1st POND!

[Phishook]

Just hooked my first pond today. Went really smooth.

11'x16' tear shaped pond at the bottom of a 20' stream falling about 4 1/2'.

4.72 ton bolders
2.21 ton gravel for the bottom

is that about right?

Should I bump this up to a standard pond system or would a mini do the job? Definately going with the 3000 pump, because of the distance and incline.

Another thing is price. They were verry understanding that this would be my first one. I gave them a guestimate of $5,500-$6,500, and told them I would have a solid price by Tuesday.

They are suppling the top soil and the use of a bobcat if I need it.

Any opinions welcome! Even the ones that think I under bid it.

[Alan]

I can't offer a lot of experience here, my only contact has been a Build-a-Pond day last fall. But at first thought I'd say you are light on rock. You will be using quite a bit of stuff in the 6-18" range and probably some larger for accent rocks.

I wish I had kept track of just how much rock went into the demo, but I do know there were several cubes of hand handleable stone and quite a few boulders around the falls and down the stream sides. It doesn't take a very big rock to weigh a hundred pounds and the big ones run of the tonnage quick.

One other factor is that you may find rocks that just don't "fit" anywhere. You may be able to keep them for another job but they still add up in the initial expense.

By all means though, keep us posted about how this goes. I'm hoping to get some ponds behind me this summer and be able to offer real information at some point.

[Phishook]

Here is the place. This was taken one week ago. We started today, and expect to finish Wednesday.

[Phishook]

Here is the place. Took this picture one week ago. We started today.

[Phishook]

peeling the sod back.

[Phishook]

The hole=14 hrs.
Look below Bob! OUCH, That was a close one! Hit the phone line, and missed the electric by only inches. Yes, we did ask the home owners to call and have the wires marked. The had them marked, but must have missed these. The closes thing markes was 30-40 feet away. Call your self! I'll never leave this up to the home owner again!

[Phishook]

The falls and stream. One foot pool right before the last fall.
If it was up to me I would have dropped the biofalls down a foot so you wouldn't have the mound of dirt at the top.

[Phishook]

installed the underliner and rubber liner. See what I mean, that dirt hill is only getting bigger.

[wojo23323]

What did you do with all of the dirt you dug out of the hole? I see the one pic with the hole dug and no dirt anywhere. i thought you left the dirt onsite for the berm around the falls.

[Phishook]

Originally posted by wojo23323
What did you do with all of the dirt you dug out of the hole? I see the one pic with the hole dug and no dirt anywhere. i thought you left the dirt onsite for the berm around the falls.

We had a skidster to move the soil and this was a long drug out experience, so we piled the dirt from where the picture was taken ( a service area for farming) .

More pics.