Got Watering Hole?

[lakngulf]

Built a small hole to catch some water in the middle of a pasture that I am trying to improve. Will fill only with the flow of rainwater, but it should hold a good bit.





Used my mighty "little bulldozier" to build it. Granted the top layer was sandy loam and easy to dig, but this little machine will move some dirt.

 

[oosik]

That's a good sized hole for anybody to dig. It will definitely hold a lot of water. The only thing I would suggest - if you ran into any clay or clay type soil, it would help the pond hold water if you could spread it around on the bottom.

 

[lakngulf]

That's a good sized hole for anybody to dig. It will definitely hold a lot of water. The only thing I would suggest - if you ran into any clay or clay type soil, it would help the pond hold water if you could spread it around on the bottom.

I did hit some clay-like soil but did not spread it. Ideally I get back up there and dig a little deeper. I would like to hit some firmer soil. The ease of digging might not bode well for holding water, and I think the deeper I can go the better.

 

[EddieWalker]

Looks great!!!!

Is it for animals to drink from? The deeper you go, the longer it will take to evaporate.

Eddie

 

[kenmac]

I think most of the ponds in this area (maybe other areas as well) are clay lined to keep water from seeping through the soft soil. Hard to tell from the pics,but Looks like it will be a nice size pond

 

[lakngulf]

I spent another couple of hours on the water hole today to make it deeper. Tractor included for comparison.

 

[kenmac]

It's looking good. Better hurry. We haven't had any rain in a week or so. We are due.

 

[lakngulf]

It's looking good. Better hurry. We haven't had any rain in a week or so. We are due.

I would be GLAD to test it out. We need some rain. Where in the "Heart of Dixie" are you located?

 

[kenmac]

Where in the "Heart of Dixie" are you located?

I live in Jefferson co . Just north of B'ham. Have some property in Blount co. On the Locust fork river. When the kids were young, we spent some time in your area at wind creek State park

 

[lakngulf]

The land is now open and sandy, but I am hoping the wildlife like the idea of some water near the food plot. The picture below shows an aerial of the pasture/woods where I dug the water hole (outlined in yellow). I have many sawtooth oaks and pear trees planted in this pasture, so an added feature would be water for some of these trees if needed (especially the pear trees which are nearby. There is water in the area. The land outlined in lime has several year round springs with running water, so someday I may figure a plan to continuously fill the new water hole.




Also, I am hoping to harvest some of the large hardwoods in and around the spring, and let the limbs and some hinge cutting create a thick sanctuary in that area.

 

[EddieWalker]

Did you plant the pear trees? Do they create fruit? Do the deer eat them?

Eddie

 

[lakngulf]

Did you plant the pear trees? Do they create fruit? Do the deer eat them? Eddie

Yes, I grew the trees from seed, and have some more in the frig to try again this year. Hopefully, they will put on bunches of pears. When I first started bow hunted, we had access to my uncle's land (which he later sold). There was this old pear tree on the property, and you could be sure the deer would be under it. I will try to find a picture of the old parent tree. A guy on another forum sent me the seed

 

[tractorshopper]

I love projects like this and dug my pond the same way as you did yours with my little L3800. All by myself. Mine is also only filled with runoff, but it holds well. We haven't had any good rain in a while now so it is about 3' low or so, but still plenty of water for my ducks. I did go as far as buying crawl space underlayment as a quasi liner, but it does fine and has never dried up in the year since I dug it. I've piddled at this for a while and am putting out rye seed this weekend and plan to sod the perimeter and dam in the spring just to make it look nicer, but the ducks I raised this spring love it and so do I.

Good job on it and good luck drawing more huge bucks in.

 

[ArmyPair2]

I spent another couple of hours on the water hole today to make it deeper. Tractor included for comparison.

Lakngulf nice water hole you got there we lived off of Lake Martin for six months while our house was being built. We do need some rain cause both my creeks are low but I have a idea you could use. Bus in some Oregon Duck fans in and make them stand in the hole and replay the Stanford game from last night, they should be able to fill your hole with tears. RTR/WDE

 

[lakngulf]

Did you plant the pear trees? Do they create fruit? Do the deer eat them?

Eddie

Eddie, here is a picture of the parent tree (it is in Menlo, GA), along with a couple of pics of the ones I have growing. I hope one day my grandkids are enjoying some pears from these trees, and harvest some deer under them.



And here are the little guys that were just seeds planted in March 2012.

 

[SPIKER]

I just took a Full FEL bucket of Pears off my two trees (Banner year) out to the wood line and dumped them into two spots under tree stands had to get them ole pears out of the yard. Mine are Bartlet Pears not sure what yours are look like maybe Asian Pears as they looked round>?

Pond watering hole is looking good too...

Mark

 

[lakngulf]

I just took a Full FEL bucket of Pears off my two trees (Banner year) out to the wood line and dumped them into two spots under tree stands had to get them ole pears out of the yard. Mine are Bartlet Pears not sure what yours are look like maybe Asian Pears as they looked round>? Pond watering hole is looking good too... Mark

Thanks, Mark. I keep thinking I should make it a little deeper, and perhaps will work on it until we get the first big rain.

I hope the pears are the ol' timey bell shaped pears that are on so many old trees around my neck of the woods, but any kind of fruit will be great.

 

[lakngulf]

After a Big Rain

Finally got a 3-4 inch rain and the watering hole filled up! Looks great



The spillway I left on one side took care of the overflow fairly well. Grandson gives his approval and says we need to install a diving board!



I had so much fun building this one, I may build another just below it, to catch this overflow.

Here is a side by side picture of before and after

 

[EddieWalker]

Congrats on all the water. Did it overflow like you wanted it to?

Eddie

 

[jinman]

Milton, it will be interesting to see how long that pond holds water, especially in the summer. It may dry up in late summer, but will provide water for critters most months. However, since you live on the lake, water may not be the most important thing to critters. Shallow water does attract more water fowl than does deep water.