A pond can be a very picturesque addition to any residential or commercial landscape, can serve multiple purposes of being used for recreation, fishing, as a conservatory, etc. and can consequently increase the value of the property by a lot. Using a piece of used construction equipment called a backhoe which is easily available from many heavy equipment suppliers to dig the pond can save you a lot of time and money and in this blog, we explain in detail how to do that.
- MARKING THE AREA:
- Walking the area to make sure there are no hidden underground utilities such as water pipes, phone lines, etc. or no wires above you at a height that can interfere with the operation of the backhoe and make sure the site is clear of any debris, leaves, etc. should be the first few things you do.
- Then orange marking ribbon and stakes can be used to outline the perimeter of the area in which the backhoe needs to be operated. Making sure that the depth and placement of the digging is accurate is also important and a spotter can be used for that purpose. You can also use orange spray paint to mark the sections of the pond according to the depth.
- BACKHOE POSITIONING:
To start the digging, the backhoe should be positioned in the center of the pond and particular care needs to be taken to make sure that the backhoe is always on leveled ground to make sure it’s safe from any tipping and damage.
- DIGGING PROCESS:
Essentially the digging would involve lowering the boom, angling the bucket to insert it in the ground, curling the bucket upward, and keeping the bucket curled while retracting and then raising the boom. The last step would be drawing the stick toward the machine cab and dumping the load. It needs to be kept in mind to dig in line with the wheels of the machine.
As the backhoe digs along the marking, the spotter needs to make sure that the appropriate depth is being dug as the pool is usually deepest towards the center and shallower moving towards the sides.
It should also be made sure that the bucket is not overfilled because it leads to a lot of the material falling which ends up increasing the work time of the project.
- DISPOSING OF THE MATERIAL:
The containment truck should be kept at a 90-degree angle to the pond so the backhoe can easily transfer the materials in the bucket to the truck. The truck should be placed as such that the backhoe doesn’t need to move more than 160 degrees and the arm ca dump the material in a long line for maximum efficiency.
