Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Building a Pond the Hard Way

I have had little time to post about my pond during the construction phase. Now that the pond is finished and partially stocked, I can make up for lost time. This will be a brief summary of all phases of my pond's design and construction. I'll be making daily installments for about a week, keeping it as short as I can. I welcome, no, BEG, any critique or questions. Thanks to everyone for the tremendous amount of knowledge I have gained from this forum. It's priceless!

Building a Pond the Hard Way

I've always loved to fish, and always wanted my own pond. I have fished in the ponds of friends and relatives since I can remember. While fishing, I dreamed that some day I would have a pond of my own. I married a wonderful lady that likes to fish as much as I do. Just to show you how much we like to fish, we used to meet after work, both dog-tired, and drive to a hole and fish until dark. I promised her years ago that I would try my best to build us a pond some day. The years passed, and the opportunity didn't materialize nearly as soon as I would have liked. My chance finally came in 2002, and I went for broke, almost literally. I saw an ad in the paper for 10 acres of land about 5 miles down the road, and we took the plunge. Our resources were limited, so we braced ourselves for a long, drawn out ordeal.

Next installment, "The Land".

I can hardly wait. Make sure you have pictures to go
with the updates. LOL

looking forward to hearing the story bobad......since it is already done, we can have a lot of fun with "what'd you do that fer?" and "i told ya so"

but i'm sure with the background help of this forum along the way, you created a slice of well engineered heaven.

Hahaha! Go ahead Dave! Play whack-a-mole with poor old bobad! I'm not worried, because my noggin is plenty hard!

There will be plenty of opportunities to laugh at my mistakes, bacause I'm sure I made plenty.

I think we all have. Remember that around here if you haven't killed a 100,000 fish through mistakes you are just getting started.

GULP!!!

It's bad enough that anything I touch is in mortal danger. It's a scary thought that my mistakes can be further compounded by Mother Nature.

"I married a wonderful lady that likes to fish as much as I do. Just to show you how much we like to fish, we used to meet after work, both dog-tired, and drive to a hole and fish until dark."

After reading that, I'd say you're off to a pretty good start Bobad! Can't wait to read the whole story.

The Land

The 10 acre parcel is located in a rural community called Pa-ta-sa. Ironically, it's a name meaning "white perch", which is a local name for "crappie". The land was badly overgrown with Chinese tallow trees. The locals call them "chicken trees", and they are an invasive alien species. I hired a small dozer for 2 days to uproot and pile the trees into windrows. The 16 hours of dozer work cleared 7 acres, and cost $1500. I bought a small 29hp 4wd tractor, with 5' loader, 5' bush hog, and 5-1/2" disk harrow. I paid 16K for the whole kit, all brand new. I bought a metal building to store the tractor and implements. It cost me about $3500, plus the slab. It took me, the wife, and my #2 son almost 2 weeks to build it. Me and my son built the form for the slab. Some good friends helped me finish the concrete, so the slab cost me only for the concrete and form lumber.

We chipped away at the 7 cleared acres for 3-4 weeks. We tightened up the wood piles and burned them all to ashes. We picked up all the cans, glass, bricks, and remaining sticks. There really wasn't much trash, but we wanted the land spotless. We filled every rut and stump hole. We built up roads, using the ashes and brick-hard dirt from the burned root balls. We planted bermudagrass on the roads. In short, we made a clean slate from which to start our pond.

The land is an old rice field. It's low, and flat as a pancake. It's surrounded by levees that average about 16" high. The property is surrounded by ditches on 3 sides. The ditch on the South side is a fairly deep gully, and it flows clear water for 2-3 days after each rain. The gully has resident minnows, GSF, bullheads, and a few other critters. My first instinct was to remove all the levee's surrounding the land, in order for it to drain nicely when it rains. Instead, I got the nutty idea to leave the levee's in place, repair them, and gently contour the land to drain toward the pond site. My idea was to not waste a drop of water. That was prompted by the very dry summers we have had in recent years. I'm glad I did it that way.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my neighbors in Pa-ta-sa. They have all been very nice, friendly, and helpful from day 1. When I go and work, it seems that at least 1 of them shows up to chat. They keep an eye on my place for me, and have called me several times for suspicious activity. They have been priceless, and have a standing invitition to fish.

Next installment, "The Pond Site".

Great story so far! I can relate. Any chance of pics?
...keep it coming, Bobad.

Thanks Brettski. Posters like you and Jersey inspired me to keep plugging away when things weren't going so well.

I do have a few pics, and will post them. I need to take some pictures of my giant dirt piles. Ground level pictures probably won't do them justice, so I'll have to bum a ride in my friend's Cessna.

Just started here. Lot of work, just a few inches deep.


The levee is over 450' long, but doesn't look it. It will end up a bit wider and higher.


My No.2 son on the little TC35. When the topsoil ran out, I parked my little tractor.


There! This works much better! You can tell by the grin.


This works even better.


And better still


Don't be fooled. It took me 3 days to siphon and pump out all that water.


Future Ponders. They love my tractor shed and tractor.

great set of pics bobad.

couple questions come to mind....

what kind of soils do you have? looks like they have no trouble holding water.

what are the average pond depths?

the levees dont look compacted. did you core trench any of the levees or was that even a necessity?

what kind of spillway or emergency drain release do you have for big storm events?

hard (fish) structure plans? mounds, channels?

keep the story comin!

Bob,

Just found this thread and I'm looking forward to reading about your pond adventure. You've been very helpful in my posts on this, and the other site, and I've always wondered about your pond.

Keep up the pictures, they're they're amazing.

Eddie

great set of pics bobad.

Thanks Dave! I try to please.

what kind of soils do you have? looks like they have no trouble holding water.

The topsoil was very deep in that old rice field. I had rich topsoil to around the 2 foot mark. At that point, it was a mixture of soft yellow clay and silt, and/or really sticky red clay. The deeper I went, the less red clay and the more yellow mix I ran into. The fine-textured soil around here holds water very well. However, it gets scary digging in excess of 8 feet, because you can hit sand. I suspect 1 of my neighbor's ponds leaks, and I've heard of several more in the general area that leak. So I was chicken to go beyond 8'. With no rain for the past 3 weeks, my pond level has dropped about 1 inch. That probably means almost zero seepage.

what are the average pond depths?

I would say 4 feet, but that may be misleading. I have a lot of shallow areas that will be weed beds... habitat for forage species. I have an 8 foot hole, and a couple of pretty big 6 foot areas. I have 3 or 4 large areas that are 5 feet.


the levees dont look compacted. did you core trench any of the levees or was that even a necessity?

The levees are brand new in those pictures. I eventually powdered them up so fine that they compacted brick hard after the first big rains. The levees are not a worry at all, because they are above the normal water level. Their purpose is to keep bullhead-bearing flood water out, not pond water in. I had a huge rain one winter that barely topped the levees, and they held fine. The water is too shallow to create any significant pressure.

what kind of spillway or emergency drain release do you have for big storm events?

I have a 10" pipe running under the pond levee. In the event the pond rises above the original ground level, I will open it up. If unusually hard rains overwhelm the 10" pipe's capacity, the entire levee will act as a grassy, emergency spillway.

hard (fish) structure plans? mounds, channels?

I drew no plans. I have 2 large channels and a couple of low ridges. Darn I wish I would have taken pictures of the finished pond bottom. I procrastinated just a day or 2, and the rains came. It rained so much it covered the bottom with 3 feet of soupy brown water.

I intend to make some floating stickups with 3/4" polyethylene pipe. I'll cut them 3' long, stuff a plug of clay in 1 end, a plug of Styrofoam in the other. I'll try an 8'x8' area of stickups. If they work, I'll make a couple of more. I'll probably do that little project this winter.

keep the story comin!

You betcha! I have about 4-5 more installments!

Bob will you use any aeration or other system to keep the pond from having " a to shallow thermocline" ?

ewest,

That's a good question, and one of the nagging worries that I have.

Aeration is not very common in my area, so I went into this project assuming I could get by without it. In fact, I don't even have electricity at my land. If I run into difficulties, I will first try a non-mechanical approach to remedy it. If it comes down to choices, I will probably aerate or circulate. Solar aeration is brutally expensive, but I think a solar circulation scheme would be simple and fairly cheap.

The Pond Site


I decided to dig the pond in the NE corner of the land. I left a 36' margin between the pond and the 2 adjacent ditches on the perimeter of the land. I think... I hope that will be wide enough to not worry about critters and tree roots causing leaks. I stepped off 400'x150', using my longest stride. I later measured my stride, and it was an inch or 2 more than a yard. Because of the longer stride, the 400' length may be as much as 450', and the width may be as much as 160'. That should make my pond at least 1.5 acres, more or less. Some day I'll measure it accurately with a 100' tape.

I prepared for the digging phase by mowing the grass and weeds as short as possible. It was early March, and the mowing was tough because the ground was pretty muddy. After mowing, I allowed the ground to dry a couple of days, then busted it up with the disk harrow. After another day or 2 of drying, I busted it up once more. I then began to scoop up the fine dirt and build up the levees. The levees started out around 2 feet high, 10' wide, with a margin of 2 feet from the banks of the pond. The finely powdered dirt eventually settled out to about 16" high and 12' wide. It took me 2-3 weeks of long days to finish the levees. I sewed a mixture of bermuda and centipede grass, and the levees now look just great when freshly mowed. The reason for the levees is to prevent the pond from being flooded after heavy rains. I have seen in excess of 6" of floodwater where the pond is located. I can imagine all the bullheads and maybe even carp in that water, not to mention bream of questionable lineage. I must avoid the floodwater co-mingling with the pond at all costs. Among the reasons for locating the pond in the NE corner is the nearby gully. If we ever have a severe dry spell, the gully could be a lifesaver. It only takes 1/2" of rain to make it flow briskly, so it's a valuable water source from which to pump. I think water could be pumped 48 hours straight from a 1/2" rain. That's not a tivial amount when the pond is seriously low. The gully also gives me enough depth to siphon out the pond. It would prove to be very useful in the rainy season.

Next installment: "Digging, Digging, Digging".

Digging, Digging, Digging

My plan was originally to hire an excavator and dump trucks, but all the big purchases ran me low on money. I got bids from 2 contractors, and both were over 20K. So, I would now have to save my pennies for another 2 or 3 years, or chip away at it on the cheap somehow. I soon learned that I could not stand to wait it out. I put the word out to my neighbors that I had all the free dirt they could ever use. I ran an ad in the local paper. I called 2 contractors to look at my site as a dirt source. They said they could use the dirt, but they were afraid to damage the Parish (County) road on which my pond is located. They would have been required to post a bond, and if the roads were damaged, they would have to forfeit the bond to pay for repairs. Well, that was a shock, and would prove to be a real handicap. With that development, either the dirt would have to be hauled out 5-10 yards at a time, or I would have to pile it up on my property. Several of the neighbors showed up with flat bed trailers, borrowed or rented dump trailers, and small tractors. When they learned how brutal it was on their equipment, most of them quit after a day or 2. Most had a tendency to overload their trailers, and 3 that I know of actually broke down. For the next 2 years, things went very slowly. After the initial enthusiasm, the neighbors dug and hauled very little during this time. My little tractor's progress was painfully slow, and I limited its use to digging and stockpiling only good topsoil. I got a good offer for the 29hp tractor and implements, which were paid for by now. I sold it and bought a little bigger replacement. I got a 35hp, complete with a 6' loader bucket and 6' bush hog. It didn't help the digging and hauling very much, but the 6 foot bush hog was a pleasant surprise. The rain, although infrequent in the warm months, was a nasty problem. It really slowed me down until I managed to get the pond sloped toward a deep sump near one corner. I bought a 2", 4hp gasoline trash pump to keep it pumped out. When it rained 1" , it took about a day of pumping to empty it out. It took only a day or 2 of drying before it was dry enough to work, year around. My property was another matter. All the trailers and tractors almost ruined my grass roads, and killed lots of the grass I had sewn on the levees. Someone ran over my pump inlet hose, and that slowed down the pumping. It seemed that nothing was going my way, and I became discouraged. I honestly considered quitting, and selling out. My wife wouldn't hear of it. She said if I gave up, I would regret it the rest of my days. I think she was right.

Next installemnt, "Prayers Answered"

I am enjoying your story and I am anticipating the next installment!

Thanks Dwight!

Tomorrow's installment is too weird to be made up.

the anxious crowd wants more!!

Dave, I can't decide whether that's an ugly man with normal teeth or a normal frog with ugly teeth!

Hey, I went to a friend's lake yesterday and dip netted ~150 ghost shrimp! About 1/3 of them were carrying eggs! Wooo hooo! Now I'll have a super forage base!

About 200 gams and a few other critters found their way into my net too. That puts me over 600 gams total, and that should be enough.

Wish I could have counted everything accurately, but counting ghost shrimp is like herding cats. You almost have to kill them to count them. They pop all over the place, and are almost invisible at times. The gams were stressed, and I got about a dozen floaters. So I didn't count them either.

Bob - According to Bighead Sally and the Furhead-WC your cat herding analogy is wrong, just plain wrong. :rolleyes:

Herding badgers with a snake and a couple mushrooms is far more difficult! :p

Dwight,

What was that? It was totally hypnotic. God, that song is stuck in my head now! It's worse than getting an REO Speedwagon tune stuck in your head!

I own a pair of lap-sitting FHWC's. (if they really can be owned). I'm living proof that cats really are smart enough to train. They trained me to perfection!

Prayers Answered

Things did not go my way in 2004-2005. Some days I felt optimistic, because that is my nature. Most of the time, I felt I would never finish the pond. Long hours in the hot sun, and eating dust by the pound resulted in little progress. My neighbors had more than enough of my fabulous free dirt. Just when I was about to put the project on hold, my prayers were answered. One night I got a call from a fellow that was interested in the free dirt. Since he had no equipment, I sort of blew him off, thinking it was just talk. He kept pestering me with long telephone conversations. He said he would buy a big tractor and dump trailer so he could dig and haul dirt to his dad's land, and to a building site for a new church. Yea, right. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

To my amazement and delight, he did exactly what he said. He bought the biggest model 4WD Kubota, an MX125, with a 1 yard loader. He also bought a Big Tex dump trailer capable of hauling 10 yards of dirt. The tractor had 7 hours on it when he parked it on my land. He threw me the keys, and said "If you will load the trailer, I will haul and dump the dirt". I was simply stunned. Needless to say, things were looking up, and I set to work with renewed hope. The big tractor was a delight to drive, with A/C and a Kenwood stereo to listen to talk radio.

I would plow up the dirt to a depth of ~5" with my little tractor, then push it up in piles with the big Kubota. When I had a few 20 yard piles, we would load up the dump trailer, and my friend would haul it to the church building site. He has a GMC duelie pickup truck, and has a 100 gallon diesel fueling station on board. He kept the big tractor's tank topped off. He offered to fill up my own tractor, and even my diesel drum. I always refused. Strangely, my new friend began to be more interested in the pond than the dirt. Hmmmm... what's that about? Oh well. Lets just dig, and not worry about anything else.

As the weeks passed, the pond was going too slowly to suit my friend. He asked me about a more efficient way to dig, and speed up the job. I jokingly said a dozer and a dump truck would be nice. He said he would look for some good used ones. He wanted to know if anything else would help in the meantime. I told him maybe an earth mover. He called me 1 night and said he bought a used 2 yard earth mover. Now my head was really spinning, because I didn't understand his motives. Oh well! We spent a week fixing up the hydraulics on ratty old earth mover, and I set to work again. We welded a back board on the earth mover, so it would hold about 3 yards. That piece could really move some dirt! I think I was digging and hauling over 250 yards a day. Problem is, I was running out of places to pile up all the dirt. The piles were getting taller and steeper every day, and getting scary to climb with the tractor and earth mover. Being a flatlander, I sometimes I got a little dizzy when I looked down from the top of the mounds. The mounds of dirt made my previously neat, green property look awful, but I could live with that. I can see some interesting bike trails in my future.

My friend decided against a dump truck, because of outrageous insurance costs, and was afraid of getting stuck on my soggy land. But he did find a nice used dozer. He bought a 90hp JD 650H. The undercarriage had recently been rebuilt, and was listed as 100%. The dealer delivered it to my land, and threw me the keys. Again, my head was spinning. Why?

That dozer could dig some serious dirt, and I worked it 8-10 hours a day. I could push up a 20 yard dirt pile lickety split, and make the depth of the pond change noticeably in a few hours. The dozer burned about $120 a day in fuel, at no cost to me. Long story short, between the earth mover and dozer, the pond was finished on or about Dec 16th, 2006. Thanks to Eddie Walker for some nice pointers on carrying dirt efficiently. Incidentally, that dozer is on my land to this day. I'm flattening out the steep dirt piles as they dry out.

Why did a total stranger donate equipment and fuel, just to pile up worthless dirt? He kept giving me vague reasons like "Because I might need the dirt later", "Because I want you to have a pond", or "Because I like to help people". After months of needling, he finally fessed up: His 83 year old dad, who is a wealthy retired farmer, always wanted a pond. He loves to fish, but was so immersed in farming that he never had time. He was the one behind the equipment purchases, and the free fuel. Thanks old partner. Now you have a pond, and a lifetime place to fish. I will never be able to repay him, so I will bait his hook and clean his fish for him if that's all I can do. He is a wonderful old guy, and a WW II vet... which merits you free coffee and fishing rights at my place any time.

Next installment, "An 'Unusual' Pond Design"