September 12 and 13, mini backhoe and Tractor working on pond and dirt moving

Well we got the mini back hoe and dozer, and Joel began on Saturday a little but mostly on Sunday working on the pond digging. With the larger backhoe he had gotten a lot of the center and around the island dug out before it broke down, so he is starting here to try to finish digging out south of the island on the south end of the pond. The island is at the very center above the joint in the arm of the backhoe, hard to see, a deep hole is just bottom left of the island, he was careful not to break into that hole and disturb the water and fish in that area. In this photo he was just getting a start on the south end.

In this photo I am standing on the east side of the pond looking west toward our rear garden, the deep hole is at the far right of the picture, that was dug in 2008. This area where he is digging is where he had brushhogged out the cattails (photos in previous posts). The water level would generally be above the base of the cattails, you can see the dried mud on the cattails where the water level should reach to.

Here you can see where he dug around the east side of the island, island shown on the far left with a channel around it, dirt piles extend out from the banks into where the pond WAS. Here Joel is digging on the SE part of the pond.

Same spot, different camera angle. This shows the trees on the SE bank of the pond. this bank is now movinng back as the pond won't be as close to the trees as it was before, the dirt piles will extend into the previous pondline some even after they are moved back..so this will make the pond smaller but deeper on the SE end here.

Same digging site another angle, woods seen to the North, the pond continues beyond that huge mud pile in the center of the photograph and the island is at the left. the pond beyond the island is actually larger than this area of the pond.

This photo is up on the bank on the south of the west side of the pond, Joel is moving some of the dirt piles with the backhoe and Ron is shoving some of the piles farther off of the pond edge, so that it isn't in Joel's way.

In this photo Joel has the backhoe up on the east side bank at the center of the pond, moving some of the dirt piles, Ron is helping move the dirt out of Joel's way.

In this photo you can see that part of the dirt pile on the east side has been removed and Joel is fillling in a bank area around the olive tree that was hanging out over the pond, and removing some of the excess mud and clay from the bank. The rest of the piles here will have to wait to be done by the tractor, later as we have limited backhoe time.

Here Joel is making a landing so he can get far enough out to dig out the piles on the SW corner of the pond, this area is where he had brushogged down the cattails, south of the deeper hole, nearest our house.

Progress on the SW corner of the pond, Ron helping to remove more of the dirt piles.

Getting a lot of the mess out of the way, on the SW corner of the pond.

Moved the backhoe back to the SE corner of the pond to try to clean up the dirt piles some more and get the edges of the pond cleaned up some, less than an hour now before dark !!

Ron still working on moving some piles of mud. On the West corner of the pond.

Getting dark, hurrying to finish up as much as he can get moved before we lose sun. After he dug here he went and dug a little west of the island and then and to quit as he was using a flashlight to see by.

Monday morning view from the south bank, reflection makes it hard to see the water on the west around the island. You can see on the island where the high water level comes nearly to the top, the new area is about 2 1/2 to 3 feet deeper than the high water mark in this area, shallowing somewhat at the south banks for children and wildlife access.

Teeth marks on the banks show where the banks were before digging.

This morning's view of the SW corner of the pond, in the shadows and reflection you can see the old deep hole at the far upper right edge, the rest is all dug deeper new. YOu can see there is still a large pile of mud to move with the tractor, which will bring the bank level down about 3 or 4 feet lower.

Standing on the south  bank looking north, the deep hole right in the center, the island to the right of the deep hole, a channel around the island on the far right, channel also goes around the island on the left but it isn't very visible in this photo. Lots of mud to move on the right yet...later with the Tractor.

Same view, better angle of the water and banks from the south bank looking North.

Standing on the Southwest bank by the Redleaf Barberry bush looking Northwest toward all the mud piles we'll still have to be moving eventually to get the banks back to level. The one area is partly levelled in the center of the East bank, Island in the center of the pond on the left.

the last thing Joel did before putting the tractor to bed last night. He dug out the channel on the West side of the island. Eventually there will be a bridge here going over to the island from a penninsula that sticks out into the pond at this point. To the south here is the main part of the pond south, which has a deep hole just to my right and deep and shallow areas in a somewhat circular form. There is another channel on the far side of the island seen in photos earlier on this post. and then on the far left is another oval shaped pond area on the North, this has a very shallow side on the west and a deeper area on the east that has white water lilies planted in it. There is a cattail area just to my left where this photo was taken, that has been left for "habitat for inhumanity".
The deeper area of the pond on the east is somewhat visible in the last photo on the far end, the shelf of dirt in the center is the edge of the drop off in the shallow area, to the left of that shelf is the shallow area of the pond, which would normTally be about 2 to 2 and half feet deep if the pond is at its fullest depth.

This photo was taken from the North bank looking south toward Joel's house , shallow dried out part to the center and right, deeper full part not seedn to the left.

Next photo standing on the peninsula on the west side beside the island looking south over the deep hole and toward the southeast bank of the pond.