This is the tractor i'm using. It might take me a little while but it will get done. The wife left for the weekend with a full tank of fuel LOL. She was a lil surprised when she got home.
Heres my latest picture. The pond is still drained down a little bit so I can dig it out more. I left my mower in the picture for reference. It still has a lot of work to be done before it looks nice again but it will happen.
Tractor has been broke down for little over a month now. Just got it fixed last night and the wife is leaving for the weekend so some progress will be made. Can anyone tell me the easiest way to put pictures on here. I normally go thur imgur but it a hassle. Can you put them straight from your cell phone on here?
I just figured out a trick today! Take a screenshot of your pic, crop it, save and upload from your phone! In the attached I intentionally left a upper border where the screenshot was cropped. Game changer for me! Edit: You can't really see the crop line so maybe just screenshot and upload.
open the image from the posted link and copy the url address. Then go back and edit the post. Type..."[img]" (without the quotes), paste the url address, and then type "[/img]" without the quotes. save the edit changes and it should appear like this...
Last edited by Quarter Acre; 08/16/1902:14 PM. Reason: Fixed Type on slash location
[quote=Quarter Acre]open the image from the posted link and copy the url address. Then go back and edit the post. Type..."[img]" (without the quotes), paste the url address, and then type "[img/]" without the quotes. save the edit changes and it should appear likt this...
Actually the brackets after the link have to have the forward slash IN FRONT of the img.
so it would be [img] http://blah blah blah.jpg [../img]
Thank you shortcut. It looks like a mess to my wife right now. I tell her when I get done people will drive from miles away to see such a display. Stole that sayin from my father in law. She always says name 2 people. Damn smartass lol
This is a free expansion! The property is not far from town and our valley has great topsoil the dozer guy needed for several large landscaping projects. Touched base with him last night. They will be back soon to finish shaping it and connecting to the main pond. With 1100ac of watershed we need a much larger pond. This will make it about 2.5ac.
How are you going to know unless you try!
NW TX 2ac main pond fed from 1100ac watershed going through 2 2+ac sediment ponds. 1st filled 10/2018 900BG, 200RES, 200HBG, 100CC and 23# FHM...."Free" BH, GSF GSH, LMB & ??? 75LMB 3/2020 I subscribe!
Wet week but got in when i could. I got the damn on the right side raised a little. It might not look like much. On my little tractor I bet I made 150 loads of dirt to make it. I'm tryin to raise my damn up bout 3 feet. I still have a long way to go on the other side.
I feel like a mouse just nibbling sometimes. When I look back a picture from when i started it seems crazy. I started all of this cuz i had a low spot next to the pond that was always wet. So I figured and just expand it just a little. So much for that idea.
This is the shape I'm going for. Sorry I'm not an artist. The pier will be a firepit on the end it's about 20 feet across. I. Looking at around 2/3 - 3/4 of an acre when finished n full I hope.
Just noticed the pool. Dang Google maps need to update their images in the summer when everything looks nice n green. Well I guess the pool is green but its normally clear lol.
I managed to get some progress done today. Added another 100-120 scopes today. Prolly get another 30 or so in before the day is over. Wanted to get a picture while I was thinking about it.
Can someone give me advice on wht size over flow pipe or if I need 1. Hopefully I will around 3/4 acre when done and full. Prolly about 2 acre water shed. The pond before the dig was just under 1/2 acre. Never had overflow pipe before. Just flowed over side. Never was a problem before. Normally only couple times a year did it over flow.
Can someone give me advice on wht size over flow pipe or if I need 1. Hopefully I will around 3/4 acre when done and full. Prolly about 2 acre water shed. The pond before the dig was just under 1/2 acre. Never had overflow pipe before. Just flowed over side. Never was a problem before. Normally only couple times a year did it over flow.
If you enlarge the pond but not the watershed, overflow should be less of a problem rather than more.
I sealed it up already last night. I decided to go without it. I can always dig it back out if needed. I still will prolly have to drop the water level again at some point. Im not using a laser level or nothing just eye balling it. This has been a completely low budget deal. So far only cost me diesel and time. I still have a night or 2 to finish up the dam. I did change the water shed slightly. I sloped my yard a little in places so the water runs into the pond now. Added some crushed limestone to the entrance point.
I think I'm close to being done. I feel like iv said that a few times lol. Went ahead and spread a pile of limestone in a few places today. I hope they will work good for spawning. If not no loss. On of the pictures is where the water flows into the pond. Hopefully it will help filter the water a little bit atleast.
Just thought I'd stick a pole in the ground to measure how much I added. I'm hoping to add 3 feet when finished. I pretty sure I will have to add some to one spot on the bk damn. It's still around a foot low or so. I dont know where the spillway will be at yet. I kinda want the rains to come. I still want to get some more barrels in it for habitat.
Thank you it's hard to tell the scale and slopes of everything in pictures. If I was better with this I would put a video up of it. Any advice on wht to do before the rain comes is welcome here. Concerns, ideas or diy projects!!!
We got about 1.25 inches of rain yesterday. Looks like it raised the water level by about a foot maybe a little less. Couple more feet to go to see what full pool will lol like.
I know it is past time when input on overflow pipe is an issue. However, adding the experience of an infrequent sojourner through here. I have a pond about 0.4 acre. 11-12 ac watershed. I asked NRCS for input on overflow pipe size. They said 4". I didn't believe them. That is kinda pointless. We get some big rains here- 2-4" in a day. I put in a 12" pipe. And I have seen it running completely full twice. Seeing an overflow running max is scarey. Tis only my experience, but pay to oversize. The peace of mind is worth it.
Glad you are getting toward full pool. That is fun to see your dreams unfolding. Slow fill is better than fast fill.
I decided not to go with an over flow for now at least. I never have had 1 so not 2 concerned bout it I guess. Might be a mistake in the long run. I could always add 1 later if needed. My water shed is only mayb 2ac at most. It fills up fast with a heavy rain.
Wow! I wish I could get that much run off for every 2 acres. My watershed is about 4 times that, and I can't get near a foot of water, from a 1.25" of rain.
It did help tht all the ground is soaked already. It came down in a hurry for sure. I have my guttering from my house and shop all running into also. It was coming out like a firehose for a few hours.
Bob I have to correct myself on that. I went out and checked my water level gauge. It is more like 9 inches. It sure does seem like more when the pond grows in size also. The first picture was from the end of August. The bottom was taken today Dec 31st.
Thank you I'm looking forward to some grass and and full pool this spring. I think I started this 2 years ago. It's been a long process for sure. My wife has been pretty supportive of it which has helped.
Thank you, I'm ready for spring time when everything greens up and fills up. I'm thinking bout making something like this. Just a small fishing dock. My father in law is not quite in a wheel chair but is close to it but loves to fish. Hes the reason I put crappy in my pond. He loves to catch them. I figured a couple of these around the pond will be helpful to him. Also dont want to spend a whole lot either.
I have pondered about putting a small dock on the opposite side of my 3 acre main pond and also one across the creek on my RES/SMB pond.
Pondering is the easy part. We will see if I ever get "a round tuit".
I think you would enjoy the docks a lot. Don't remember ever hearing of anyone here on PBF regretting putting in a dock. They might when it comes time to replace the boards, but I do not see any other downside.
This morning rains have brought it up more. Looks like so far we've got .89. But everything around is already wet so I got pretty good runoff. My wife isnt thrilled that I enjoy the rain right now. Lol
Thank you I'm loving it all filling up. I'm hoping google maps updates some time this summer when everything is looking nice n green.i changed the shape alot over the last few years. Its finally filling up which makes it easy to tell where my lows spots on the damn are. Hopefully I can get on it before spring. I would sink in mud at this time.
I'm thinkin bout doing one of these on the peninsula. Then making a fire pit underneath it. I have never did anything like tht before. My farmer neighbor has a few. Going to see if he will sell one (I dont think they've used anymore). If anyone has any tips or suggestions bring them on plz.
My farmer buddy has 4 of them 2 are only like 2-4 foot tall sidewalls. That's what im going to try and buy from him. He is a snowbird and gone til march so havnt been able to talk with him yet. Not sure if im going with exactly the same design. Just wanting something similar. Maybe a ring around the bottom also with cut outs.
The pond is as full as it can get for now. I still need to add a couple feet on the back side (damn side). It has been a wet winter so far. I have mud everywhere from all the digging iv done. Looking forward to this summer and seeing it when it looks nice.
I possibly made the damn alil to small lol. My goal was to get the pond as close to my fence line as possible. I talked to my neighbor and he said for all he cared the pond could go over to his side if I wanted. I figured that could cause problems down the road so didnt go that far. But it does look like I need to add some more dirt on the backside. I still have more sloping i need to do around but it's coming along nice i think.
I have this small section of my pond that I was thinking of building a bridge over. Has any of you built one before. I would love you get some ideas from others. Also thinking that underneath it I can cage off for the use of growing HSB until large enough to not be snacks. Also thinking i could maybe raise forage in there also like minnows or others. Any ideas or suggestions ? Sorry my drawing really sucks just did it on my phone.
I like to use Dutch clover when I'm trying to establish new sod on bare dirt. It sprouts readily, forms a dense rhizome mat, and adds nitrogen to the soil. Over time the grasses, especially fescue, will choke out the clover leaving you with a nice stand of grass.
I used rye. It comes up in 7-9 days. Its about 6 inches tall already. I'v never heard of dutch clover. The rye dies out after the 1st year. Its cheap less than a dollar a pound. I might try and look for the clover also thanks for the tip.
Newest picture of my place. Still need to smooth out some places around the banks. Its mayb somewhere between 1-2 feet low at this picture. One picture from the breezeway the other from far side of the pond.
We had some friends over last night for some drinks. One of there kids the boy (11 year old) in the picture wanted to go fishing. It was an unplanned party or it might have got the fella some worms or some kinda bait. Turns out tht we didnt need any. He laughed and ran to there ride and said let's try a chicken nugget. He had a few left over from earlier. Put a small chunk on a hook and he was fishing with a smile. Within 5 seconds "FISH ON FISH ON". To say the least he was pumped and the fighting began. He was using his ultra lite rod. Looked like he had a whale on there and fighting like a dolphin. Snapped his line at the bank. He jumped on it lol. Got them safe distance on shore then stepped back and was nervous bout touching it again. He wanted me pick it up I told him nope this is your fish. We weighted it at 3 1/2 pounds. I didnt think about getting a length. It had a beer belly on it for sure. The little girl is his sister. She was about as pumped as he was.
While I still enjoy fishing, its not as magical as it was when I was a kid and caught a nice fish like that. I'm sure he'll always remember that one. I still remember all of my first bigger fish. I probably remember all of my bigger fish I've ever caught since there hasn't been that many. Lol!
Okay I have a question / observation. My pond is the clearest it's ever been. Its maybe 18 inches of clarity. But now I have a abundance of moss (FA). When I take this stuff out from the bank it seems to hold onto the clay. It will create a cloud looking ball if I rake it to fast. So my question is. Does the moss filter out clay particles?
Ruston, I'm curious to see what kind of replies you get. I'm thinking anything growing helps keep the clay settled. I'm also thinking that as long as it doesn't get out of control, even FA growing is better than nothing. I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I haven't worried too much about it.I just figured it was a cycle that all new ponds go through and that at least it was using up some of the nutrients and was making some cover for the fry. I also figured and hoped that most of the FA will be replaced with a more desirable vegetation as the pond ages. Hopefully someone that knows more will set us straight.
The part of my pond tht gotten out control is shallow. Iv got maybe a 75 X 75 spot that's only about 2 foot deep now. It will be 3-4 foot deep when it's full. I'm thinking of adding some tilapia next year. But not 100% of that yet.
I have very little shallow water. Other than the inlet end of the pond, the dam and the corner areas of the dam, my sides are pretty steep. I mostly just get a few feet wide ring around the edge of the pond.
Good question. See this about clay issues in ponds. FA uses nutrients out of the water which causes chemical changes to the water. Chemical changes can cause clay flocculation which would make the water clearer. Not sure that is your question.
Well that wasnt really my question but it answers it. I was thinking the FA was kind of trapping it. Because when I take rake it fast it seems like a cloud of clay comes from it. If I pull it slow the water stays clear. But our explanation of the chemical change makes since. Thank you
FishinRod this is for you. When we meet at Snrubs you said you havnt seen my koi on here. I'm guessing its 16-18 inches long. It hasnt been very easy to get a picture of. I hear most are friendly mine swims away from me most of the time.
RS - I suspect two things happen that cause the clouds of murkiness to come from the FA...key word "suspect". FA starts out on the bottom, so it could easily carry sediments up to the surface with it and water constantly moves around in my pond which leads me to think that the FA also filters any floaties that the water currents try to carry through it. We might also be seeing some of the FA decaying at the surface causing even more materials to form the cloud as the moss is disturbed.
QA from wht I'm understanding the FA in moderation is a good thing. It in some aspects creates a filter and also changes the chemistry in the pond. I just have more this year than ever before. My water is also better than ever as far as clarity..
That angle in the photo definitely shows your pond outline better. I would use that photo again if you ever start a new thread on advice for expanding your pond.
Do you think your wife got you a 30-ton excavator for your stocking this year?
With the added recent rains she is now full +1. Maybe this year I will add so kind of over flow. Thought bout doing like a concrete spillway type. Remember seeing some nice looking ones on here. Any ideas or thoughts are welcomed as always.
How much rain did you get? It looks to me like improving your overflow protection should probably be on your project list for this year. (You will almost certainly get a bigger rain event at some time in the future!)
Concrete is a great material to form exactly the structure you want. Especially if you have concrete experience.
However, I know there are a lot of good rock quarries in your area. Knowing you, I think you could pick a rock type you like (or your wife likes) and build an attractive rip rap style emergency spillway.
I bet you could get 12" or 18" rip rap pretty cheap in your area.
I called around for some quotes last week, and was trying to get good descriptions over the phone. The lady told me to just go down there and see which of the products looks best for my application. I bet if you checked in at the quarry, they would let you look at the rock before you buy.
Even with delivery, rock should also be cheaper than concrete. (Except for small loads.)
You might be able to ask snrub for some help. I think he has had rock delivered to his place.
We installed 2 - 24” black corrugated pipe and packed clay in between to keep it from washing out. We drive across the dam as it is part of the road now been in since 2014 with no problems except small fish getting out into the catch pond below.....
Rod- We have a rock quarry like 3 miles from the house. I have thought of that option also. Not sure what I wanta do. I need to go looking at pictures and see wht i like.
Pat- I love driveways over the pond dams. Mine is basically our backyard. Also only have like a 2 acre watershed. I think 24" would be crazy over kill for me.
I do like hearing all ideas. Thinking maybe some rxposed ocks in concrete so they dont wash away and look cool.
I didn't realize your watershed was only 2 acres. That definitely makes the project easier.
I think Pat's idea is probably the easiest. How far do you have to move the water to get it past the edge of your pond berm?
10" x 20' culvert is only $103 at our Menards. 12" x 20' would pass even more water and is only $116.
I was looking at a similar project on my farm using a concrete drop structure and culvert.
I was going to build a little concrete form around the pipe inlet, and then go up to my emergency spillway elevation building a cinder block structure. For an extra $20 in cinder blocks and mortar you could make your drop inlet large enough to climb into if it ever managed to get clogged.
For your pond, you might have just a few inches of cinder blocks sticking up above your normal pool level. The turtles would probably think you built a sun deck just for them!
Good luck, and think about what you would like the next time you are going around your pond on the mower. I am sure you will come up with a good solution!
Given the watershed you don't have to have a conduit to prevent overflow of emergency spillway provided the spillway resists erosion. So I like your idea of something concrete or a combination of rock and concrete at the spillway sufficient to prevent erosion and carry water away from the dam. Forcing overflow across such a surface allows you maximize volume and surface area.
I wouldn't think it would take a whole lot of concrete to do that and it could be patched as needed with hand mixed slurry from time to time.
Last edited by jpsdad; 03/15/2102:30 PM.
It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers
Have you guys checked out the latest pond boss magazine (jan feb 2021). I hope I can put these images up mods. If it's not ok please take them down. It just happenss to be on spillways.
I got some good news. Talked to fella I know who has heavy equipment. Asked him how much he charges for 5 - 8 hours with his excavator. He said 300 if I operate it and 500 if he does. Also said he would just drop it off on a friday and pick it up on the monday. I said I didnt think you rented them out. Said he normally dosnt but knows all of my family and knows I grew up on equipment. Told him if never operated a excavator before. He said just a short lesson and I will have it. Not sure how big it is yet but coming in a few weeks. I'm excited and the wife wants me to shut up about it so we both win. I want to deepen it in a couple spots. Make a diving hold and set some post in for a dock. And small fishing platforms. Any suggestions welcomed. We are planning some type of structure at the peninsula we have but told the wife I wanted to do this this so it's not in the way.
I got some good news. Talked to fella I know who has heavy equipment. Asked him how much he charges for 5 - 8 hours with his excavator. He said 300 if I operate it and 500 if he does. Also said he would just drop it off on a friday and pick it up on the monday. I said I didnt think you rented them out. Said he normally dosnt but knows all of my family and knows I grew up on equipment. Told him if never operated a excavator before. He said just a short lesson and I will have it. Not sure how big it is yet but coming in a few weeks. I'm excited and the wife wants me to shut up about it so we both win. I want to deepen it in a couple spots. Make a diving hold and set some post in for a dock. And small fishing platforms. Any suggestions welcomed. We are planning some type of structure at the peninsula we have but told the wife I wanted to do this this so it's not in the way.
I predict Rusto is going to have a huge grin on his face the entire time he is running the excavator!
My suggestion is to finish the planning on your emergency spillway project before you get the excavator. The excavator will make it very easy to complete the dirt work required for whichever final design you choose.
P.S. Make sure he installs the "FA" bucket on the excavator before he delivers it.
Yes Rod I will have what my wife calls a sh** eatin' grin. What is a FA bucket? I know most people on here dont like koi but I likem. So we picked up 3 more of them today.
Koi feeding activities of rooting in the sediments for invertebrate foods does create suspended sediment which causes natural water turbidity and less sunlight penetration AND less phytoplankton AND less FA growth. Both need sunlight to grow. Pros and Cons. Amount of suspended sediment is dependent on several factors, main ones are 1. size of koi (bigger ones make more suspended sediment per fish, 2. number of koi (more numbers makes more turbidity, koi recruitment plays a big role), 3. Koi have no stomach, just intestine, thus they do not binge feed like sportfish. Koi, to keep food moving through the intestine, spend a lot of their time looking for food in the sediments.3. amount of aeration - the more aeration and faster the pond turnover the more the sediment says suspended, 4. wind action and fetch(pond shape and long axis as it relates to prevailing winds). 5. The larger the waves and more frequent they occur the more the sediment stays suspended. If the pond in later years, as koi grow large, has low clarity with soil hue/color then you will know one of the main reasons.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 04/02/2106:56 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
I put ONE koi in my pond 2 years ago. Don't know what it's called, completely white, long feathery fins. It was about 12" when stocked. Next Fall I see this white 18" long fish, and I'm racking my brain as to exactly what the heck it is. Finally it dawned on me what I was seeing. I was shocked at how fast it grew.
The water is still pretty murky right now. It was alot better before the rains last week. I have no interest with pond full of them. As of right now theres 4 in there. I walk around the pond every day sometimes several times I like finding them. Still cant het them to eat the 2 different fish foods iv had. I tired dog food also with no luck. Never have got any food just 4 koi so thts prolly the problem. Up til this year if I even got close it would swim away. I'm guessing its somewhere around 18 inches. The 3 we put in there yesterday were prolly 6-8 inches.
With adding the 3 new koi expect the pond in 3 years to have even more or at least as much frequent turbidity especially if you are aerating the pond which creates more circulation to keep suspended particulates in the water column and not let them settle as well. Good wind action also helps keep suspended particles in the water column. With those fish your pond should not have a significant FA problems; no light for it to grow..
Last edited by Bill Cody; 04/03/2108:18 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Last year I had just the one koi. The FA got outta hand. This year I'm getting some tilapia from snipe. Not sure one date yet. This year I know I need 2 get some line in the water and get some bass n crappie out. Hoping to have a few weekends where friends come take all they catch. Or just a good ol fashion fish fry. Not much on eating fish but always down 4 a good time.
Bill you mentioned aeration. We dont have anything as of now in their. We do get some wind action for sure.
Wife just sent me a msg saying the digger tractor (lol) will be here Saturday. I will be taking pictures as things progress. Gotta get my ducks in a row now.
These will be the post for the bridge and dock. Planning a bridge that's about 30 feet long. The dock I'm not sure about yet. Kinds depends on how far the excavator can reach. I really dont know how big of equipment he has. The plan is a permanent dock going straight out maybe 12 feet or so. Then building floating dock with some kind of hinge system. Just getting the post set and some of the pond dug deeper is my plan for tomorrow. I want a swimming hole right off the bridge. Also want a few spots made deeper. Wish me luck iv never did anything like this before
Any last minute thoughts. Heres a drawing I made. Not saying it will end up like this but hopefully close. Please dont judge my place off my kindergarten drawing. The outdoor structure hasnt been built yet. That's supposed to be octagon shape without the front post. With dormers off sides. Hopefully it turns out better than the chicken scratches I drew.
Thank you - Wife took this picture. I got my swimming suit on and hopped in. I held them straight and pushed them down into the bottom with the bucket. Set them in around 3 - 4 feet down.
Got a big stack of landscaping timbers from my work. They come between sheets of steel at my job. If nobody takes them home they get thrown away. Bought 20 - 2x6x12 treated today. This is my progress so far.
Only had a few hours to work on it today. Got maybe ⅓ the way done with the dock decking. I ran everyone threw the planner one time to smooth them up alil.
Thank you all !!! I'm feeling pretty good bout this right now. I have 11 more boards to go. We have been getting alot of rain so hard to get my tools out and get on it. We are sitting at full pool (I hope). Looks like i made the dock about 2 inches over full pool. It's right there at the top kinda hard to tell for sure if so it might be able to come up couple more inches. I plan on putting a spillway in at some point down the road. If it does come up more so the rails are in the water I will fix that by lowering the spillway a tad. I love the look of it riding right on the water.
Rusto, dock is really looking good. Mine is also sown close to the water's surface. A bonus to being so close to the water is that you, kids, your inquisitive dog can be right there when the bluegills are feeding. I like to show the neighbor kids how to quietly and carefully reach down and touch the fish slurping pellets and mealworms. Also, it's a hoot when a 20" tiger trout slashes by and showers the kids with water!
Getting some results in today. It's been raining here every other day for couple weeks. So it's the 1st time its ran over the spillway. So 1st time seeing it's new full pool. Also found out tht the spillway needs to come down maybe an inch or so. The dock is about an inch under water. I would rather the dock not stay submerged.
I don't have a good answer for that. The design is the same as the dock. Main difference is the dock is extending out into the water. The bridge is just connected to land on both sides. I'm also thinking under the bridge I might put in some kind of netting so I could have a separate area for forage fish. Heres the post that will hold the bridge. The area to the right is only like 15 x 30 feet. Maybe 4 feet deep (I know very steep sides). It was dug out with the miniX. The rails I think we r gunna do big ship rope. Also doing tht on the dock as well. I'm all ears for ideas. Might get started on it this weekend so not much time tho.
Rusto, I would have to build a bridge 75-100 foot long over water. My pond is too round. I might just have to pass on building one. You have the hard part done on yours already. I was thinking of building a rope and plank or some type of suspension bridge but I don't believe I would ever get it stable enough for my wife to walk on it. Though I think it would be fun!
Dear Alcohol, We had a deal where you would make me funnier, smarter, and a better dancer... I saw the video... We need to talk.
Yeah maybe not the best idea for you then. I got in to get started again on it. Had a problem. When I built the dock the water was several inches lower. Now it full so when I try to saw where the bottom rail will go my saw is in the water. Either going to have to drain it a few inches or play the waiting game.
That sounds about right Rusto. It is still raining here again this morning!! But my pond has flushed out and cleared from 6 inch visibility to 32 inch!! Best it has looked in many years!!
Dear Alcohol, We had a deal where you would make me funnier, smarter, and a better dancer... I saw the video... We need to talk.
I can't see a fish 32 inch down but I bought a proffesional secchi dish and that is what it reads. Kinda funny but all of those "shiners" I have can be seen swimming across the secchi dish at 12-18 inch down. So it is clearing ALOT! I still believe by NOT running my aeriation since last early fall has helped clarity a bunch. And at least for now the fish don't seem to mind. As it starts getting hot in July and August I will probably have to fire it back up. I will have to restart 15 minutes a day again but I don't mind.
Dear Alcohol, We had a deal where you would make me funnier, smarter, and a better dancer... I saw the video... We need to talk.
I was contemplating a bridge across our creek, but it can't have piers within the banks without massive permitting.
I priced telephone poles on Facebook and Craigslist and found some really cheap ones available. They are already water and UV treated, so they should last a long time.
I was just going to run two 40-footers in parallel across the creek. (If you can't balance on that, then you have to wade!)
If you don't cross deep water, then you could probably add a 100' bridge at a pretty low cost. You might even be able to make a floating bridge - but I don't know about leaching creosote, etc. into a pond?
This type of bridge would be very functional but ugly. I don't know if that would be an option in your situation.
It would not be an option for Rusto! His wife can see the whole pond from their deck.
After building the dock I realize I need some storage. We now have 2 paddle boats, 2 paddle boards, a kayak and a big floating mat. Theres prolly 10 oars also. Looking for ideas on a some kind of rack system that looks nice. Also has to be able to with stand some weather. All the stuff get put up when it gets real nasty out and all winter. I'm all ears for ideas and pictures of what some of ya's have.
We designed our dock to where we could permanently anchor our paddle boat to the dock. We also bought a plastic outdoor storage container to store pond items in.
I didnt make it wide enough to put any storage shed type thing on it. I think in will need some type of rack. I'm really not sure. Might have 2 build something extra. Heres how far in have got on the bridge. I got the notches cut out of the post. I know they r not prefect but heck I was down in the water using a jigsaw. I'm hoping to get the rails on today.
I have always thought about using an old house trailer frame for a bridge, one could cut the cross member between the main stringer beams and lap them to bring your main beams closer together like 3 or 4' of space between them, then cut the outside off or shorten them to what ever width you wanted the bridge, also a person could take and cut a small v in the bottom of the stringer beams in a couple places and bend the beam down till it closed up and weld them back together and create and arch, then a support steel angle iron or something, going straight from end to end beneath the beams would make it super strong, person should pretty much be able to drive a side by side or lawn mower across it then, and most of the time them old frames are pretty easy and cheap to come by, I have demoed a few old trailers just in the last year that I had to get rid of the frames.
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
It seems like I remember a thread on here were someone did tht. Like over creek for a driveway maybe. . Mines alil smaller scale then tht. Didnt make it in the water yet this weekend. Had fathers day stuff going on so far.
It's 1st time iv caught one of these HSB so far. Didnt weight it but looks to be right at 10" long. Caught it in a throw net. Sorry bout the quality I was tryin to hurry and not touch it. Learned tht from Snipe. Never touch a fish with ur bare hands. And they say you cant teach an old dog new tricks. 44 years old and never heard tht before. Gotta give a shoot out to Snrub for the HSB and Snipe. Seined these out of Snrubs pond and Snipe for bring then to their new home. Fishinrod was there along with me for mainly moral support lol.
Theres been a few big bass put in the pond. I believe this is the biggest one that's been raised in it. 15 inches long. Didnt get a weight on it. Girls wanted a picture with it.
Yes I'm thinking mayb making a few of these DC bug slapper. Seen it on here from a fella poster Tony K. I'm no wiring guy so might have to buy one lol.
So we have a contractor coming next month or so to give us a bid. We are looking at something along these lines. Not the best picture just seen this driving around. We have looked at everything from silos to gazebos. I think this will perfect on our 30' peninsula. Was thinking the outside to be somewhere in the 18' - 20' range. Let me hear in pro n cons. It lot ezer to change things before its built.
I left about 5 foot on each side. I'm thinking bout zero maintenance stuff for the end of the peninsula. Like as in killin all the grass and weed barrier. Then cover with rock.
I am not a big fan of Google throwing around their near-monopoly power in many areas. However, I must give them credit where credit is due.
I use Google Earth all of the time. The satellite imagery with the ability to measure distances and areas is a very powerful tool for land managers. The historical imagery button is also very nice to observe land use changes over time.
I am pretty sure I live in a lower population density area than our Indiana Pond Bossers, but my latest imagery is dated 2019. I have no idea what algorithm they use to update their satellite images!
Finally got put on a good list. Contractor says he can get to my structure in may. Planning on a type of gazebo. 20 foot across 6 sided. Big cedar post and beams. Sticker shock got me a lil bit but we knew it wud be hi. Going with a metal roof. Something similar to this but not exactly.