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Post by tandem160 on Feb 25, 2013 21:53:44 GMT -5
Alright, I had my meeting with the Martin/Daviess USDA guy and after looking over what I had he gave me some good-ish news. I need to pick the rip-rap out of the wash-out, replace and pack soil, throw down a butt load of large rip-rap. He also suggested moving the the direction of the flow further from the down slope of the dam. No need for a siphon or concrete.
He also mentioned that the bare clay may have shrunk from last years drought and had not had time to moisten up and that perhaps water had gotten in the cracks of the clay further compounding my problem.
Basically my laziness has once again cost me more time and money. Although, over the weekend I did fix the broken solar charger on my fish feeder. I have decided to stop feeding the fish till it warms up. I was only giving them a 1 second spreasd out the feeder per day , but I think it is being wasted.
I wish I knew why I do things in the order I do..
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Post by esshup on Mar 10, 2013 1:59:40 GMT -5
Tandem: Buy a cheap swimming pool thermometer or a cheap indoor/outdoor thermometer (cable, not wireless). Use that to take the temperature of the water in your pond. Only feed if the water temp is in the high 50's or 60°F. Warm water fish (Bass, Bluegill/Catfish will really slow down feeding in water that is colder than that, and a lot of the food IS wasted. I feed all year 'round in my pond but only because I stock trout.  |
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Post by tandem160 on Mar 11, 2013 0:45:23 GMT -5
That is some good information, I appreciate the advice. I worked on the spillway today, spent 5 hours on the tractor moving and packing wet clay as best I could. Only had to shovel myself out once, not bad for me. Getting the rip-rap out wasn't terrible just made my boots a little heavier with all the clay on them. I'd get a scoop, dump it and pack it with the bucket and every forth of fifth-ish load I'd go across the fresh clay letting my 7500# IH pack it down. The farmer that leases from me has a dozer and is going to do the re-routing of the spillway and pretty up the work I did at the end of the month. 5 hours on the tractor, 2 hours home and the wifey cooked up a steak dinner, that's conservation. This first pic is about the same location as in the OP. [img src="[/img] ![]() i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af223/tandem160/Snapbucket/DF950AA5_zps045fb08f.jpg"] This is a pic of the overall area.  |
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Post by esshup on Mar 13, 2013 15:54:12 GMT -5
Looks good! Get it seeded as soon as possible.
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Post by tandem160 on Apr 30, 2013 22:06:22 GMT -5
It's been awhile I'd thought I'd post an update on my pond project. After speaking to the NCRS guy and a farmer or two it was decided to add a chute about 30 feet long to the spillway to 1. Get the running water further from the dam itself, 2. Give the water a chance to slow down before going down the slope., 3. Give me a reason spend a couple more hundred on dozer work. I think it turned out well. I got it seeded w/ KY31 and spread 18 bails of straw on top of the seed. To slow the water down even further I'll put some large rip-rap down as soon as I can. The first pic is bare ground, the second is after I seeded and strawed it.   |
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