new pond

[DavidD]

Finally getting to go ahead with plans to put a pond on our place. I've hired a "dozer guy" and within a few days, hopefully I will have a big hole in the yard.
I am going to do the light work with my little iseki.
Heres a before pic.

 

[DarinRay]

Now this is the start of an awesome thread I can feel it. Let's have the play by play on this project David if you can. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Nice pic already to start with.

Darin

 

[WCarlson]

DavidD,
There was a thread on ponds earlier this month. The following is something I contributed that may be germane:
<font color="blue"> Heath,
Before you go too far in your pond building adventure, I would recommend two books on the subject. They may be available at your library and I know are available at amazon.com (or at least they were a couple years ago.
They are:

Ponds- Building, Maintaining, Enjoying by Carolyn Garrick Stern. Published by Progressive Farmer, Inc in 1996

Earth Ponds Sourcebook by Tim Matson. Published by The Countryman Press in 1997

These two books go through the whole process, Stern's even has minimum depths by location in the country based on rainfall. I have found them most useful and would have liked to have read them before, not after, I had a pond. I would have done things differently. Kind of like finding Tractorbynet after buying a tractor.
Bill </font>

The whole thread is at <font color="blue"> Ponds </font>
Bill

 

[BB_TX]

David - Just curious how large a pond you are planning, how deep, and how much was the quote from the dozer guy? I am planning to have one dug sometime in the near future.

 

[PondKeeper]

Bill

I'm going to look for those books also.

Do you have a picture of your trout pond? How deep is your pond? Did you have any problems with last years heat wave and drought?

I'm planning changes to my ponds because of last years weather. I'm correcting some design flaws with circulation to get better turnover.

Michael

 

[DavidD]

1st day of digging and I do have a hole in my yard now.
I was introduced to this dozer guy through a backhoe operator that I use frequently. References-Bargain priced and excellent work ethics.
I discussed a small pond deep enough for some crappie and channel cats{minimum 10' - 12' deep and as big as I could get} and he guestimated about 3 good days digging, by the hour comes to about $1500 or so. I gave him the OK last week and today he started digging.
He is about 9' deep and about 150' dam top to dam top after the first day. Red clay on top and down into some yellow clay now, no rocks yet {I'm happy}. Not sure yet as far as acreage amount.As well as it seems to be going,I hope to end up with 100'x100' or so water surface area.

 

[WCarlson]

PondKeeper,
Yes I have a few photos. In fact the attached is one I took today. Although we have had 80 degree weather earlier this month, today it is 30 and we have snow. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I like snow.
My pond is 11 feet deep at the center and yes the drought has caused some problems. I solved them by two relatively large expenditures. During the drought of 1999 my springs dried up, my solution was to dig an auxilliary well, at least that is what I told the wife. She might have rebelled at $8000 for the trout. With the well, I put 55 degree water into the pond in the summer for about 8 hours a day. You can see the well's hydrant at the left in the foreground of the photo. Other than the hottest part of the summer it stays below 65 and the Brook Trout and Rainbows are fine. The other expenditure that aided circulation was a thermostatically controlled dedicated high volume, low pressure air compressor that feeds a 2 foot by 2 foot air stone in the deepest part of the pond. The air circulates 120,000 gallons of water per hour and keeps the oxygen content at 10 ppm. I circulate the water whenever the air temperature is below my desired maximum temperature of 65 degrees. It also serves to keep the center of the pond ice free during the winter. This has two advantages: 1) it allows me to keep water fowl all year long, and 2) it avoids the common winter fish kill that so often occurs in small ponds. The air from the airstone is the boil that you see in the center of the pond. The airstone compressor system cost about $2200. in 1998.
Bill

 

[WCarlson]

Here is another shot of the pond in the middle of winter with ducks and the air discharge clearly seen.

 

[WCarlson]

And here is another from earlier this winter. Air is off in this one.

 

[PondKeeper]

Bill.

Very nice.

I am off to the airport for a business trip and I want to say more, but no time. I'll post tomorrow evening when I get home.

Michael