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#147948 02/05/09 05:22 PM
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Howdy all! Let me start off by saying how much information I have gotten from just reading your forum. Great job! I am getting ready to start my very first lake. I purchased the book from PB "Perfect Pond... Want one?" Wow what a great book. Lets get started. I am wanting to put in a pond that if it comes out to what we have staked will cover about 25 acres. When I talked to my dozer men the price was out of my league. The best operator of the bunch told me that the expensive part of the pond was going to be the moveing of the dirt and clay. We dug test holes and show pleanty of clay. He told me to go buy a scraper and move my own dirt and clay to work along side of him so that would make it more affordable. Now my question is.. Do you know of any books I can get to learn more what I am doing? I really dont want to look like a rookie or make the mistakes of a rookie. I have lived on a farm so heavy equipment isnt a problem. Any ideas will help. Thanks

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First, welcome to the PB Forum! Second, I don't have a darn clue about this but don't fret! There are some very knowledgeable guys on here who I am sure will share it with you...

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Howdy 3f....welcome!
We have some really good dirt guys that will be able to offer advice. This shouldn't take long to get some feedback to roll.
I only know what I've seen from the sidelines, but if you have alot of dirt to move and you have the tractor to pull it, I'm thinkin' a pan scraper might be the likely DIY piece of equipment you seek.
Can you provide more detail on the project? Maybe an aerial of the parcel and (more importantly) a topo map with the proposed pondsite marked? Of course, for your own privacy, try to remove the location details from your picture posts.
-
(edit; btw, I forgot....WOW, 25 FREAKIN' ACRES!)

Last edited by Brettski; 02/05/09 08:47 PM. Reason: bug-eyes
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Thanks guys, I have already went and bought a self elevating scraper for the job. I would just like to know more on what to do with the dirt and not make a lot of mistakes doing it. The first mistake I made is to have a big yellow machine sitting outside my front door with several mounths to go before I can use it. Driving me crazy!

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First is waterline and front and back tow of dam staked? Site cleared? Once this is done you should be ready. I would let the dozer man prep the dam area and assist on the core ditch. That is a very important part of a sound dam. Especially one of this size. When we build lakes that are big enough to use a scraper we cut the waterline out usually a 3 to 1 slope approximately 4-5 feet to create weed free water line. With elevator scraper once you get the hang of it you should be able to cut a 3 to 1 slope with the scraper. As far as moving the dirt. We stockpile enough topsoil in order to cover the entire dam to the waterline when complete. After that we start hauling dirt to the dam. We do the dam in 3 sections. Left, Right and Middle which is last. The back half of the dam is topsoil/sand/clay mix whatever is ontop. The front half needs to be pure clay minimal mixing. We do 6-8" lifts for good compaction. You shouldnt have that problem with a scraper. Be sure if mixing not to leave strands of sand through dam because if you do the water will find its way through. Theres really not too much to worry about, take a full load everytime and put good clay in the front. What I have told you that we do is in south east texas and works for us. Not familiar with dirt where you are rocks ect. May be a little different approach if rocks are present. Hope this helps you some.

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3f farms
Glad to have you on board.

Like AdamsLand said plan the shore line first.
Put the, good material in the front and past the center. There is always some dirt that needs to go on the back side of the dam.
The dirt man will need to help you with the compaction on the dam.
A drain pipe in the dam will make it easier to relax while the dam is being built. Dirt work is like farming you are always playing beat the weather.

Take pictures and keep us posted.

Otto

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So the other fellow will be running a scraper also right?
If he is competent all you will have to do is follow him.
As the most productive way to cycle {load-travel-unload-return} is to go in a circle, following works real well.
A tip or two;
Scrapers are pretty stable on slopes, you should have no problems.
However if you are on a fairly steep slope do not turn sharply up hill, you can roll one onto its back.
And if you turn downhill on a slope be aware the front end may tip down. The bumper will stop you and no harm will be done. It happens, it's nothing to worry about.
If your filling a slope (like building the dam) either dump along the edge or stay a width away from the edge. It isn't a bad idea to keep the edge a bit higher than the rest of the fill.
This makes it easier to dump next to the edge which is why you don't dump 1/2 width away from the edge, it makes the edge lower than the fill, and after while it is hard to dump on the edge without sliding off.
When your cutting a slope also either cut along the edge or stay a width away. It helps to keep the edge just a bit lower than the rest of the cut. While there is no fear of sliding off the cut slope, if it doesn't get dug out and is "fat", it is hard to go back and get the dirt you didn't get. By keeping the edge a bit lower and crowding the slope a bit whenever you are by it you should do great.
If you know the waterline and where you're going to stockpile the topsoil for later use you should be able to start on that and get some practice.


Make it look easy,
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Thank you all for the great information. The dirt guy will be running his loader so I will be the only one on a scraper. Still trying to get some pictures to put up. How do you guys cope with having beautifull spring like weather but still cant get out and get started. I am about to drive my wife crazy! She has learned so much, every time I learn something on this website I have to tell her the story twice.

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It goes with the job I guess.
I do believe one of the most stressful things about being a dirt mover, is having a whole bunch of work to do and not being able to do anything because of the weather.
Of course when it does dry up and there are the three or four months of work that need to be done right now, that can be a little stressful too.
Weather delays also make scheduling a bit of a guessing game.

Some more pointers since your working your scraper by itself.
Load going towards the fill.
Load going downhill if possible.
Lay out a cut about 10 widths wide and long enough to get a load, work it from one side to the other, then repeat many times.
On the fill start on one side on the end, dump slow enough to dump 10" thick loose fill. On the next load start dumping where the first load ended without leaving an unfilled spot. Keep hooking load onto load until you get to the other end. Then move in a width, right beside where you've filled and repeat hooking load onto load till you get to the end, also not leaving any unfilled areas between the the first and second width.

At some point you may want to learn about "panning" which is how you smooth things up with a scraper. The specific method depends on if you have a conventional or paddle scraper.


Make it look easy,
http://zhkent.com

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