I think it would be hard to do with a skid steer or small excavator alone. You need to rent a Cat D5 or equivalent dozer, plus the skid steer with large bucket for moving dirt rapidly. Plus, a pull behind sheepsfoot roller would be nice, also. The pond guy around here has a well equipped Cat D6K-XL with ripper on the rear. A skid steer would probably take two weeks to do what he can do in a day, maybe even longer, or never if big rocks are involved. I don't think they rent anything that big, for transport reasons.
That D6K weighs around 30,000#. Here they will rent up to and including a JD850K, which weighs around 47,000#. Here for an excavator, you can get up to a Kom PC490LC-10 that has a 38' reach, 25' dig depth and has either a 48" or 72" bucket. Weight is 106,000#.
