Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site 2.6 acre pond location

Eric, your train of thought would be correct IF the tracked vehicle operator was able to compact the soil enough to only have the tips/points (actually called grouser bars) of the track on the soil, but that won't happen. So, then what? What is the PSI on the soil then? Or can the operator compact the soil enough for that to happen?

With a sheepsfoot roller, the proper way to use it is to have the roller compact the soil enough so that it "walks out" and the barrel of the roller is no longer in contact with the soil. So to accomplish the same thing with the dozer, the operator would have to compact the soil enough so that the grouser bars are only in contact with the soil, and not the track itself.

Also, the sheepsfoot roller "knits" the layers of soil together as they are placed and compacted, to prevent the water from leaching out between the layers, like between the sheets of paper in a ream of copy paper. That's why you don't want to lay down 18" of soil and try to compact it. The soil should be compacted in 6"-8" lifts. How tall are the grouser bars on the dozer vs. how far the "feet" of the sheepsfoot roller extend from the barrel?

You are correct, there are 1,000's of ponds that don't leak (much) that were constructed with tracked equipment only. There are also 1,000's of ponds that DO leak when constructed with tracked equipment. With the cost of building a pond, and the cost of re-building a leaky pond, I would rather pay once and cry once and have it done with equipment that gives me the highest % of success possible the first time around.