We have been in a drought where I am and the shallow pond that my geothermal dumps into is just a water hole for deer and ducks. It was about dry but full of muck and weeds so I rented an e42 Bobcat and dug a deeper channel around the outside as far out as I could reach.
It might level out if we get enough rain to fill it up again. It was a lot of fun.
I will let the muck dry out and move it with my track loader.

Nice !

That does look like fun.

If you think that one was fun, you should have rented a big one!

They’re fun until about the end of day three of running one all day lol. After that it gets real monotonous

I did a similar project last year, you're right it was fun! Seeing the results sure is a good feeling.

When I first got this place my cousin brought over a 44,000 thousand pounder, we buried buildings and dug a pond in the back, it was crazy pushing over huge trees and then picking them up and stacking them. Had a huge bucket and thumb.

I rented a Kubota and put in 1200' of water line. The ditch witch was to slow tried it first. By the end of the project I was pretty good keeping the bottom on grade and level.

They’re handy little machines. A bucket without teeth is handy when digging near utilities and sure keeps a nice ditch bottom if you’re grading

I bought one around 6 months ago, handiest piece of equipment I've ever owned.

I hope you had fun. Ponds silt in in the middle, you didnt reach any where near the middle. Pond edges erode from natural wave action, anything over a 3/1 will just fill in again. With a machine that size and reach you only could have made a positive effect on about 4 ft from edge. Not tryin to be negative but, thats the reality.

I've always wanted A pond

Thank you for sharing pictures.

My ground is not good clay, lots of rock and gravel. It's just a shallow water hole. We made it with a dozer and it was never any deeper than 3 feet in the deepest point. I probably broke the seal and it might drain all the way before we get enough rain to seal it up again. If the whole thing dries out, I will get my track loader in there and push the center out. If I wanted a deeper pond with fish I would have to add a liner and some good clay.

I think you did great- 18"-24" would be the desired depth for most waterfowl, duck scrapes are more desired than ponds... 1/2 water 1/2 vegetation makes it even more desirable. The only thing I would add would be more irregular shapes- a few small channels and peninsulas. From my experience, hen mallards hate to nest in sight of each other- they can cohabitate in small wetlands if they don't have that visibility.

And you didn’t even get it stuck? Did a track come off?
That really adds to the fun!

I recently rented a small excavator for a day. It was one size up from the mini. I agree, it was a ball of fun! I have plans to rent another small X later this summer.

I would really like to have a small X and a 100hp high flow track loader with a toothed bucket, smooth bucket, and a forestry mulcher head. Since I don’t have enough use to justify the cost, I rent from Caterpillar when needed. They have a great program where they guarantee a machine less than 2 years old that is serviced and clean ready for work. They are very flexible. I have them deliver and pick up from the jobsite. If necessary they will pressure wash for less than I can do it - and they don’t whine about it.

Occasionally I rent from the small local rental yard to keep the relationship good. He has been very helpful too.

I broke the seal and it's drying up. Supposed to get real hot next week so when it dries off, I can get my track loader Bobcat in and clean the whole thing out and tracking it in will help it seal faster. I can also set up a new hose and air defuser in the deepest point, that is how this all started. Too mucky to get out to the airline in waders, thought I was going to die standing upright in the muck.
Had to pull myself out with the old air hose like they did in the quicksand in the old Tarzan movies!!