Digging a pond
- Thread starter Gary.J
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North Idaho Wolfman
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L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Not a pool / pond, but other large, deep holes, one problem with doing it with a FEL is the speed of work is very slow and the ramp needed to get to the bottom is extremely long. 
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It can be done with a lot of patience but basically I do not believe the FEL was designed for digging.
The main problem comes is that you have to have a way in and out. This is fine on the side of a hill, but if no hill, you will need a long slope in and out. That is a MX-5100 in the hole. The hole was enlarged after this pic to 30X100
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Yeah if your like Helo and cant get it out,,,, then you might think about this
https://youtu.be/KZtXtbZn5f0?t=2
https://youtu.be/KZtXtbZn5f0?t=2
BAP
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2012 Kubota 2920, 60MMM, FEL, BH65 48" Bush Hog, 60"Backblade, B2782B Snowblower
Lots of cellar holes and ponds used to be dug by bulldozers and front end loaders on tractors long before backhoes and excavators were invented. Everyone nowadays thinks that everything has to be done with an excavator or else it can't be done. In reality, the reason people think that is they have no idea how to properly operate other equipment to get the job done.
Helomech, I thought from your first pictures you were building an in ground silo for enslige/silage.
A dozer works just fine, if the excavated material is going to remain in the vicinity and you are doing a pond with somewhat sloped banks. My dad had a one acre pond done in a one weeks time by a single guy on a big dozer. The materiel was moved to a step nearby hill and lessened the slope.
A dozer is not the tool for digging a square hole.
A dozer will not get the material in a truck to haul away.
I'd never try and use a FEL for that.
When the time comes to fully dredge my pond, we will drain it, dry it and use a dozer then a large excavator to fill dump trucks to move the material 1,000 feet away. At least that is the current plan. Last fall, I (with the help of gracious neighbors) dredged out an area (about a 100' circle, 3' deep) where silt from the stream that fills the pond had built up. We used a mini excavator and a dump trailed pulled by a tractor. It took ~60 loads at ~four yards a load and two days. I used my FEL six months later to level out all the dump loads. It excelled at that job.
A dozer is not the tool for digging a square hole.
A dozer will not get the material in a truck to haul away.
I'd never try and use a FEL for that.
When the time comes to fully dredge my pond, we will drain it, dry it and use a dozer then a large excavator to fill dump trucks to move the material 1,000 feet away. At least that is the current plan. Last fall, I (with the help of gracious neighbors) dredged out an area (about a 100' circle, 3' deep) where silt from the stream that fills the pond had built up. We used a mini excavator and a dump trailed pulled by a tractor. It took ~60 loads at ~four yards a load and two days. I used my FEL six months later to level out all the dump loads. It excelled at that job.
No, a aquaponics greenhouse.
I am also planning to dig a pond near the greenhouse, but I am waiting till I get the piranha tooth bar.