Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Is this a good deal?

As our good friend Mr. Cody always says, it all depends...

The clay in our area is great for ponds. A rubber-track 40-50 HP excavator, at about 5-tons, will make a pretty waterproof hole in our area. I have several small ponds done with my small backhoe, at about 4500 lbs., or a 45 HP excavator at 9500 lbs. The holes were not compacted. The dams were compacted with my small tractor or small excavator. All hold water year around.

Our last "real" pond, about 1/3 acre and 7-feet deep, was done in a heavily wooded area with about 10 machine hours per machine using a Cat D6 dozer and a Cat 320 trackhoe. It started with a keyway trenched with the trackhoe, and filled/compacted with the dozer in about six inch increments. The final compaction of the dam and bowl were done with a road roller, but I'm not sure it was needed.

We've had a lot of rain in the last two years. All of my ponds have been over full pool for the last several years.

So, it all depends ...