Not all about deer

You need a bigger digger :D
But good luck with it, I just love creating a new pond or three.

Neil. :)

For scale, smart car and 21 ton digger, with boom extension.
DiggerandSmart.jpg


Stock Pond, last autum
StockPond.jpg


Another small scrape for wildlife in general, no fishing
DiggerinPond.jpg


Middlemead, a 3.5 acre lake dug during 1999, photo in 2006
Middlemead7yearsold.jpg


Anybody interested in the process, link to loads of pics of a dig in action.
Sorry but the first 9 pics are out of sequence, should be last
 
Didn't mean to pop your bubble, sorry.
We ain't the big boys, just a small fishing club, I plan and arrange the work, hire the digger and driver, also get a couple of 9 ton
Thwaites all drive type dumpers. I drive one, and mate the other, all the spoil is spread wherever we can, the farmer has the final say
but as we have given him some now flat and useful land to work on he is as accommodating as he can be about this.
I did the first one in 97, that was a re-dig of an old lake (originally dug by my grandfather in 65) and an extension to it, then a bigger one on the same basis, re-dig and extend, then a couple of new ones, looking for a patch of land on the same farm to do another at the moment.

For anybody who thinks they want a go at it, all you need is the land, somewhere to get rid of spoil, 1 digger/driver and a couple of dumpers.
It isn't rocket science, but don't skimp on the digger driver, he is key to a good job.
Cost is not bad, last autumn i paid £300 a day for the digger/driver, £150 each way for delivery, add £400 including transport for 2 dumpers for a week. That would give you a 1 acre lake between 4 and 8 feet deep, so long as you don't waste to much time running the spoil a long way, I aim to have the second dumper back for a re-load as the other one backs away, and so on, if it's a longer run extra dumpers are the cost effective way to go, you also needs to keep the area being worked dry, so working from a sump and having a pump and somewhere to pump it too is handy.

Neil. :)
 
"£300 a day for the digger/driver, £150 each way for delivery, add £400 including transport for 2 dumpers for a week"
How long for a spade and a wheel barrow? :lol:
Good job, there`s something about a lake that brings a sense of tranquility.
basil.
 
Blaster Bates had a good way of making duck pondsA 1/4 stick every yard on a grid on the suface of your boggy area, the resulting blast followed out about a foot over the area and cmopacted the bottom to make a good feeding area.

Wouldnt mind trying that myself. He He.

Dry Powder.

Barry
 
cheers for that bubble well and truly:coat: burst.......

cracking ponds nice to see how the big boys doooo it.

atb

f.


Frank
heres another from the little boys who like to play with toys....lol
on this dig we did not need any other machinery except machine and driver
All the spoils were used to build up the ground around the ponds which helped save in costs


This is a veiw from one of my high seats , look for the yellow track machine
P1020699.jpg

this is the wet patch where it all began, with the appropiate permission of-course
P1020704.jpg

which then flowed into this first little pool
P1020680.jpg

that then flowed into here
P1020698.jpg

and also here, coming in from the smoking fire end
P1020685.jpg

P1020692.jpg

P1020693.jpg

that led into this channel and also this channel flows from the second pic
P1020697.jpg

Track machine in action
P1020690.jpg

P1020689.jpg

a leak ( old land drain) I spotted while rabbit fencing the ditch
P1020694.jpg

P1020684.jpg

this pond was a series of little ponds all joined up by several channels which are already getting a few duck on them,
shall make a little extra sport while pushing the shrub covered bank out for pheasant
ATB
stone
 
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