Chris Wilson Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Posted this on a pond forum, any digger people got any tips? Cheers. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: I intend to dig a wildlife pond with a small island in it, of about 3/4 of an acre in size, in one of our fields here in the UK. The water table, even in the summer months is rarely more than 3 to 4 feet down. How do i go about digging out spoil under water? The neighbour over the road had a 2.5 acre lake dug, and his ground conditions will be similar to ours, about 2 feet of top soil, then sand, as far as I have ever dug. We hardly knew each other so I never got to see how he dug it, except to say there was a vast amount of sand sold and taken off site, over about a year, and he seemed to manage with a 360 degree JCB digger, albeit of pretty large size. He didn't liner it, (huge liner would have been needed), and it has held water even in a hot summer just fine, and now has some nice fish in it, as it has become established. There's a photo of it a couple of months after it was dug here: http://www.chriswilson.tv/lake.jpg Now that is FAR bigger than we can accommodate or wish to attempt but it shows that the ground here will support a lake, and that it was somehow possible to dig with such a high water table, so can anyone offer tips or links to help me out please? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieP Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 35ton 360, start in the middle and work your way round the outside staying on high ground, it dont matter if the bucket is underwater and with a 35 ton you could go pretty deep, a 3 ton will dig 1.8meters, ive dug a few now but not that big, id have thought you could do it in a couple of days with a big digger depending how deep you go. Getting rid of the earth is the expensive bit. If the water table is 3ft below id step the ground round the outside of ther lake as it might look a bit silly otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I'm surprised and quite frankly overjoyed that there is a pond forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooquicktostop Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 That pond picture has just made me go outside and have a look at what can now only be described as a puddle that used to be called my pond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 I made an offer about a year ago on the house that has the pond, thankfully it wasn't accepted, in hindsight It's now sold, but the current owner has no interest in it, sadly, although he has offered to let me fish it It's matured a lot since that photo, and looks stunning. My goal is to make a much smaller one of our own this summer. Thanks for the tips Jamie, appreciated. Charlotte, pond forum is on Yahoo Groups, it's called Pondkeepers. Some of the Canadian and American members have dug things that look like one of the Great Lakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I'll give it a go, what's the worse that could happen? How long before the Tamir appears then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Having Googled Tamir nd got nowhere it suddenly dawned on me you meant Tapir, right? 2009 is going to be a no more animals year I was thinking Tamir was some mythical creature found at great depths! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesG Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Chris, you've got to get a Tapir! http://homepage.mac.com/lawrencedavid/cuteanimals/brazilian_tapir.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Having Googled Tamir nd got nowhere it suddenly dawned on me you meant Tapir, right? 2009 is going to be a no more animals year I was thinking Tamir was some mythical creature found at great depths! That's the puppy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Err, they are kinda expensive....Here's the wife with an adult one last year. The beastie like a giant hamster in the LH background is a capybara, the worlds biggest rodent. Tapirs only have the cute stripes as juveniles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesG Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Eeek! That's not so cute. I suppose a Tapir is for life and not just for christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I saw one at Chester zoo. It looked really sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Eeek! That's not so cute. I suppose a Tapir is for life and not just for christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hot soup Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Hi there. I dont post much but this caught my eye because I am a plant operator. The problem with digging under water is that any material,particularly sand,will turn to watery crap very quickly and the working area will soon turn into a mess. What I would suggest is hiring a 4 inch pump,then start your dig at the deepest planned end of your pond.You can then pump the water away from the dig and keep it more or less dry.The now dry material can be landscaped around pond,provided you have stripped off all your topsoil first! This should greatly reduce the need to haul material off site,which is expensive.Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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