Pond Suggestions

galaxie428 · Aug 12, 2011

I have been reading a lot on here about those of you who have built your own ponds because I would like to have one in my yard. Unfortunately, it is all flat around my house so I would have no runoff to feed the pond and once you get down about 4? my soil is mostly sandy so I doubt it would hold water well. I probably need to do a soil test just to be sure.

I haven't calculated the measurements yet but I think the pond could be between 3/4 to 1 acre if I want it that big. I would like for it to be around 10-15 deep. I enjoy fishing and would like to stock it with fish and I have a lab that loves to swim so I am sure he would make good use of it also.

I see they make a plastic type liner you can put down but that just seems like it could get ripped easy or will deteriorate over time. I don't know anyone who has ever used one of them. Hauling in clay would be another option but expensive and I am sure would not be signed off by corporate (wife).

I have a compact tractor with a BH, tiller and a BB. I know that is not practical but I don't have much of a budget to do this. I was hoping to be able to do a lot of the work myself and then call my neighbor in who has a dozer and a track hoe to help when necessary but he charges $80/hr so I want to minimize his work as much as possible.

What are your thoughts or suggestions? What should I be thinking about in terms of this project?

Fixemall · Aug 12, 2011

Dig a square roughly 12'x12 and 8' deep and see where your water table is, you might be ok to just dig it and bank the sides.

jinman · Aug 12, 2011

Are there any ponds around you? Check with your neighbors who have ponds to see what the issues are in your area. If your land is flat, you may be just be out of luck for a big pond. Keeping a 3/4 acre, 12'-15' deep pond full requires lots of water. Direct rainfall won't get it. You'll have a large excavation with a tiny mudhole in the middle. I'm sure that is not your vision. You just have to do a lot more research and talk to local folks who are experts. I'd warn you to not consider digging with your tractor. You might use it to handle the spoils the dozer digs out. What does your neighbor with the dozer say? Many times people who dig and create ponds are great sources of info.

MMagis · Aug 12, 2011

That’s a lot of water for an area with no run off and no spring. Don’t waste much time until you KNOW it will fill up and stay nearly full year round. All the wishing in the world won’t fill a pond, just ask those in the SW. If you find that you do have water that will fill it, I’d highly suggest talking to your local county extension office. They would be knowledgeable as to what it takes to build a good pond in your area. The size of pond you want is way beyond anything you should be doing with your tractor (though I’m sure someone will say they did it). $80/hour is cheap when you start factoring what that’s going to do to your tractor and the time you’d spend vs. the time someone on a dozer would spend.

RDrancher · Aug 12, 2011

I'll agree with the answers you've gotten so far.

With no runoff for water collection, odds are the pond will be dry most of the time. Since it's been dry around here for the majority of the summer, almost all of the ponds are either dried up or very low. My pond is 60'x100', fifteen feet deep, with runoff collection from over 200 acres. Lately our horses come out of the pond wet up to their bellies, so it's pretty low.

I built a 100'x100', five foot deep pond at my old ranch (before I gave it to the ex.) Even my "little" pond required moving almost 2000 cubic yards of dirt and clay. Yours is substantially larger. I used my TC35D because I have it and all it cost me was fuel, and took advantage of rainfall to aid in digging through hard ground. It was tough on the machine. I grade for a living, and it still took me well over a week to do the job. Even a small sized rental dozer (equipped with a slope board if possible) could do the same job in a day or so, with more compaction abilities to boot. BTW - that pond collects water from 20 acres or so and it's been dry for over two months.

tractorshopper · Aug 12, 2011

I see crop circles.

galaxie428 · Aug 12, 2011

Are there any ponds around you?

There are a few around but not many. The ones that I can think of look like old strip pits.

What does your neighbor with the dozer say?

I talked to him about it before and he has only built on pond for one guy. He does mostly demolition and land clearing.

I know our house had two wells on it, one in front of the house was a point well they said was only about 12' deep. It does not work anymore, the guy said he thought the point needed replaced but wasn't for sure. I guess I was hoping maybe I would hit some water once I got down a ways that would be enough to sustain the water level. Of course I certainly don't want to use up my water supply on a pond no matter how nice it would be to walk out my back door and catch a mess of fish!

The well that we do use is to the right of the round grain bin so that is not far from where the pond would be. It is a shallow well but I don't know how deep for sure. It is ran by a jet pump so it can't be too deep.