Dirt Moving What to buy to repair a fishing pond

[Manofthehouse]

I am leaning toward purchasing a used Kubota L35, or L48 to repair the old family pond, but any advice on equipment to purchase, and methods to repair my pond is what I am seeking. I have been told to get a Bobcat, but I just do not know if that is for me. I have also been told not to wast my time with a small backhoe like the Kubota L series, and get something larger like a ford 555, or Case. I just do not want something that breaks down all the time, plus I would not have any thing big enough to haul it in the future.
Let me describe the project, the dam has a major breach caused by muskrats and beavers. Plus sediment has filled in over the years. My plan is to tear out the bad section of dam with the back hoe, and then dig a really deep hole and then trench down the center of the pond to the hole in order to keep every thing drained while I use a box blade to move the sediment out. Another issue is the adjoining property line is about 8 ft to where the water use to be for a distance of about 20 ft. That home and property is been divorced, sold, and inherited out of the family and is up for sale. No, buying it is not not option for me, or I would not be able to fix pond and send kids to college. Right now the state of the pond is more of an eye sore, and nuisance, so when I rebuild that part of the dam, I want to do it totally on my property. Yes if the future neighbors are good people I would likely let them fish, but I do not want to invest all of that time and money for anyone to put a boat in and do what ever the like on my property. The pond is about 1.25 acres, but also I look to expand it a little on to my property. I also own another property in the sand lands with a natural spring that I would like to build a small pond on, so keep this in mind when helping me decide what to purchase. My cup is empty, so please help me fill it up.....

 

[Liquidsilver]

I've used my 50-horse 4x4 Kubota for smoothing off the rough grading on my pond, but what takes me a week with my front-end loader would take a guy with a Bobcat about 60 - 90 minutes. It sounds to me like buying equipment for this purpose isn't the best use of your funds, unless you have a million other things to do with the tractor, like I do. Good luck!

 

[Manofthehouse]

Thanks for input about the Bobcat. I actually have a lot of other projects in which I would like to tackle with it after the pond project. This is not my only property, I have very little debt, and look to pay cash for what ever machine I decide to purchase. I also had thought about doing some small projects to pick up a little money like shrub removal and ext. Even if I did not do the side business, I feel like I can rebuild the pond myself and sell the equipment when I am done and have a lot less money tied up then I would to pay some one to do it for me. I also think it is something I would enjoy doing.

 

[newbury]

Thanks for input about the Bobcat. I actually have a lot of other projects in which I would like to tackle with it after the pond project. This is not my only property, I have very little debt, and look to pay cash for what ever machine I decide to purchase. I also had thought about doing some small projects to pick up a little money like shrub removal and ext. Even if I did not do the side business, I feel like I can rebuild the pond myself and sell the equipment when I am done and have a lot less money tied up then I would to pay some one to do it for me. I also think it is something I would enjoy doing.

It will help a us lot if you lay all your needs and situation out in one thread instead of spreading it around.

How deep is the pond now? What other uses do you envision if you buy a TLB?

I grew next to a pond about the size of yours.



It is 14' deep at the deepest and mostly well over 6' deep. At the spillway the dam is about 20' above the terrain on the downstream side.

A pond like that would take forever to make/repair with an L35. It took one guy with about a D6 an easy week.

Tractor backhoes are FUN. But one of the prime reasons I bought a backhoe for my tractor was so I could drive it through the woods to different sites. If you are going to be mostly sitting in one place and scooping out muck an excavator is the tool you need. But they don't move very fast.

 

[Manofthehouse]

The pond dam is similar to what you describe as yours. If I only repaired the dam as is, the pond would be about 6 ft deep at its deepest, because of all the muck. It was probably 10-12 feet deep originally, and covered appx 1.25 acres. It is stream, and spring fed. it has a 30 ft in diameter island that has completely dried up around it on the shallow end, which the water use to be about 3 ft deep around it. I planned to to take on this over the course of 6 months to a year some evenings and weekends, I am not going to be in a big hurry. My other plans is to remove several stumps, prepare spot to build another shop, and I will likely pick up odd jobs on the side later on. Other than than redoing the pond, I will admit is an excuse to get a big toy!

 

[rustyshakelford]

For what your talking about I would go with a track loader. Sell it when done. You'll hate life dragging dirt out of the pond with a box blade when you realize how poor it is for that job. Old track loader and pay to haul it in. Run it till your done and sell for what your paid hopefully. Good deals on solid machines are out there.

Brett

 

[rt014]

I have a pond that is about 35 yds by 35 yds in size. I bought a Kubota L4701 over a year ago and couldn't imagine doing what you are wanting to do with just a tractor. I had good intentions of 'moving' the high spots around my pond to make more room for another excavation (to deepen it further), but it was really slow going with a box blade or front end loader with the number of rocks I have to deal with. As they say, I didn't really put more than a dent into it. That being said, I have tons of other uses for the tractor and it absolutely kicks *** as a mini skidder with a Farmi winch. Good luck with the project...ponds are great!

 

[Rmart30]

Before id tackle that job with a tractor or small trackhoe id rent a back hoe for a month. They will run about $1800 and will be much faster.

As for the pond going onto the neighboring property. Id dig the pond deeper and put in a overflow pipe so it wouldnt reach that far up onto them.
While the pond was drained id run a fence along the property line. Fences can always be taken down if a good neighbor buys it. But if a bad one does the fence will be a welcome addition for you.
Here is a good guide that may help . http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/...d-farm-ponds-louisiana/mgmt-of-farm-ponds.pdf

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I would definitely go with and excavator. If renting it is possible and you can put in enough time during the rental period, you will accomplish tremendous things quickly. And if you rent one, get the biggest one that you can afford. The larger the bucket, the better.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I would definitely go with and excavator. If renting it is possible and you can put in enough time during the rental period, you will accomplish tremendous things quickly. And if you rent one, get the biggest one that you can afford. The larger the bucket, the better.

That works great if you have a way to move the dirt...like hiring a dump truck to haul. A tractor would never keep up unless it's a pay loader or other large equipment.

Brett