I finally started my pond

[Bindian]

It took my Mother dying to get me off my butt and dig my pond. The cementary she is buried in has a large pond with an island and several ducks and geese. Even a Mud Hen! So I told my daughter it was digging time. We had mallards when I was little and now I will have them again. Along with Channel Catfish. I thought I would be digging a lot of the pond with my backhoe. But too my surprise, I have dug down to about 5 feet with my 84 inch wide loader bucket. When the bucket gets full of clay, I see it just rolling over and over as I creep forward in low 1st gear. I could go deeper just using the loader bucket, but the pond basin is too small to turn around safely. I don't even have a tooth bar. The ML 275 KMW loader on my Mahindra 6520 4WD is absolutely a tough mule. I have heard all kinds of noises coming from it while moving full buckets of damp clay. Every day I rinse off the attachment welds and check for cracks........none so far. So I am now in the process of backhoeing about half the 30 x 60 foot pond out to a depth of 10 or 12 feet. I really haven't decided. I keep reading conflicting information on small pond depths.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Erik]

SWEET!!!
congrats on getting some quality seat time!
and thanks for the pics - it'll be even better next fall when you have fish and plants.

 

[Bindian]

SWEET!!!
congrats on getting some quality seat time!
and thanks for the pics - it'll be even better next fall when you have fish and plants.

Erik,
Thanks! I plan on having fish sooner than that and ducks just as soon as I get a fence up!
hugs, Brandi

 

[OhioTC18]

Looks good so far Brandi.

 

[Doc]

Looks like fun. You are justs showing off huh? All we can think of doing up here is moving snow if it snows enough that we need to. Otherwise it's to darn cold for seat time.

I hope you'll post pics and keep us posted as you finish up the pond Brandi.

 

[urednecku]

Nice job! And looks like fun, too.


MORE!! MORE!!

Keep the pics coming!

 

[Bindian]

Okay Guys,
The first photo is with the dam about 2 feet high with the Big RED Beast on it. The 2nd photo shows me poking a post hole in the barn. It was the first hole I augered that I will use for a real post. I had only drilled "test" holes before. It was a dream to use. But the clay needed to be hoed off each time I raised the auger. I swapped it out with the backhoe bucket to poke 4 holes for the cedar tree bulkhead on the dam. They go down over 3 feet. Third photo...I had to remove a culvert from under the driveway that now stopped at the dam. I connected it to another culvert that parallels the dam. My driveway curves around the dam. 4th photo shows how I dug down too straight just inside the dam. I should have sloped it more, but the clay is well packed everywhere. The 5th photo is of the dam bulkhead around the cedar tree and three pet graves. I will be extending the bulkhead 4 more feet on each end and it will tie into a woven wire fence that will surround the pond for the duck's saftey from Booger, who is waiting for some loving in the 6th photo.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bindian]

Oh yeah........Here is a shot of my poor folks construction level.

I used the old water hose trick when I leveled the clay slope for the barn.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Erik]

looks good!
I like that bulkhead around the top of the dam.
and water levels are good - doesn't get any more accurate, and there's nothing wrong with not spending all the $$ specialty stores get when they sell the pretty version.

 

[Bindian]

looks good!
I like that bulkhead around the top of the dam.
and water levels are good - doesn't get any more accurate, and there's nothing wrong with not spending all the $$ specialty stores get when they sell the pretty version.

Erik,
I really wanted a laser level, but just couldn't see spending xxx.xx amount of dollars for it.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Doc]

Good work Brandi.

 

[Erik]

Erik,
I really wanted a laser level, but just couldn't see spending xxx.xx amount of dollars for it.
hugs, Brandi

want to borrow mine for a couple of months?
I won't need it back until Mid March...

 

[rebojo]

It took my Mother dying to get me off my butt and dig my pond. The cementary she is buried in has a large pond with an island and several ducks and geese. Even a Mud Hen! So I told my daughter it was digging time. We had mallards when I was little and now I will have them again. Along with Channel Catfish. I thought I would be digging a lot of the pond with my backhoe. But too my surprise, I have dug down to about 5 feet with my 84 inch wide loader bucket. When the bucket gets full of clay, I see it just rolling over and over as I creep forward in low 1st gear. I could go deeper just using the loader bucket, but the pond basin is too small to turn around safely. I don't even have a tooth bar. The ML 275 KMW loader on my Mahindra 6520 4WD is absolutely a tough mule. I have heard all kinds of noises coming from it while moving full buckets of damp clay. Every day I rinse off the attachment welds and check for cracks........none so far. So I am now in the process of backhoeing about half the 30 x 60 foot pond out to a depth of 10 or 12 feet. I really haven't decided. I keep reading conflicting information on small pond depths.
hugs, Brandi

Looks good so far. I had sloped sides to my pond and this allowed algae to form. Went back, did a 3 ft. straight down wall and now with a pond dye--no algae. Channel catfish are a lot of fun to catch as well as good eating. Best of luck to you! rebojo

 

[Bindian]

want to borrow mine for a couple of months?
I won't need it back until Mid March...

Erik,
Wow....yes. Extra hugs, for you.
hugshugshugs, Brandi

 

[Bindian]

Looks good so far. I had sloped sides to my pond and this allowed algae to form. Went back, did a 3 ft. straight down wall and now with a pond dye--no algae. Channel catfish are a lot of fun to catch as well as good eating. Best of luck to you! rebojo

Rebojo,
I did the non dam side 3-5 feet straight down. This so if our dry Texas summers evaporate more than a couple of feet. I can draw it down also and kill the growth on the dam slope.
Channel cats. Larger cats can give as good a fight as a bass
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bindian]

Here are the latest two photos of the pond. I am going to call it Lake Marie in honor of my mother. Her middle name was Marie. The stump will get a root trimming and may even be removed for some broken culverts. The other photo is from my deck. It shows the driveway curving around the pond. The clay island is about 4 feet high in about 8 of water once full.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bindian]

I removed the stump last weekend. I started spreading topsoil today. I will be seeding rye grass tomorrow for Sunday's forecast rain.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bindian]

I extended the dam bulkhead a little more today. I will add a small deck out over the water from the bulkhead posts. We are behind over 3 inches of rain this year and the water keeps rising! I also finished spreading topsoil and seeded 10 pounds of rye grass seed. We are forecast for rain (again) tomorrow. So I am ready. I might even be in time to order a few catfish since I have over 3 feet of water now.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bindian]

No rain yesterday. But another thunderstorm came in last night with a little rain. About enough to keep the dust in the driveway down. It was enough to raise the water level another inch and leave the majority of the rye grass seed in place.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bindian]

The water level is slowly creeping up to the 12 inch mark. 12 inches on the yard stick will put the deep end in over 4 feet of water. All this water with a dry spell going on. We have had just enough rain to get the rye grass growing good. The 1st photo was taken on the 5th of Feb. The 2nd photo was taken on the 8th, the 3rd photo on the 9th and the 4th photo was taken just this morning. The last photo was taken this morning also and the left end of the island is over 4 feet deep.
The water has came up so fast, I plan on meeting the fish hatchery truck tomorrow in Conroe and buying 25 channel cats. Either 4-6 inch or 6-8 inch. I would think the 4-6 inch would stand a better chance since the pond is only 4 feet deep right now. I will buy some catfish food when I pick up the cats. Am I forgetting anything, or jumping the gun on stocking a few fingerlings?
hugs, Brandi