Thanks fish, for a moment there I thought I might be losing my mind! It seems that I have seen a sheeps-foot on a track hoe somewhere before. I've called Otto, but that guy is tough to reach. Right now I need to head out and meet with a pond repair guy and hope that the news is not too bad. I'm in the last stages of building a new house and the budget is stretched to the limit, but the pond location is integral to the house such that a dry pond would really detract from the finished product.