Now your neighbor could opt for buying a used dozer and then selling it back off after you finished. Blade work tends to have a high probability of damage by inexperienced users. Most places wont even rent a skid steer with a dozer blade. Most places wont rent them as they tend to need too much knowledge and skill to operate and in experienced operators can damage a dozer very easily. We're eyeballing a trac-hoe right now, then I could get to around 3 acres! I have some pics of the equipment and pond in my profile.I am a certified heavy equipment operator. He's been like a father to me for over 15 years. I operate and maintain all the equipment and have lifetime fishing rights and make many of the desicions regarding the pond. I told him the other day I wanted to get a 200 gallon gas tank and he told me to get a price on it, I get tired of lugging 6 gallon gas cans around. The gas thing isn't a problem for me, my buddy pays for it and he actually owns all the land. I have been out digging some practice holes and filling them back in to get a feel for her and I might say for her age I am impressed. I am new to the backhoe, but I learn quick. I have several hundred hours on the dozer and do pretty good work with it, especially for the size it is. We do a lot more than just the pond work, driveways, level fence rows, grading and even plow the drive in the winter with the 440. I had to wait a few days for it to dry and a fully loaded tri-axle to come over and jerk it out. I had a lot of fun doing it, even when the track came off in the hole and a sudden rain storm drenched me at 4 in the morning. The equipment is owned by a really good long time friend who actually called me one day and asked if he bought a dozer would I dig a pond in the back, I said sure as hell I will. My wife says I'm nuts too! That won't stop me though. Maybe on a 4 acre pond or something it would be alot eaiser.who knows. Well it also could be that I am building a 9 acre lake as well. I tell you this has been one heck of an experiance just being out ther every other day and watching what goes on. It is constantly situations that come up where you need 3 to 4 people. Like always clearing pathways and roads for the dump truck with the dozer. Your constantly moveing stuff with the dozer, or tract hoe, that you would never think of. Also, if you do not have a break down, you want realize the amount of man power needed to do the work. Boy am I glad I did not sign up to do this. I am now looking at all the work my lake contractor is doing, and all the break downs he constantly has. You may be able to help on the earthwork in less sensitive areas.īoy Ed, I tell you I really wanted to do what you are doing BADLY! I had the equipment pick out and everything!! Could only see the good side and how much I would save and how I could have this lake done, and have all this wonderfull equipment left over.īut now looking back? boy I was wrong! that stuff is very expensive to fix. This will most likely be required by your permits. If you have engineered structures such as a dam, a professional should be hired to complete the construction based on plans certified by a professional engineer. My ponds are gravel pit type ponds where one bucket of sand removed equals one bucket of water. It's doable if you are up to it, but get experienced people to help you get started. I have no idea what the scope of your project is, I've had a lot of fun with my ponds but make no mistake, its been four years of hard work that has taken all of my free time both evenings and weekends. Since the equipment is 1980's vintage, we are constantly making repairs, which can nickel dime you to death (see brand name). We also made the mistake of purchasing equipment that was too small to do the work we wanted to do and had to trade up. You should also know that it may not be easy to sell equipment immediately when you finish. After a few weeks you'll be dangerous (literally). I had friends to help me get going and also had some previous experience. That being said, there is a learning curve and an element of danger in doing it yourself. You'll be amazed at the free demos that you can get when you are shopping for equipment. We later found that buying used equipment from a dealer has its benefits also. Make sure you have a good mechanic check out any piece you buy and be careful of the brand if you want to retain resale value (parts too). We still have two of the auction items and made about 30% profit on the loader we sold. The first three were purchased at auctions. We bought a few pieces of equipment for our pond construction project, which is now in its fourth and final year.
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