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.