs a tube.

The Big Dig continues.

The area you see dug out is about 10' deep by 50' by 120'. At the left, on the dam you can see the old riser which will be filled with concrete and then covered. The excavator will soon be done with the area where he can throw the dirt over the dam and the dump trucks are on their way.

70' stick on the excavator?

3 bucks per minute is probably reasonable for the equipment and operator.

What are your plans for finishing it off?

60 foot

Can you be more specific?

$3/min seems high?? Going rate on any excavation around here is $90-$120/hr

Just outside of it being a hole in the ground, any features, plantings, tapering things in a bit, compacting. Maybe a dock and place to jump in? What ya planning for fish and such?

General stuff like that.

I think it's pretty cool myself.

3 bucks/min is $180 a hour. Prices range from $150-$200 for dirtwork based on equipment is being used.

Is that the rate for Oklahoma at this time?

Then again if you pay more per out for larger equipment you may actually save some money in the long run if the time is significantly reduced.

Or should this not even be considered?

The long reach stuff cost more money. Bigger stuff = bigger bucks!

Things are a bit different up here in MI tho.

All my dirt work was done for $90/hr guess I'm lucky.. That wasn't a pond being dug but the guy that did all my work said he'd clean up some areas around my pond for $100/hr

Yes it is.

The answer is it all depends on far you are moving dirt to the site and how much needs to be dug. Yes. Just think of it this way, a 12 yard scraper moves 1.5 times the dirt of a 8 yard scraper. So in two trips with the 12 yard one, you have what would take three trip with the 8 yard. That adds up over the course of a day.

One that size costs $88.27 per hour to rent here, and that doesn't include mobilization fees, the diesel to run it, grease, nor paying for an operator. That's a weekly rental.

its 90-120/hour per machine here. lots of the guys here like to have a dozer pile the muck up and an excavator use the arm to deposit it on the back of the dam. Looking at close to $250/hr

That's the best way I have found to do it. 1 acre pond should run 5-7 thousand with making a muck dam on back side of dam including spreading out evenly when dry.

After he gets done with the area where he can throw it over the dam, he'll go to the center of the pond and start digging a narrower swath. Then they'll bring in a track loader which is much more efficient than the excavator at moving dirt. On a rolling farm there are always some ditches or wash outs that can use some dirt, and that's where we'll be hauling it from now on.
Depending on how long the weather holds, we'll try to add some structure, rock piles and posts for a dock yet this fall.
The plan for stocking is a formula that TJ suggested. Many different kinds of minnows, shrimp and crawdads for forage. Then male BG, female YP, RES, SMB and HSB. Also feed and aeration.

I will check this area and see if it is that high, it seemed like it was not that high when we had the other fixed but I could be wrong.

Plus it usually is more to have one reworked then build a new one correct. Or are the rates the same just usually takes more time?

Is it best to have someone come and moved dirt first then have a pond guy come and finish it out?

I like the stocking plan, that should be a great pond!

Cody, what would the price be if a pond was completely dug, (no ravine/valley to dam) and the depth was 16-18 feet?

In this view on the left you can see what used to be the old drain tube. It was filled with concrete, and then covered. This should be underwater when the pond fills.

As you can see we're getting some water seeping in. Time to start stocking?