Need advice on pond project

[NonTypicalCPA]

I have a piece of property that I want to have a 1/2 - 1 acre pond dug. The problem is that where I want the pond is an area on my property that is heavily wooded. I'm debating how I want to tackle this project. Do I pay a tree company to clear the area and chip everything in place? What about the stumps - can they be removed at the time of digging? or do they need to be ground out? I have the ability to have the stumps dug up and pushed back into the woods if needed. I'm assuming that I need an excavator vs a dragline because the woods will come right to the edge of the pond and there won't be a lot of working space when digging?

Has anyone here have any experience in a similar situation? Any thoughts?

 

[thunderworks]

My 3/4 acre pond was dug in a wooded ravine. The pond builder removed the trees with his track hoe and burned everything. Took 2 days max to remove all the trees. . .

 

[radioman]

what's your time and budget restraints ? Anything is possible, it just a matter of what your final goal is. are you in a hurry and need it done for instant gratification? or are you interested in doing the work yourself over time and then have a dozer or excavator to do the majority dirt removal ? what equipment do you have ? etc etc....

 

[Sniggle]

Hire a tracked loader/dozer. They will be able to push the trees over, popping out the root balls. Then burn the lot.

I paid $8500 to have 3 acres cleared, burned, and rough graded. The figure was a bit pricey because I also had approx. 800 yards of excavation rubble (from development rough grading that the developer dropped on the extra parcel I recently bought) that had to be moved 100 yards and dumped in an old cow pond depression (took a dump truck over 80 trips).

After the dozer left, me and my B7800/box blade and landscape rake spent about 50 hours running over the area to clean it up, rough finish grade it and seed it.

 

[NonTypicalCPA]

what's your time and budget restraints ? Anything is possible, it just a matter of what your final goal is. are you in a hurry and need it done for instant gratification? or are you interested in doing the work yourself over time and then have a dozer or excavator to do the majority dirt removal ? what equipment do you have ? etc etc....

I'm in no rush, but would like to see the finished product within 2 years time. I have a Kubota L3940 with grapple. I need to add a tooth bar to my bucket for the smaller brush. My problem is that I don't have any time to work on it during the winter months, as I'm a slave to my business as a CPA preparing tax returns. I have a client that does tree work/removal that I was considering bartering the clearing. If I go that route should I have him chip all the smaller stuff a leave it lay? Will all the wood chips cause any trouble when it comes time for the excavating? I will take the logs to burn in my outdoor boiler, so that will reduce the amount of chips laying on the ground.

The other biggie is what to do with the stumps after the trees are cleared. Should I just leave them for the excavator to remove when he's digging the pond?

Thanks.

 

[SnowRidge]

Have a dozer or excavator clear the area and dig the pond. He will push the trees, roots and all, to wherever you want them. He will burn them, if that's what you want, or he will shove them into the woods or into as many piles as you want. Figure $100 an hour for his time, plus a hauling charge. It will cost more if he burns them, since that will add to the time it takes to do the job.

He will likely not give you a job price, since there will be unknowns. If he does, it will be padded to cover unexpected events, and you will almost certainly pay more than if you hired him by the hour.

Do google farm ponds. There are a number of free publications on the web dealing with their construction and upkeep. Many are from university ag deparments or state agencies.

 

[radioman]

the bartering is good. the wood chip wont bother anything, if it not alot of stuff it wont add much to the organic matter. however you MIGHT want to save the branches. When you have someone dig for you with big equipment, they can pop the stumps out in no time and you can use your tractor/grapple to move it to a burn location and pile the branches on to burn better and hotter. since you have a grapple , moving the branches is a no brainer. hopefully, you will have time over the summer to do most of the work.

 

[F.L. Jennings]

I have a piece of property that I want to have a 1/2 - 1 acre pond dug. The problem is that where I want the pond is an area on my property that is heavily wooded. I'm debating how I want to tackle this project. Do I pay a tree company to clear the area and chip everything in place? What about the stumps - can they be removed at the time of digging? or do they need to be ground out? I have the ability to have the stumps dug up and pushed back into the woods if needed. I'm assuming that I need an excavator vs a dragline because the woods will come right to the edge of the pond and there won't be a lot of working space when digging?

Has anyone here have any experience in a similar situation? Any thoughts?

Random observations. A lot of it depends on your proposed use for a pond. Most people build one for multiple uses such as a stock pond for animals and to raise fish.



1. I left several standing hardwoods in my pond basin for the fish. After more than 30 years some are still standing.

2. Stumps can be left in the pond basin for fish cover.

3. Many many people burn wood, and there are men in your very area that would be glad to turn the standing trees (assuming they are a desirable species for this use) into a useful product. If there is quite a bit of timber then it can be sold, with the proceeds helping to offset cost of pond construction.

4. My high ground pond is about an acre and I did part of the work with my tractor. A dozer pushed up the clay dam, fortunately I was able to use the head of an existing hollow.

5. Vary the depth of the pond, remembering that shallow water where sunlight can hit the bottom promotes growth of algae, moss and other plants. Some of that is not bad though in creating a varied aqua environment for fish.

6. create a little Island like the one in the photo. I excavated this one with my backhoe several years after the pond was built, and planted a Bald Cypress on it. A bridge over to the island is an idea I havent't executed as of yet, along with a sitting bench to fish from or just enjoy the view.

Frank

My dam is about 80 yards long, and water near the dam is about 14ft. deep.

 

[charlz]

I would certainly try to salvage as many trees for firewood as possible. If you are not keen on dropping them yourself maybe get the tree guy to drop them, limb them and leave them in 8' or whatever logs. you can collect the logs later with the grapple and deck them out somewhere out of the way for later processing into firewood.

 

[pat32rf]

So many variables- What do you have for a water source, water overflow, intended usage,
I would look at Eddiewalkers pond project and also check Pond Boss Magazine Home Page!

 

[skowronek]

CPA--
We dug a huge pond last week in south central Ohio. Before the digging: we (me and my son) cleared the trees; saving all the logs with the tops cut into firewood. We used a compact track loader (CTL 289C) to pile the logs distant from the pond area and trucked the firewood closer to our house. I pushed the remaining branches/brush into huge piles for burning in 2-3 months. No need to grind up branches....just burn them. This took about 3-4days. So---the stumps remained in place...for about 2 days. Next, I rented a excavator (JD200) and dozer (JD650) for a week. It took the excavator/dozer maybe 3 hours to up-root the stumps and push the stumpage into a ravine (distant to the pond area). Check to see if anyone buys stumpage in your area. Grind up the stumps? Spend your money digging a pond, not grinding branches/stumpage. IMO, the excavator is the way to go....move lots of soil quickly for the dozer to push, grade and compact. The dozer and CTL could not keep up with the excavator. I like jennings comment...some stumps can be left for fish cover.

 

[NonTypicalCPA]

Good advice above. My pond is at a site on my property that has a high water table year round - within a foot of the surface. I dug a test pit last sping and confirmed my suspicion that the water table was high. It held its level constant throughout our summer, which was very dry. The groundwater is such that I put in a shallow well to 45' and it is a flowing well. I also have an area near the pond site that has water coming to the surface and running into a nearby ditch. Lack of water is definately not a problem on my property.

I did have the woods logged extensively last year - about 300 trees. There is still some marketable timber standing that I'm having a forester come look at. Hopefully it will provide some operating cash.

 

[kthompson]

We are in process of doing about same but enlarging current pond rather than digging from scratch. Did not see what you will do with dirt and it may make some difference in what you do as to equipment.

If I wanted the stumps out, take them out with excavator before you cut trees. To me much easier if possible than digging just stump as the tree's weight helps as has been said pop it out. If you will be burning the stump, you need the limbs in the pile to provide fuel for those stumps. Large wet stumps are not quick to dry or easy to burn. Hey still there. Is it safe to burn there and is it legal? Ask, don't assume. Happen digging.

 

[EddieWalker]

The high water table may cause allot of problems. If you build a dam, then the water will lower down to the level of the water table. It's not always a good idea to build on springs or wet areas.

Saying that, I built my pond in a wet area. At first, I didn't know how I was going to accomplish it, bu figured I'd work around the edges of it, and keep going in until it was too wet to go any further. I was hoping for 4 to 6 feet of depth, but wasn't sure how I'd get rid of the trees in the middle. As I cleared the land, and the ground became exposed, it started to dry out. The more I cleared, the better it got. Then as luck would have it, we started the first year of two years of a very bad drought. I got very lucky because it took my two years to build my pond.

During my digging, I also compacted the bottom of it. I also found the springs, which were on the side or shoreline of my pond. That's about where my full water level is at. Again, I got lucky in my plan so that it worked out this way.

If the springs had been lower, then I would have had to dig them out and pack them with clay. Water will go in either direction, depending on the amount of force on it. Put a million gallons of water above a spring, and it will become a drain.

As for your original question, there are a couple ways to do this. If you have it logged, have them take out the sumps at the same time. Around here, I'm told that the cost of the timber will offset the price to clear of stumps and make it ready for pasture. It's an even trade and you don't make any money on the logs, but you end up with a clear field. Having to remove the stumps after it's been logged is expensive and time consuming. It either takes a big machine or lots of hours. Either way, it's money out of your pocket and usually more then you can get for the logs.

A decent pond builder shouldn't have any problem with digging a pond within the boundaries you specify without disturbing your trees. If the water table is too high, he can dig a trench to drain or lower it.

An excavator and a bulldozer could probably do this in a week pretty easily once the trees are out of the way and your soil is workable. If the excavator has to take out the stumps, it will take a little longer. If they are burning, that will add time, but you can use the stumps and/or remains of the burn for structure for your fish. I was burning the entire time that I was building mine, and what was left got stacked into piles for the fish.

Eddie