Waterloo, that's OK. I'd rather have more advice than not enough. I have probably 100 hours sitting on my dozer and believe me I have created some pretty good wash boards but am getting pretty good at it now. I've rented excavators from this same outfit before and the good thing is that they are flexible and don't care what they rent to whom or if you have any training or insurance. On the negative side believe me they don't spend a lot of time training. They simply ask if you've ever run one before. If you say yes they drop it off and leave. If you say no, they tell you what each control is for and wish you luck. That's why I'm asking you guys for practical advice on the best way to use these particular controls to get efficient digging. Since I can't find any other oufits that will rent without me having an operators certificate and having my own liability insurance I'm more than happy to work with this guy. Plus he's only 5 miles away.
I will be digging in an area of about one acre. My intent is to dig the pond as large and deep as I can in two days (all I can afford). This is not going to be anything like Brettski's project for sure. Wish it was. Including fuel I figure this will cost me about $1000. Around here a similar sized dozer with operator is $1000 per 8 hour day plus fuel charge. My area is a natural low area for which the bottom is currently below the water table and thus always has some water in it. It has been so dry in my area this year that there is barely any water and thus it's a good time to dig. When digging such a pond it is important to dig as much as you can in one non-stop session because it will begin to fill immediately. The rate it fills depends upon how much rain we've had recently. Generally you can't dig some one weekend and then continue the next. It may fill too quickly to be able to dig efficiently at a later date. My plan is to dig at least 5 feet below the current water level so that in a similar dry year I will have 5 feet of water and in wetter years I will have more. On my other pond I succeeded in getting a planned 7 to 8 feet of water with this approach. I plan to make the pond horseshoe shaped so it has a point that protrudes out into the middle. The current depression where I'll be digging is more or less round and bowl shaped and thus some of the spoils will be used to make the point. I have a small JD 350 dozer so my plan is to dig like crazy for two days with the rental machine and just get the stuff out of the hole and then use my smaller machine later on to do the landscaping. I dug a small pond about 75 feet diameter and 4 feet deep with my dozer and it took two days. I hope this one will give me at least twice that size in the same time. I will get pictures!

Gotta get back to fishin!