Pond cleaning with excavator

[Shimmy1]

Water was about 30" deep, was done pumping at lunchtime.

 

[Shimmy1]

Slop trench dug, getting a good start on the really runny stuff. These were at 1 pm. This pond is almost as bad as that first one last summer. Deep, wide, and about 2' of the muck runs like water. Total muck depth about 4', pond depth is about 10', and water table is at 3'. To say it's a challenge is an understatement.

 

[Shimmy1]

To make matters even more interesting, the landowner only wants a spoil pile on one side. So, bring in the payloader. Loader hauls spoil that is coming out of slop trench and spreads it out. Luckily he said we can spread it out in a low area and not have to haul it all the way around to the other side. Worst part is the side he doesn't want a pile on is the good side of the hole. So I have twice as much $#it to get rid of on that side. I have 300' of trench full of slop and I'm not done yet. See the water in the bottom of the trench? That's groundwater, and I can only dig the trench about 4' deep because it's pure sand.

 

[Shimmy1]

Most of the slop out by 3.

 

[Shimmy1]

Main part of hole and both ends done by 530.

 

[Shimmy1]

North side and two corners done at 730. Right on schedule at 11 hours. Got rained out or I might have finished cutting the hole tonight. With the water table and sand issues it probably isn't going to look as pretty as some of the oothers, but the owner is very pleased so far.

 

[Landclearer]

Thanks for all the pics Shimmy. That was great to see how you did it. The finished or near finished product looked great! Do you cover the slop trench with the clean fill or leave it open? Seems it would take forever for it to dry. It is funny that I would have never thought you would have had sand and groundwater trouble. If you did those on a regular basis it would be nice to have a long reach machine but every once in a while it would be hard to justify.

 

[Shimmy1]

I can't believe I forgot to put the finished ones up. The side pic was taken from about the same spot I took the first one. When we finished yesterday, the pond had over 3' of new water in it. To say the landowner was thrilled is an understatement.

 

[Landclearer]

Top notch work. A big difference from when you started.

 

[movindirt]

Turned out really good Shimmy!

 

[Shimmy1]

Another success

Finished another tank today. Either I'm getting better, or my machine is getting faster. Eleven hours on this one.

 

[Shimmy1]

Hey Scrub Puller, who needs a long reach or dragline?? :naughty

 

[Dickjr.]

Nice looking work , messing with mud like that can be tedious work for sure. Finish looks good. We have been dealing with a higher water table here due to the large amount of rain we've had. Usually the creek beds are dry this time of year , they been flowing heavily , crawdad heaven.

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . .

Gotcha Shimmy1 You do amazing work, it's a credit to your skills.

One other thing the drag-line has going for it of course is there is just one sheave bearing in the mud. All the other wear points are non critical and shackles and so on are rebuilt with the welder on rainy days.

Cheers.

 

[Shimmy1]

Nice looking work , messing with mud like that can be tedious work for sure. Finish looks good. We have been dealing with a higher water table here due to the large amount of rain we've had. Usually the creek beds are dry this time of year , they been flowing heavily , crawdad heaven.

Thanks, Dickjr. The pond where I took the picture of the hoe stretched out had so many crawdads beached after I pumped the water out the floor was literally moving. That muck was some of the smelliest stuff I've had, pretty much reminded me of a septic tank. The pond in post #71 was the last one I did. If you look at the slopes, you'll notice there are some washout trenches close to the bottom. This was from a 3½" rain we got before I finished. I don't particularly like them, but it is what it is, and once it fills back up with water they never happened.

 

[Shimmy1]

Yair . . .

Gotcha Shimmy1 You do amazing work, it's a credit to your skills.

I appreciate the compliments, Scrub. Like I've said before though, I'd have never been able to figure out such a successful process without HEF. The pumping is one thing, but the idea to dig slop trenches is pure genius. Keep the runny stuff contained and the rest is fairly simple. The best part is if you set everything up right, you can throw the slop over the big bank as necessary and only end up moving it twice. I feel with my 7' bucket, even after I spend a few hours pulling the old spoil bank back, digging the trenches, and moving the slop twice, I'm still getting a pond done faster than I would with a 200-class long reach. Now if I was competing against a 300 with 70' of reach and a yard and a half bucket, that might be a different story. I've ran a Cat 324D long reach and that thing could move some stuff.

 

[Landclearer]

Looks good as always Shimmy. I will have to agree, as fast as you are , I really see no need for a long reach. It might be easier on you but the customer does not care if you have it easy or not, he just wants it done and as cheap as possible. Thanks for posting!

 

[Shimmy1]

It was a little wetter this last season so I haven't had to clean out a pond, but I did get to dig a new one this week. I got to pick the spot, it had 2' of water in it the next morning so I think the location was right. The ground wasn't very cooperative, about 15-20 buckets is all I could do before repositioning the machine. Pictures during didn't really do justice, but I took a few of the finished product.

 

[td25c]

Nice work shimmy1 !

Understand the ground not being cooperative ..... Track out and dig real smooth & easy so the machine stays on top .

http://www.heavytruckforums.com/sho...ufacturing-Company&p=4046&viewfull=1#post4046

 

[Shimmy1]

Nice work shimmy1 !

Understand the ground not being cooperative ..... Track out and dig real smooth & easy so the machine stays on top .

http://www.heavytruckforums.com/sho...ufacturing-Company&p=4046&viewfull=1#post4046

Not sure where the pics are at, but for whatever reason I can't see them.