How to make a pond...

[growalot]

I have been cruising YouTube for videos on how to build a pond  with a dozer....some good stuff out there ...but hit the "disaster" ones too...OK there are some dim bulbs on YouTube ...lol I believe I extended my life expectancy by a few years ...laughing...Though.... also with the lessons learned on what NOT to do...

I have planned out sites and will start downing trees on good days...NOT TODAY...16 degrees windy and snowing. I have one area in the slashing that has the perfect slope and sits not far above where the springs pop out on the neighbors place. This area I have lost much of the young maples to a combination of disease and beetles. ..most I will be able to just push over and haul out with a few medium side doubles to cut down.. whatever is attacking these trees it leaves a black ( @ ).

[Jeremy K]

Step 1  Dig a hole.

Step 2  let it fill up with water.

 

Actually my buddy has a beautiful pond on his property , who ever built it took some time to add some overflow tubes because it is constantly fed with springs ,it really keeps the pond very clear all year long. His was built at the bottom of a hill ,so 3 sides were built up instead of a hole dug . Make sure you post some pics once you get started.

[Zag]

Sweet start a thread for the progress. If you dont mind let me know what you find per hr with the dozer work. I was quoted $100 per hr. I checked with admar supply and you can rent them fairly reasonable per day ( I think it was around $400) but they get you with delivery costs.

[Doewhacker]

A pond is on my short list, hopefully this year but I won't hold my breath.

 

Did you consider folding the tree's into the pond to create cover for fish or ducks?

 

That's part of my plan but I intend to use my pond for dog training so I need that kind of cover for my specific needs, it will have other dividends as well for nature. If I plan properly, the run off and feeding stream will provide wet lands for Woodcock, other animals and vegetation.

[growalot]

Zag ..We own the dozer and an excavator...besides the backhoe on the JD.

[landtracdeerhunter]

We had a pond dug back in 74. The DEC. was very helpful with the location and drainage requirements.  It's still very useful for deer drink from it a ton during the summer months. Ash trees grew up on the north end of it;  became home for woodcock, wood ducks, and a verity of birds. A well worth while investment.

[thphtm]

Grow. , as I said some time ago , Make sure the banks of the pond are higher then the surrounding land. I found out the hard way, 10 feet deep when dug out and now 3 feet deep , filled up with 7 feet of silt that washed down the surrounding hills on 2 sides that were logged not long before that ,from heavy rains that we had afterwoods..

[Doc]

Just remember that what's on top is not necessarily what is underneath test holes are a good idea. The first thing to do is to take a peek.

 

Finding water in the test holes as in springs and such is not necessarily good news because that is a sign of gravel (leaching dirt) that isn't good in a pond. Note the water in this test hole we actually moved the pond because of this hole.

 

Finally it takes the shape of a pond.

 

Spring run-off does a good job of filling the pond. It also sets up some concerns for overflow and potential disaster. Be sure to check what is below the pond in case of a washout....lol.

 

Lookin' good ... eh?

 

Well, maybe in the summer it doesn't look so good. Yup, it was a "leaker", test holes and all. Apparently there was some gravel layer that was a bit to close to the bottom of the pond. Too bad because there was a lot of clay for quite a depth. After watching this disaster for 3 years hoping it would self-heal with silt, it became obvious that it was going to make a great cattail garden and mosquito home. Hey the frogs liked it.

 

Well, I didn't take any pictures of the last step which was to exercise the guy's guarantee to fill it back in for free if the pond failed. But now a bunch of years later, it's as if that fiasco never happened.

 

The guy who did the work has done hundreds of ponds locally. In fact that is all he does for a living, and he really knows his stuff. And he did take all the precautions but there can be sneaky gravel veins that can do a great job of draining ponds. The area has successful pond right across the highway, just a mere couple hundred yards away and there is a swamp within 50 yards. But like I said above, what you see on top the ground doesn't indicate what is under the surface.

[Merlot]

We're considering a re-dig of an existing pond on our property. Been around for a long time and the silt has built up enough over time to not allow fish to survive. We do not have access to equipment to do ourselves...maybe just as well we dazzling urbanites leave the digging to the professionals.

[peepsight]

Like Doc said ..... test holes!! Finding shale or gravel veins half to three quarters of the way through would suck, but it sure sounds like your doing your homework.

Edited January 18, 2016 by peepsight

[growalot]

Already done in one site...it has a sizable grey clay vein...the other is iffy...for it sits right above what I know for sure to be shale...but parallel to it and 2  hundred yards away is a neighbors beautiful pond...so we'll see.

now Doc..why would you not use Benoite(sp) or something similar to stop leaks...That, over filling it back in...also if you had that run off cause such a problem...the pond builder wasn't very good IMO...BTW want to give up a name...we are in your area and I'm curious if it was the same guy that we had come out a few years ago..He really drove home the " I do not guarantee it will hold water " thing...even after seeing the clay and the fact it holds water all spring and had water in it when he came over....

 

Mr B/ Son...Construction many many years of site work..and son is a good Operator..

Edited January 18, 2016 by growalot

[peepsight]

Sounds like your in good hands ...........

[G-Man]

Test holes.you have me.scared as its not far from where springs pop out on neighbors = shale...not good, will leak . I have 3 pond the digging is the easy part but do not make any area shallow ( give kids/grandkids life preservers) get some pond ( mud)crayfish and fat head minnows to start.. don't stock your big fish right away a 1/2 acre pond can only support 100 lbs of fish whether it's 1 fish that weighs 100 lbs or 100 1 lb fish, stocking in proper numbers is critical to avoid over crowding and stunting. Species are important as well depending on what depth and temp pond maintains.

Edited January 18, 2016 by G-Man

[Doc]

Already done in one site...it has a sizable grey clay vein...the other is iffy...for it sits right above what I know for sure to be shale...but parallel to it and 2  hundred yards away is a neighbors beautiful pond...so we'll see.

now Doc..why would you not use Benoite(sp) or something similar to stop leaks...That, over filling it back in...also if you had that run off cause such a problem...the pond builder wasn't very good IMO...BTW want to give up a name...we are in your area and I'm curious if it was the same guy that we had come out a few years ago..He really drove home the " I do not guarantee it will hold water " thing...even after seeing the clay and the fact it holds water all spring and had water in it when he came over....

 

Mr B/ Son...Construction many many years of site work..and son is a good Operator..

Bentonite...... It is very expensive, and does not always work. With the rate of loss, my pond guy recommended against it. Also, I decided to exercise his guarantee in case he was to retire or something. That was not a cheap fill-in because he had to basically re-grade the entire field. I had already let it all sit for 3 years just to be sure that it would not silt in the leak area. Something of that kind of expense had me eager to just get the job done and be finished with it while it was still free.

 

The run-off springtime flooding is an unavoidable problem, because of the way the ravines on the hill flood all of the fields when they hit the valley floor. It really didn't cause a problem, but could have . I am just saying, think of what you have that is lower than the pond walls. Back when we had hurricane Agnes and many other flood conditions since there has been flooding in the valley and therefore a potential for filling a pond to overflowing always exists. And once that starts, the entire wall can erode right out at an ugly rate. Just a word of warning that occurred to me as I watched that sucker filling up. I  would look real hard at building a spillway or some other outflow/overflow protection.

 

Your pond guy was being very honest with you when he said he cannot guarantee it will hold water. They can dig all the test holes that they want, but there is always a potential for a gravel vein that comes angling up from underneath. However what is not so common is a guarantee to fill it back in if it fails. As far as the surface conditions, do not make to much of that. That tells you nothing. It really doesn't take a huge depth of clay to hold surface water. That includes areas that are wet all year.

 

I think he called his business Ponds Plus or something like that. He is not new in the business and we took a little tour where I saw some of the best ponds I have ever seen and lots of them, so I have complete confidence that he did the best job he could given what was thrown at him. Some times "crap" happens. I think the message I am offering, is that digging a pond is not simply digging a hole. There is a bit of science involved, and a bit of luck as well.

[Doewhacker]

 

 

The run-off springtime flooding is an unavoidable problem, because of the way the ravines on the hill flood all of the fields when they hit the valley floor. It really didn't cause a problem, but could have . I am just saying, think of what you have that is lower than the pond walls. Back when we had hurricane Agnes and many other flood conditions since there has been flooding in the valley and therefore a potential for filling a pond to overflowing always exists. And once that starts, the entire wall can erode right out at an ugly rate. Just a word of warning that occurred to me as I watched that sucker filling up. I  would look real hard at building a spillway or some other outflow/overflow protection.

 

 

 

Run off is my biggest concern, I have a small run off ditch in my back yard and let me tell you that sucker runs like rapids some times. A neighbor had a pond let go during one of the big storms (before we moved in) and that is also not something I want to deal with. That is why I will use a professional to take on the project, as much as I would like to do it my self, I value my neighbors property and safety more.

[dbHunterNY]

we've got five for different purposes on the farm.  4 were just made.  we've got a lot of clay and then one is fed well enough with an outlet.  one serves as a buffer for spring sourced water to an old farmstead.  three clustered together are engineered waterfowl ponds in an open swamp.  last one is a game fish pond that replaced an old pond that filled in too much to support anything more than bugs and frogs.  now it's 10+' deep with 3' tall rock structure exactly where I know it is offset from center.  all very different.

[dbHunterNY]

Test holes.you have me.scared as its not far from where springs pop out on neighbors = shale...not good, will leak . I have 3 pond the digging is the easy part but do not make any area shallow ( give kids/grandkids life preservers) get some pond ( mud)crayfish and fat head minnows to start.. don't stock your big fish right away a 1/2 acre pond can only support 100 lbs of fish whether it's 1 fish that weighs 100 lbs or 100 1 lb fish, stocking in proper numbers is critical to avoid over crowding and stunting. Species are important as well depending on what depth and temp pond maintains.

 

this is what i've found with our bass pond.  we've got half dozen bass that have stayed right around 5-7lbs.  then some midsized bass.  if we don't take any out and they don't get any bigger.

[thphtm]

When we dug our small pond we put a 12 inch culvert pipe 1 foot below the top that drains into a ditch on the side of the road. We never had a problem with it washing over the banks. Either did our neighbor who has there 100 x200 foot pond for 50 years that is spring fed with a ditch for an overflow , they also have Koi. That have been in there for close to 40 years , you have to see the size of these fish.

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[growalot]

The springs I'm not worried about because the # of yards we are away from the opening of them. Difference in elevation over that span is pretty high...The shale I believe is a narrow vein of Shale. For it has only given me problems digging in that fence line,and about 100 yards of the lane way. All 4ft holes dug above that was a stone laiden mix of red and grey soil.no shale....not to say it couldn't be deeper..but like I said there is a beautiful spring Fed pond not far away and on the same hillside "ledge"...We'll see...I'll probably end up losing the equipment to camp this summer anyways...lol

[Zag]

Zag ..We own the dozer and an excavator...besides the backhoe on the JD.

Well damn grow come help all us members out with your equipment, you can spread your habitat love thru all our woods and make a few bucks. Sounds like a great idea I know!!

[solon]

dig a hole and then bring in some beavers....i'm extremely lucky - have property with a large pond and a ton of beavers. A couple of years ago the 15 ft dam broke and lost 1/2 of pond (6 acre pond)...within 1 year beavers had it built back to what it was...amazing creatures..

[Doc]

dig a hole and then bring in some beavers....i'm extremely lucky - have property with a large pond and a ton of beavers. A couple of years ago the 15 ft dam broke and lost 1/2 of pond (6 acre pond)...within 1 year beavers had it built back to what it was...amazing creatures..

Ha-ha ..... They know how to make a pond better than we do.

[Jaeger]

I had a beautiful acre and a half, kidney shaped pond built with an island in the center, max. depth was 14' and was spring and spring/stream fed.  Hottest it ever got during mid summer heat wave was 64 degrees at the bottom.  Filled it with trout and smallmouths.

 

 

The builder used a dozer (huge!) and it took 2-3 years.  He was very careful about packing down the bottom and sides and used what ever clay he encountered in the soil to seal it.  He'd dig, pack and let set, and repeat.

 

Never leaked a drop.

 

Had a main 2' outlet pipe/culvert and an emergency flat 8' wide by abt. 10" deep spillway at the end for sever spring rains.

 

The main thing I found out in the process, and looking at others leaky ponds, was that we hit a good amount of clay soil, that was the most important thing in the success of the pond.

 

Take time to find a site that has a good clay soil and you'll never have leaking issues.

 

Just my experience.

[Curmudgeon]

Following up on db's comments, a pond for wildlife will be quite different from a pond for gamefish. If you want ducks, herps, etc. you don't need deep water. My next pond will be a vernal pool.

[thphtm]

Clay that's what you need, I dug a 20' x 40' hole up in the woods , wet weather spring fed with a very good flow. packed the sides and bottom pretty good with whatever clay I could find while digging. It filled up about 1/4 of the way and then the water found a spot at the bottom to drain out. It  now makes a good burn pit.