The Fairly Big Dig

[deputyrpa]

The trout pond project is underway. Other than having the transporter back out a 5 o'clock Wednesday, and scrambling to find transport for a 38 Ton machine after COB for Thursday morning....everthing went swimmingly.

My friend with the excavator, Nicola, worked so fast it was hard to keep up with the camera. He moved about 3000cy, about half of it twice, in about 6hours total. My friend Shawn, who was pushing with the D4, was buried by the volume.

Enough narrative....here's some pics!

 

[ToadHill]

Had a friend who dug a beautiful trout pond and in it's forth year all the fish died. Remember trout need cold water and the streams they live in are constantly airiated (sp). Keep something pumping the water up into the air and let it fall back down into the pond.

 

[deputyrpa]

Still pics from Thursday. We hit several springs. At about 12 feet, we hit the blue clay left by the Lake Albany which covered the area after glacial retreat. We couldn't get the machine own in there, because as Nick says "you may as'a well cover her up". The suction is unbelievable. We excavated about 2' of it out and covered it with the overlying gravel.

 

[deputyrpa]

The end of Day 1. From left to right are Ron, my friend from Long Island; Steve, his son; and Nicola. My "second wife" Jodie is walking away from the scene. Ron and Steve are here for Turkey hunting. The bucket behind them holds 2 5/8 yards, and weighs 2 tons. Mamma Mia!

 

[deputyrpa]

Had a friend who dug a beautiful trout pond and in it's forth year all the fish died. Remember trout need cold water and the streams they live in are constantly airiated (sp). Keep something pumping the water up into the air and let it fall back down into the pond.

Yep. The water is spring water and very cold. The small creek next to it is a Brookie stream. Aeration is my only concern, and I am going to get a solar-powered unit. I'm also going to tap into the high water of the stream and spill the water over rocks, since I have the grade.

What kind of trout did your friend stock? Brook trout need the coldest water. Many things can go wrong with small ponds, and before he stocks again, he should determine the cause of the kill.

 

[jimmyj]

Very cool. Man, I love your avatars.

What kind of trout will you get? Will you have any other fish too?

 

[ToadHill]

He had Brook, Brown and Rainbow. They died from lack of Oxygen, he had them tested. He passed away last fall and the land isn't being cared for at this time.

 

[deputyrpa]

Very cool. Man, I love your avatars.

What kind of trout will you get? Will you have any other fish too?

Thanks. And thanks for the avatar compliment! I like to change 'em up. As a guitarist, Zappa is one of my heros.

I'm going to stock brook trout. They are the only trout that will spawn in a pond environment. However, they need the correct substrate, so I will add an area of pea gravel, over the springs. The other reason I like brokies is that they are a true native fish to this area, and taste much better than browns and rainbows.

Oh yeah, I'll provide them some flathead minnows for their dining pleasure...

 

[deputyrpa]

He had Brook, Brown and Rainbow. They died from lack of Oxygen, he had them tested. He passed away last fall and the land isn't being cared for at this time.

Yikes! What a mix! I'd never put those three together! talk about interspecific competition!

Low temperature, and then high dissolved oxygen (DO) are the two most important survival needs for trout.

It's too bad the guy passed away and his land is unkempt. I betcha' he's firing off lightening bolts at his kin for that!

 

[deputyrpa]

Here is this morning's progress. As you can see, Nicola is an animal. He had to attend a party, and he left at around 11:30. He got way ahead of Shawn, who is no slouch himself. It doesn't help that the gravel/clay is juicy though. It pushes easy, but doen't stay in front of the blade too well.

One pic shows the deeper end - about 14', and the other end shows the shallow end - about 6 so far. The shallow end will be tapered up to the surface after I get some of that slop out of the way. Yes, I get to play big-shot on the Hyundai!

We also may enlarge the deeper section before we finish. The blue clay limited our depth, but 14' will be fine.

 

[JoelD]

Deputy, I always wondered how do you keep a man made pond full of water?

Great looking project.

Will you be able to swim in the water?

I know nothing about ponds.

But I know this is one of your areas of expertise.

Thanks,
Joel

 

[deputyrpa]

Deputy, I always wondered how do you keep a man made pond full of water?

Great looking project.

Will you be able to swim in the water?

I know nothing about ponds.

But I know this is one of your areas of expertise.

Thanks,
Joel

One either provides a surface water source (and discharge) and seals the bottom with clay to prevent infiltration, or one digs one in areas of high groundwater elevation, where permability is a benefit. In doing the latter, I am basically daylighting the groundwater which has flowed down the mountain atop bedrock by removing the gravel it has saturated. As you can see in the pics, the groundwater is perched upon that thick (probably about 6') blue clay layer. If we punched through that, the water may go down the drain! The gravel is confined between blue clay on the bottom, and clayey topsoil.

The water will eventually be clear...and COLD, and is going to be a swimmable pond.

PS....CAT controls seem foreign after some time with Deere controls. I wasted some diesel a few hours ago moving some schlop. However, that "flaw" is WAY eclipsed by the sheer power of that machine. It makes my BH90X seem like a bent spoon......Look at the smile on Nicola's face!

 

[IXLR8]

I was wondering why I didn't see your orange beast in any of these pictures?

 

[deputyrpa]

I was wondering why I didn't see your orange beast in any of these pictures?

Uh...it would have gotten stuck?

Or.....I didn't want to get it dirty?

Umm.....I didn't want to upstage the D4?

How am I doing?

 

[JonKioti]

Wow, I didn't get a feel for the true size until one of your pictures with everyone standing at the top edge. I'd love to have that amount of space.

I will be putting in a second pond someday, this time with a liner. My first was dug in an area that always had water in it, but it tends to dry up in the late summer. I didn't have my CK-20 for the first one, so the next one will be different.

Please keep the pictures coming - it's great to see everyone's projects!

Jon

 

[Gittyup]

Me too! Love the Zappa avatar. He is at his best when not singing. One of my favorite muscians though, especially Waka Jawaka. Funny, you wouldn't think of Zappa being liked by a bunch of tractor guys.

Nice pond project too.

 

[deputyrpa]

Wow, I didn't get a feel for the true size until one of your pictures with everyone standing at the top edge. I'd love to have that amount of space.

I will be putting in a second pond someday, this time with a liner. My first was dug in an area that always had water in it, but it tends to dry up in the late summer. I didn't have my CK-20 for the first one, so the next one will be different.

Please keep the pictures coming - it's great to see everyone's projects!

Jon

It looks small without water in it, but it's about 1/3 of an acre. It may get to be 1/2 acre when we're done....who knows? Digging is fun!

You are going to dig you pond with your CK? My advice is to plan your excavation procedure carefully. You don't want to handle the material many times over. Dig it when the area is at it's driest. Have fun!!

 

[deputyrpa]

Me too! Love the Zappa avatar. He is at his best when not singing. One of my favorite muscians though, especially Waka Jawaka. Funny, you wouldn't think of Zappa being liked by a bunch of tractor guys.
QUOTE]

 

[streamin]

I'm not sure I understand about why you can't make it deeper? The clay is too tough to dig or you want to keep it?

 

[deputyrpa]

I'm not sure I understand about why you can't make it deeper? The clay is too tough to dig or you want to keep it?

First, the clay is the water-confining layer. Without it, we could lose the ability to hold water in the pond. Second, it's at least six feet thick and really soft. It could be much thicker. You can lose that 38 ton machine in it. Even several feet of overburden will not help that much, because it's wet. We're not taking the chance to lose a $250,000 machine.

That clay will not stop that machine - not much would. See the pic. We removed about 2' of it because we could reach that far. Then he put a foot of gravel over the top so the clay will be less likely to suspend in the water column.