Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat PVC Trees Planted with Auger

Im a couple of weeks from finishing the dirt work on my new dam and expanding my 2.5 acres pond to one that will be at least 6 acres ... have looked at these habitat posts till my eyes are blurry... Have a quick question...

I have access to some cheap pvc - 6" for the trunk, and various ods for branches... have a tractor with an auger and was thinking couldn't I just make a 12 - 18" deep hole and plant these trees right in the bottom of my pond in a little pvc forest.... is digging a hole, (or a mini forest of holes) a problem?? Couldn't I just pack around the holes to anchor the pvc trees or would I need to concrete them?

Just thinking this would be easier then building them in the barn in buckets and having to transport them to the pond site...

Comments? Criticism? Debate? Discussion?

Does your current 2.5 setup maintain a fairly stable water level? My only thought would be that structure set on top on the pond bottom could be moved if it turned out to be to low or to high for the regular water table.

If you do dig a hole to set them up, then I would just drill a couple of holes near the bottom of the 6" PVC, and stick a 1"X1' piece of PVC through it. The compacted soil should keep it from moving.

Just my 2¢.

Fire, My existing dam has some pretty nasty leaks... that is why I decided to embark on this new project. The exisiting dam will become a submerged road bed kinda thing when i merge the new pond and old pond together...I am certainly hoping that the new pond will stay full... I was thinking about planting my pvc forest in about 5 to 12 foot water depth... make the trees maybe 3' to 8' tall..

Another question.. I will have water as deep as 30 feet in some areas of the pond.... I am in the middle of researching what aeration product I will use, but I am going to aerate. With that being established what is the maximum depth I should even worry about putting structure in? I've seen a number of posts that indicate minimal fish habitation below 14 feet deep.. kinda confusing because I know when I fish on the river I routinely fish in much deeper water..

Pinetar however you decide to do this, I'd SO have the old dam loaded with structure. Nothing better than dragging a jig or T rig down a structure loaded road bed.

Fire, I want to do that... I am going to grade down the top of the old dam... once the new one is finished. I am thinking about making the top of the old dam about 6 foot under the new full pool level... and loading it with structure.

I like the idea. Could be created with tall pieces overlooking the forest.
Fish need the right do to utize any water depth.
The river you mention holds fish deeper because of the moving, oxygenat
d water.
My 2 cents worth would be to stay around 15-20 and under.
Tree tops in open water......when do we come "help" you see how it works?

Peepaw... Invitation is wide open!! Yall Come!! Here is a pic of a couple of my 2.5 year old F1's Tiger Bass to entice yall to come on down!!!

We dug holes with a shovel to plant our PVC trees. This was just because we could not get down there with a tractor and auger. I think it would work fine.

I'm usually nervous and cautious about digging holes in the bottom of a newly dug impoundment. I'm afraid that I might cause a leak.

Pine Tar,

I use an auger to "plant" structure in pond construction jobs all the time. I use quikrete in my holes, just pour it in dry and mix it up soupy with water in the hole. If you have a good clay bottom all the way to the bottom of your hole, you can pack back with clay. If not good clay, you could run the risk of a seep. The soupy concrete is a safer bet to seal, and in my opinion easier than trying to pack clay @ whatever you stick in that hole. I normally put varying amounts of structure from 3' -10'. Adding aeration to the deep water will open up more of that area of the pond to more fish for a much longer time of the year, so you may want to put some structure at those depths. I would still focus my efforts more on the shallower depths. The Vertex bottom diffuser systems (which I sell) are very high quality and should be able to accomplish what you are trying to do.

-HH

Im not sure if Dave has examples of it causing a leak, but IMHO if you dont drill any holes in dam, and the others have the same dirt as the rest of the bottom, I would not be afraid of it. So if you start drilling and all the sudden small rocks come up, or a dramatic change in color/consistency of clay I would stop. Also you probably wont need a deep hole, not sure what size auger your tractor has. I would say a little wider and shorter than a 5 gal bucket.

Jake, no examples of drilling causing a leak. However, I have seen an awful lot of leaking ponds and shudder at the thought of poking a hole in the bottom. I would much prefer a washtub full of concrete with rebar sticking out the bottom to assure that it stays upright.

I find that getting a leak is pretty easy but stopping one is a nightmare.

Thank you for the info... Can you quote me on a system for a 6 acre lake? I have 220 run to the site.

Here is a picture of my first pvc tree almost complete.. Before I make the other 29... does anybody see anything that I should do differently??

The trunk is 6" pvc conduit 10 foot lengths.. the branches are 3/4" id sch 40 pvc. 54" lengths.

Just thinking out-loud here.... Should I make my branches much longer? My 3/4" pipe is in 20' sections... Should I make them 10' or maybe cut them into 3 equal sections?? Right now I am cutting them into 48 - 54" pieces... so the branches are sticking out about 2 feet or so on each side of the trunk...

We made ours anywhere from 6 foot to 17 or 18 feet. The further out you, the more branching you can do.

Change it up. Vary the lengths just like mother nature. As the Boss recommends, larger groups of structure/ communities keep the fish fat and happy!

Don't leave much space between units, the limbs should almost touch so fish are protected as they move between depths. More is better in this case and you have that handled with the 30 you are planning.

Others should be taking lessons from your dense design.

WELL DONE!!

Looks like we will visit pinetar on way back from KY. I think you need both open type and more dense. Thsoe dense ones are then laid down horizontally in 3-4 foot of water to protect smaller fishes, mainly juvenille bluegill.

Decided to plant one near the shop to see if it will work... Bout 16" down in the ground with an 8" auger bit.. packed it back with clay / top soil... Very sturdy, think it will be fine. All of the holes you see in the trunk will actually have branches in them just wanted to try it out to see if it would stand without to much planting work.

My initial plan is to plant these very close together where the branches will intertwine and make an underwater forest so to speak. Have some experts coming next week to give me some guidance...

But I would worry....the ground will get softer once the water is covering it. Nothing would be worse than watching them all tip over when the ponds filling....enter panic mode.

hmmmmm fish.... guess i will add some bags of cement to the budget... lol... that would be one of the moments... awww crap!

It was just a thought...I tend to overbuild and overdo stuff.

I can appreciate it.. .have to remember the measure twice cut one theory is so applicable to so many different aspects of life...and pond building...

Ok, I need some help... We built three of the pvc trees today...(only 28 left to go) Using a 1" paddle bit to drill approx 70 or so holes in the trunk is quite taxing on the wrists. Problem is that once the bit first starts to break through the inside wall the drill tends to bind up and really gives the ole wrist a jolt. Went to Lowes and bought a really nice $25 dollar regular 1" drill bit.. but it bites even harder then the paddle bit... Tried the drill press -- way to slow -- Any ideas on the best way to drill 70 1" holes in a 6" ID PVC Pipe??