Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Combining two small pond into an acre pond

Seems like I posted in the wrong section, so I reposted here:

Six years we needed dirt to build a pad for our new house. Instead of bringing in clay via dump truck, I had an excavation company dig me a small .20 acre pond. We stocked it a year later and it has produced several 2.5 pound bass over the years. I knew the pond was too small to produce anything much larger so this year I am having a 3 stall garage built and using more dirt to build another pad. After the dirt is dug out with an excavator, I am planning on using a dozer to finish and carve me out a .75 pond. It will sit adjacent to the first small pond until the second ones fills up, then I plan on bridging both into one pond. This should make a one acre surface area pond.

I had two choices on equipment, a D5H at $125 an hour or a D65 komatsu dozer at $150. I chose the Komatsu as it was bigger dirt mover but lacked grading the slopes as compared to the D5H. Hopefully I chose correctly. The dozer driver is planning on starting tomorrow.

I have to see how far my money will run, but as of now I am planning on having the pond average 6 feet deep with the shallow end being 3-4 feet and a couple 10 feet trenches. I see no need to dig any deeper as this will not be a dam build pond and it will cost me a fortune to dig something twice as deep. It will be a watershed filled pond with a small spillway already in place in the first pond. 3 sides will be shaded by large trees so it should limit the evaporation problem we have this far south, especially in a shallow pond. The advantage of being so far south - I do not have to worry about the pond freezing over or having a large fish kill due to sub 0 temps.

I have a couple questions to ask you experts:

1. Anybody have any experience of expanding or combining two ponds?
2. Would you prefer a deeper or larger pond?
3. Does $150 per hour for large dozer seem fair?
4. For weed control, how deep would you plan on making the edge of the banks?
5. Would you put large tree truck root balls in the pond for fish habitats?

I should have some pictures as the project begins in the next few days.

Thanks, Jack

Since the time I wrote in my first post, I had my second pond completed. I decided to go with a deep end of 8 feet and the shallow end at 5 feet. The first pond that was dug 6 years ago averages between 3-4 feet deep, so I figured to dig this pond a little deeper as I had a lot of evaporation problems these past summers.

When I connect this pond to my smaller pond next spring, it will be roughly 1 acres in total size. It took roughly 45 hours to dig the pond at .75 acres. 38 hours was devoted to dozer work (Komatsu D65), and 7 hours was used for an excavator, smaller dozer (D5H) and two dump trucks. The later equipment was used to build me a garage pad. In total, the project cost me just under 10K.

I am now at the point to add some fish habitat. I opted not to dig trenches as I was starting to hit some large rocks at the 8 foot mark. I also did not place any dirt mounds as the dozer operator recommended against it. I did put a couple large root balls to the side to put in later. I have a bunch of old tires I was thinking of chaining together. I am also looking at getting some broken cement blocks to pile up. Besides this, I am clueless on what to put in the pond for a good habitat.

My next project is putting in poles for building a dock. I thought I would do it now since the pond is dry. Would love to see other docks if anyone has some pictures. Feel free to send me some advice. I took some picture I can post if anyone shows some interest in seeing them. Thanks. Jack

Cedar trees make good cover, but be sure to stake them down, rocks around the edges, and lots of ideas on artificial cover if you do a search. Piles of rocks and concrete are also good. I don't really like tires, but many use them.

I did a floating dock, so I'm not much help there.

Boomer, I always recommend that folks should have two or three smaller vs one large one. You should be able to raise some pretty nice LMB in the 3/4 pond if ya get the right forage started and manage it correctly. The smaller the BOW the easier ta manage. If you keep them separate you could use the small one for either a forage pond or a put and take with CC and HSB or do like Bill D and put everything into it. A fun pond if ya will.
As for the tires, I drove fence posts in what would be about 8' of water. I cut holes in the tires and stacked 6-8 tires on each post. I spaced the posts so the tires almost touched the tires on the next post thus making a tire reef. Then I attached a goose decoy to it so everyone could see where to fish.
As to the pier, I can't give much input except to make it at least 4' wide and a T shape with the end being more like 6x8' somewhere ya can put a couple of chairs and have 3-4 people move around comfortably. If ya have kids maybe a diving board.
Not tryin ta tell ya what to do but some things to think about.

Just curious why you do not like tires? How do you stake down your trees - with chains?

My dozer operator said this was one of the hardest clay he has dug in the 40 years he has been in the dozer business. He pretty much need to use the ripper on most parts. It is like potter's clay. With this said, do I need to add sand or gravel for the Blue Gills to spawn?

It would have been a great idea to use the small pond as a forage pond but it is already six years old and full of bass. Due to the pond being side by side, I think it would be a more attractive pond combining them as one larger pond.

When a pond gets low, and sooner or later it will, a tire sticking out the water just looks less appealing to me(compared to a tree or pile of rocks or even artificial cover). It is a personal thing, but they do work. If you use them be sure to attach them together with bolts or cable, drill holes in them for air to escape, and anchor them in place. You can use cinder blocks or T-post to anchor stuff in place, otherwise they may float/move around.

It's your place and ya should do what ya want. Perhaps ya should get a spawn or two of BG and minnows/shiners before you put all those 1-2 lb LMB into it. Might be a tough balancing act.

Another advantage I see as converting two "small" ponds into one is evaporation. My first small pond loses an inch over two days in the hot summer months. If I do not get a few good rain shower, I can easily be down a few feet by summer's end. I would guess that a larger pond would not have this problem.

I like cedars and use a cement block to keep them in place. They last about 5 years in my area.

I don't think you would have much difference in evaporation, but you would have slightly more water. Although I would like having two ponds and will be building a smaller one in the near future, for CC.

My smaller pond averages 3-4 feet when full. By the end of summer, it will lose and another 1-2 feet. By combining the two ponds, the water volume loss is spread over the entire pond, therefore I do not believe it will recede as much. And if I am not mistaking, the deeper a pond is, the less the sun can heat the water thus reducing the amount of evaporation.