Turkeygirl Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 I'm curious as to who here has had a pond dug...how long did it take them...what time of year? etc... Mom has wanted a pond forever..well this summer while I was at camp they finally got going on it, found a local guy to do it. Andy cleared out trees, etc...for where the pond is to go. Well the guy who was going to do it said he'd start in September....he never showed or called...then he said October...never showed up or called...then in November he said "next week" which became then the "next week after next week". Then Andy just called him last week and the guy said he'd come either Friday (New Years' day) or this Monday (yesterday) Well he never showed up or called yet again. Mom has had it, she was pissed at Andy last night because he has no backbone and won't call the guy.:bang: And he is so arrogant and acts like he knows everything because he's a surveryor.:hammer1: So mom is PO'd and I'm PO'd because all I want is for mom to have her pond before she physically can't get down there or else she's dead! So sorry for the ramble but I'm just wondering what is the census on ponds being built? Mom is going to ask around and try to find someone else because this other guy is rediculous. Do pond builders normally do this or is this guy just a lame brain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 I have built one. 16 hours on an Excavator and 30 feet of 10 inch pipe with a 90 elbow in it created a nice 30 yard circle 3-7 feet deep stream feed pond that holds 30-50 rainbows in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoods07 Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 (edited) We had several ponds dug on our last farm. The biggest was somewhere between 4 and 5 acres and about 50 feet deep. It took a while to dig and even longer to install an aeration system for the catfish. The large pond was expanded from a much smaller pond (shown in the picture) which I think contributed to the difficulty. It was worked on pretty much all summer and into the early fall, and from start to finish it took about a year. Sounds like your guy is just a bit spacey...I would definitely take some action. Edited January 5, 2010 by backwoods07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Couple questions to consider. Has the weather been an issue? Is this surveyor an owner operator or does he have operators of his equipment who will be doing the work, does he do his excavating as a sideline job? If this is his primary source of income and he has had some good dry days to get his equipment in and do the work I would tend to think he does not want the job and probably would look to find someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Be careful and make sure you don't put yourselves in a libelous position because of someone who "knows" what he's doing. I have heard horror stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 A close friend of mine dug a small pond. 50' round. Installed a liner, land scaped it, filled it with water and Japanese Koi. A few days later his wife called him at work to tell him that the pond exploded. Yup...the liner was not vented from below and the gases rising from the earth had nowhere to go but upwards. The liner acted like a balloon, reversed its shape. He lost most of the Koi and just about all of the water in the pond. He has since installed a venting system under the pond and all is well. Except of cousre the coons eating his Koi. I do not know if that is an issue with clay lined larger ponds. Just thought I'd pass this info on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Might want to call your state DNR. I know Ohio used to have a program where they helped with the cost of the pond if you opened it up to the public for fishing for a set number of years. They also can give you tips on how to build them properly. Digging a pond is more involved than just scooping out dirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 I personally don't have a pond, but one of my best friends had one dug on his property. Here's a couple issues that arose with him: 1. Are you going to leave the excavated fill on your property? If the contractor is going to remove it, is he/she getting paid by another customer to use the fill? That could factor into you getting a reduced charge by the excavation contractor. Also check or confirm water the soil or fill is made up of. Sand? Gravel? Clay? Good to know that before you ever have a spade put in the ground. 2. Are there any environmental issues or laws that have to be reviewed? You may need a permit (and perhaps an inspection) through departments such as the EPA (yes? no?) 3. Are there any municipal or county bylaws that will require a permit? 4. As you are hoping to have a pond as the end result, and ponds are filled with water (hopefully), are there any water table concerns that might affect either your water well or a neighbors? Is the pond to be supplied by another water source such as an existing creek or by ground water or a spring system? 5. Is the water in the pond already airated, or will you have to provide a bubbler system to airate the water in order to sustain fish life? 6. Are there any predateros such as cranes or herons that will inevitable wipe out any fish stocks you might put into the pond? My friend lost half of his fish to heron predation. 7. If the pond is deep enough, are you required by law to maintain a secirity fence around it in order to reduce the risk of children drowning in it resulting in a large lawsuit for you? 8. How will the creation of a pond on your property affect your property value? You should talk to a local realtor to get their perspective before digging. If it's going to reduce the value of your property, you might want to reconsider another option. 9. Can a pond or the water in the area sustain fish life? My friend had to get Natural Resources to take water samples and carry out an onsite inspection to determine that fish life could be sustained. After all was said and done, my buddy sort'a wished he'd have never put the pond in, but hey, that's what hind sight is all about! TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted January 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Well I was referring to Andy acting like a know it all...he's the surveyor so he said he deals with contractors anyway and yadda yadda...He's just not taking any action with the guy so mom may be doing such... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 I've built two ponds, but they weren't all fancy like those listed above. I simply started pushing dirt with the dozer blade and packed all my fill dirt into the dam. Of course we set both ponds in a natural low lying area to so I didn't have to do much work on the sides. Both ponds are only about 25 feet deep at the dam, and each took maybe 6 hrs? The bigger one might have took 8 hrs cause I split it into two days. I don't have access to any pics at the moment, but they're some great fishers now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted January 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Yeah this isn't going to be a fancy pond...big enough to swim in and have a dock hopefully...I don't know if it's bigger or smaller than an acre...size judgement is not my specialty. It's suppose to be almost pear shaped because of the lay of the land...lol...weird I know... We'll see what happens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okiedog Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Had a couple of them built on me. My grandfather had a small one built when I first moved on my property and we stocked with catfish. A few years latter I had a friend build one that I put docks and stuff one. Stocked it with bass and bluegill. The one my friend dug for me took several months, but he only worked on it in the evenings and on the weekends. The plus side to it was it only cost me his fuel bill:D. I have some pics of the construction somewhere but this is the only one I can find. It was still in the progress of filling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad dryden Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 We have a pond that was built or re-built in the summer months that cattle walked on it enough and broke the dame out. We got a big government grant for helping farmers to work and improve on water sources so we had our pond redone its about 6'5 feet deep 7ft at the max and covers about 1/2 of a acre or so. I would look for another guy to redo the pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonBowling21 Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 well it took us about a 3 days to dig us one its like 75 feet long, 14 feet deep, and 50 feet wide! Does its job now tons of big cats swimming in that thick mud as well as turtles!! Some of those big Turtles are good eatin'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonBowling21 Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 btw those are some nice looking ponds you guys posted pics of especially the second one with the dock very nice any fish in that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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