Building Lake Corona

[bindian]

It will take a very large excavator to dig a pond 50ft across.

Nay. 20 ton CAT 318s reach out 28 feet. It just depends how deep you wanna go at the end of that 28 feet. That 28 feet equates to 56 foot of dig and dump radius.
20 ton machines are the most used size excavators for toking around. Heck, my 7.5 ton CAT can reach out 13 feet. It can go in muck and leave a lighter footprint than me walking in the same muck. Compact track loaders tend to have lower bellies that are easier to get suction stuck in muck, then excavators.
hugs, Brandi

 

[jk96]

The OP has offered us a perfect example of how you deal with a wet pond hole. I'm pretty sure he's drained his twice, maybe more, and still able to excavate with his CTL.

It will take a very large excavator to dig a pond 50ft across.

Pond has been drained 3 times now. Here's a short clip getting the muck out of the bottom. A wheel machine would have been useless in this. Hardest part was figuring out where to go with it. Ended up spreading it out and then scooping back up later when it dried to move to the backside of the dam.

Video - click for link


Pond_1


Also starting to get a pretty good collection of rocks.

2020-06-09_05-25-18

Yuck, I hate clay! Is that the material all over on the bottom of your pond? I suppose that is good for holding water though. We only get streaks of mucky clay. Mostly around here it is glacial till. Lots of small round rocks in silty/sandy soil under the rich acidic topsoil composted over years of evergreen forest growth. Drains extremely well.

The only bad thing about the clay is working in it when its wet. It gums up inside the tracks and then turns extremely hard when it dries. To the point that once it dries the tracks will start to overheat where they run against the clay if you don't clean it out. Only way to clean is with a pressure washer and you can plan on half of it being on you when your finished.

 

[dragoneggs]

The only bad thing about the clay is working in it when its wet. It gums up inside the tracks and then turns extremely hard when it dries. To the point that once it dries the tracks will start to overheat where they run against the clay if you don't clean it out. Only way to clean is with a pressure washer and you can plan on half of it being on you when your finished.

Yep... I HATE CLAY! Maybe if I were a pottery person???

 

[two_bit_score]

That’s what most people use up here. You can go a lot deeper that way. I know of ponds which have been dug 40 feet deep... hard doing that with a dozer.

Are you sure that wasn’t a dragline?

 

[dodge man]

Threw my job as a surveyor, I致e done quite a bit of work on earthwork jobs and yes you can go 40 feet deep with a large tracked backhoe. You can go until you hit rock. If you are building a big pond, you would need a way to haul the dirt off. I致e seen lakes and lagoons built, you dig down with the excavator, load the off-road trucks, work your way across, then go down another layer and so on. The other method would be scrapers with push dozers.

 

[deezler]

A long reach excavator would be ideal! (sorry for huge pic)

But yeah you dont have to reach all the way from the final bank to the middle of the pond, you go in a couple stages. If you can reach 15 ft, than you can already turn and dump in a 30 foot diameter. IE, you never have to re-move spoils until the pond is done, if you don't want to. But hey, if I had a tracked skid steer, I'd be in there digging like JK, too. Use what you got, if it works.

 

[ovrszd]

JK96, love your rocks!!! I save every rock I dig up on my farm. We use them for decoration. I'm always interested in looking at them and imagining how they were formed and where they've been. We are at the Southern edge of Glacier drift here so we see a large variety of rock types.

 

[jk96]

JK96, love your rocks!!! I save every rock I dig up on my farm. We use them for decoration. I'm always interested in looking at them and imagining how they were formed and where they've been. We are at the Southern edge of Glacier drift here so we see a large variety of rock types.

Finding most of these in one area right at the bottom of where I'm dighing. Pretty sure I would find a lot if I dug down a few more feet.

 

[ovrszd]

Finding most of these in one area right at the bottom of where I'm dighing. Pretty sure I would find a lot if I dug down a few more feet.

They are awesome. My wife would love them. Perfect size for small flowerbeds.

Really perks my interest and imagination.

 

[jk96]

We missed yesterday's rain. Probably because my weather app was still set to Lake of the Ozarks from a trip a few days prior. Didn't realize it until the radio had a completely different forcast. Worked for an hour this morning before some light rain set in. Shouldn't be enough to cause any runoff. Really making good progress now that I'm only moving dirt and not dealing with rocks, trees, etc. Just over 50 hours on the ctl so far on this project. Here's a comparison pic of the progress made the last two days on the dam.

2020-06-10_08-46-08

 

[ovrszd]

Oh yeah!!! Great progress.

Takes a LOT of dirt doesn't it. Especially the higher you go.

We just picked up .2" this morning. We needed it. Getting dry and dusty up here.

Thanks for the update pic!!!!

 

[jk96]

They are awesome. My wife would love them. Perfect size for small flowerbeds.

Really perks my interest and imagination.

Fun to take the pressure washer to them to see what you find under the mud. Been surprised at how much variation there is in these so far.

 

[lilranch2001]

JK96, love your rocks!!! I save every rock I dig up on my farm. We use them for decoration. I'm always interested in looking at them and imagining how they were formed and where they've been. We are at the Southern edge of Glacier drift here so we see a large variety of rock types.

I have found and dug up a few dozen rocks like those as well, lined the edge of the road with most of them, (4 foot or so from the edge) some clown liked driving off the edge of the road and digging ruts in my yard every month or so, as soon as I would fix the rut, new ones would appear. funny after putting 400-1000 pound boulders along the road, how much more careful drivers are!

 

[deezler]

Dang, you guys are lucky. My sandy soil has very few rocks here, they are precious when I do discover one. We do have some glacial moraines in the area with a really nice variation in rock types and colors, though. Love to use them as natural looking garden bed perimeters, also. Have to resort to buying dump truck or trailer loads of them sometimes.

 

[jk96]

Quick question if anyone on here with pond building experience is following since I have none. Should the topsoil inside of the waterline be removed? Going to have quite a bit of area that needs done if so where I'm not currently pulling dirt from.

 

[deezler]

Well, top soil has the most active organic material content of any soil, so it could certainly contribute to some algae growth. I think the ideal soil within the water level would be sand over a clay liner.

Sorry, I didn't really answer whether you need to remove it, because I don't know. How deep is the top soil layer? If thin, I would (do you have a dump trailer or truck you can get down there? Might as well stock pile it for gardening and such).

But also, how do you know where the water level will end up settling in? Probably can't just assume it will fill all the way up to the dam top, right?

 

[bindian]

Use what you got, if it works.

This sums up everything nicely. Long reach excavators are the cat's meow, but be ready for a huge bill. If you like machinery, that photo is excavator ****.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Quick question if anyone on here with pond building experience is following since I have none. Should the topsoil inside of the waterline be removed? Going to have quite a bit of area that needs done if so where I'm not currently pulling dirt from.

Remove all top soil. Get the pond cleaned up good and packed, then spread top soil where you want grass to grow. Usually you will spread topsoil, plant grass seed, get a good rain, then ruts, then repeat all the above steps. I still have a huge topsoil pile from the last pond.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

But also, how do you know where the water level will end up settling in? Probably can't just assume it will fill all the way up to the dam top, right?

There are equations to figure all that out. But if you have lived there long enough to know how big the runoff is, you can Aggie engineer it. I used a poor man's level made up from a water hose with clear tubing, on each end, to find the full level for the first pond. The second pond, I just let it fill and put stakes out at the high water mark, then added my overflow culvert through the dam. Actually, I didn't let it fill. A two inch downpour filled it before I was finished!
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

JK96,
How about more drone photos?
hugs, Brandi