Pond digging with a CK30 Hst??

[MotorSeven]

Ok, this may be a dumb question, but i'm gonna ask it anyway. I have bottom land pasture (about 6 ac) and i want to dig as large of a pond as possible, and link it to the creek. I am currently shopping for a tractor/loader/backoe combo and i'm looking at the CK30. Can a tractor this size dig a large pond, or will i be collecting Social Security by the time i get it done?
Thanks ahead of time!

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Without exageration and in all sincerity, if you want to dig a 1/2 acre pond with an average depth of 6' then assume it will take you close to a year of work with a tractor the size of a CK30 assuming you work on the pond 15 to 20 hours a week. And you will beat the living heck out of your tractor. Small tractors like the CK30 are simply not made to dig large ponds. And this is no criticism of the CK30, it is a fine tractor, but even a tractor twice its size is not desinged for pond digging.

You would be far better off to hire a bulldozer and a large track hoe (excavator) and people who know what they are doing.

 

[MotorSeven]

I had a few friends tell me that it indeed would take a long time, and i appreciate the info. I have alot of other projects that this size of a tractor will do just fine, and it was hopefull thinking that i would not have to hire the pond out.

RD

 

[KRK]

I already have the pond, and a comparable small tractor with a backhoe and loader. Soon as it dries out enough from our recent rains a fellow with a large track hoe is going to significantly enlarge the pond in a day and save me months of work, plus handle some trees I could never possibly move. Some tasks are just to big for a little tractor, even a Kioti.

 

[DrewL]

I dug a hole 4'deep by 13' across to lower a trampoline to ground level with my CK30LB. By the time i took care of a the fill it was a 6+ hour job...................a 1/2 acre pond? I'd pass plus look at the size of the dirt pile. Got room for 130 times that? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Dargo]

I did my own pond, which is about 1 1/4 acre in size with a 7' average depth. Deepest point 18'. I had a 955 Cat highlift dozer and a dump truck. Two years later I hired two excavators and 3 more dump trucks and finished it in a week.

Nothing against your particular tractor, but with it's size, try to figure out how long it will take you to move roughly 9000 cubic yards of dirt. Also, don't forget that you have to move the dirt to a particular location. Just guessing, I'd say that you can get about 1/5th to 1/4 of a yard per heaping bucket load. So, that will take you roughly 40,000 bucket loads to get your pond done. Don't forget that once you start getting some depth, it will take some effort to get out of the hole with a bucket full. Assuming that you only have to travel an average of 75 yards to dump each load (and not allowing any time to level out your piled up dirt), you should be able to get about 1 bucket load of dirt moved every 4 minutes. That would give you 15 bucket loads moved per hour if you took no breaks. That would net you about 3.5 cubic yards of dirt moved per hour. That would take you nearly 26000 hours of tractor time only moving the dirt out of your hole. You would then have to start doing something with that dirt. Add another couple thousand hours for that.

Therefore, I'd venture to guess that based upon the given facts and statistics, you'd likely wear out a couple of tractors and it would take several years of non-stop work to do the job with only your CK30. Even with it being a tough tractor, I think 26,000 hours of hard work would be quite a bit to ask of it. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Oh yeah, if you are around my area, you'll see me on TV doing a commercial (that apparently plays all too frequently) for the company who finished my pond. I agreed to do some of their commercials for a trade off. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[KiotiJohn]

I don't think it was a dumb question at all, but it isn't a great idea as you can see from these fine responses.
As for purchasing a CK30, that's a great idea, and it probably will help you do a lot of other jobs.

Check around with anyone you possibly can about people who do this kind of dozer/excavator work. I think you'll be able to find someone at a fair price, but DO look around and get lots of prices.

John

 

[DrewL]

Trade off for tv time huh?....................I'll propose that to my favorite chinese joint!!!!!!!! I just got back from your Allstate 400. Indy is a wonderfuly clean city. As far as those numbers go Dargo, I think you sealed it. Hire someone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mr_Digger]

I don't see why you can't if you have the time. My pond was 40' x 60' x 3' & full of cattails. I went in with my LB1914 with a 36' bucket on the hoe & started digging. Larger backhoes & dozers were out of the question as I didn't want to cut any trees. Anyway, about 350 hours on the machine later I had a pond that's 60'x90'x13' in the deep end. We have some pretty hard clay in this neck of the woods ranging from reddish brown to slate grey. The machine worked great with no problems at all.

 

[MotorSeven]

I will be digging a small stock pond in another pasture. My pastures are all bottom land that was cleared 100+ years ago, so there are no large rocks or stumps. After reading the posts, i will hire out the 3+ ac pond. I have been told that there is some type of farm grant money available for ponds so i will have to research that also. The large pond is also going to be set up for fish and waterfowl, so i will also check into funding from sources like Ducks Unlimited. It doesen't cost anything to ask, and every little bit helps!

RD