Digging dirt, loading dirt, hauling dirt, dumping dirt, spreading dirt, compacting dirt. This is my kind of dirty video! Thanks for all of the hard work and especially for up loading the video. Prayers for all the folks in Canada dealing with the wild fire and for everyone downwind dealing with the dirty air. Every one stay safe and be strong.
Some awesome work was done today. This pond is going to look magnificent when you are finished. Even when the machines are next to the dirt piles and core trench, scale is sometimes hard to fathom because everything looks shrunk down until we see you standing there, then it's WOWZA! Thanks for bringing us along. I have always enjoyed watching quality work, honest work, and joyous work. You bring it all, sir. Thanks again.
13:12 "It's kind of like that rock clay but... BOOM! It no diggy. It smokes the teeth!" Yup, this sounds like great base material for a safe dam of that size! Thank you for sharing your experiences with us all!
I’ve been watching Chris for a long time. I don’t know to many excavation owner operators that have the work ethics and pride of ownership as Chris. Both Letsdig18 (Chris) and DirtPerfect (Mike) have set some amazing business standards for not only pride of ownership but work ethics and customer satisfaction. They both have the eyes and ears of the manufactures on them for R & D in the cutting edge of heavy equipment. Great Job Chris. You’re Living the Dream.
Dang Chris, I was just watching the video and thinking about all the dirt Barney has moved for you since you bought him. I'm guessing it's been in the high hundreds of loads, if not thousands. No, he isn't shiny and new, but he has certainly made it possible for to get this kind of job. This pond is going to be amazing when you finish it. Be safe out there.
Without a doubt, putting in the core is the most exciting part of building a pond. And that is some beautiful clay that is going into it. The land owner is going to have a solid dam when it's finished. Great job, Chris, I always enjoy watching you work your magic.
Great production day, so far it is going really well. The fuel trailer is like having a hired man on site to tend to equipment, what a time saver, thanks for the update sir, this just an awesome series to watch, hope your having as much fun constructing the project as I am watching it.
The day we have all been waiting for is here!! Always appreciate how you think of how you want to build these projects and what will work for you to do it efficiently!! That’s a lot of dirt!!
I can’t believe how many ponds you do. Seems like everyone in your area wants a pond. You sure as hell know what you’re doing building these ponds. Thanks for all the video’s Chris. I really look forward to watching all your new ones.
After you've got the core put in and the bad dirt dug out. The little coffer dam can just be left, add a bit more fish habitat since fish really love structure of any sort. Ledges, stumps, rock piles, and such. Plus having it there will help gauge how fast the rest will fill up. I think I saw while cutting the core width, in that chunky clay, it seemed to slow the dig a bit because if how packed it was already. Not quite red brick hard, but getting close.
Man Chris thats gonna be another massive pond dam, these are awesome, great work and thanks for sharing the best videos, an I look forward to seeing the next video 💪🇺🇲👌🤙✊
That dam core will have two columns of the most compact soil on earth from the haulers weight. The sheep's foot doesn't have anything on the haulers sheer weight. It would be interesting to do a compaction test.
@@jenkins2162 50 tons over what surface area ? Those tires have a pretty wide footprint. 2ft wide tires, assuming a 12" surface area (conservatively), that's about 95psi per tire (probably less). Sheepfoot compactor (assuming a BOMAG BW145) should be at least in the 150psi (probably more).
Impressive how much dirt and clay you were able move on this day.core trench came out nice ,good start to building it.Chris the one man show.great video as Always.keep doing your thing.😎😎😎👍👍👍
normally we get a lot of smoke from fires in quebec being in northern maine but so far we arent getting much if any. but the winds will shift eventually. sad that fire season started so early. nice work on the dam.
I have been watching Chris now for a few years , and am addicted to his channel . Chris the amazing equipment operator , and all his other skills , but I think of him as the Michealangelo of Soil Sculpture . Love it !!
Great idea on the change to building the core trench - it should work to your advantage. Loving the red clay. The pond dam is a biggie and that means lots of dirt 'moved'. Such a relief fueling and greasing up at the end of the day on-site. Great camera angles too.
You remind me so much of about 10 years of my life. Worked by myself more than I didn't and could get more production done most days because I didn't have to explain what we were going to do to three or four people.
Plan the work, work the plan. Good that you found good hillside clay early. Sand dam should hold, you have backed up water dredging mud with wet sand. Might need the trio to install core clay like Bealy Good - you in V 220, Todd in Barney and Robert on Kenny Komatsu / Rodney roller.
If you had two more people you’d get a lot more done. You have to do what you have to do because you’re not always going to have help. The amount of dirt you can move in a day by yourself is impressive.
Having a helper is less efficient - someone is always sitting. While Chris is loading the truck, the truck driver is just sitting there. While the driver is dumping the load, Chris is just sitting there. You'll get some more done, but inefficiently. The biggest advantage is that Chris doesn't have to be climbing back and forth between excavator & truck. (He doesn't like doing that.)
In the future, if you keep building ponds and get more established, this is where something between the 220 and 550 would be nice But at the same time you don't want to big to fast becauce equipment is so expensive and also expensive to operate and the maintenance cost.
Chris, too bad you didn't hold off a few months to demo that 550 from Volvo. With the amount of dirt needed to move here, this job seems like you would have made good use of that beast even more so than that last pond where you used the 550. Amazing work. My absolute favorite channel.
Dammit Man !! You killed it there today by yourself. Man, When you filmed the Off Road Truck down in there, that ain't No Joke !! It is going to be a lot of fill going in there !! lolol... You could really see how red that clay was when you took off that first load, when you had the camera on the Truck, looking like some really good packing clay !! Dude, that is going to be a Monster of a dam when you start getting on up there towards grade !! lolol....Gonna be like a Billy Goat hangin' on ,when you start doing the slopes on the front and back of dam in the dozer !! lololol... Off too a Great start Chris, ought to put a good dent in it with some help !! Great as always Man, Have a Great Evening, And, Off too the next !! Yeah Man, We have had the smoke off the wild fires here in Western Ky. for about a week or so now, been really foggy looking out for a good minute now !! Have a Good one Man......
That fuel trailer is worth its weight in fuel, literally. As I mentioned in a previous comment, refueling large generators after Hurricanes. The time saved alone is worth the price, although it is a hefty price tag for one. Today was a good day at the pond, you got alot accomplished for one man. Excellent job brother.
It has just occurred to me that the Sheepsfoot roller not only compacts better because the extruded feet greatly increase the weight per square inch, but the pattern left also keys in the next left. I wonder if Justin misses the roller and if he ever borrows it back off Chris?
I'm watching the next day's video right now, and realize that what I said about the pattern left by the sheepsfoot roller keying thew next lift is not actually true, because the off-road truck is rolling the previous lift flat when dumping the next lift's clay.
The beginn from the Dam building, You Work however with all Your great to know. The Foundation from the Dam the important Work, in little Structure Stepp. This to rule You Perfect and this is by this Video first Class to see. Glad my of the next Video and the farther Dam building. 👌
Hi Chris, Looking REALLY good! It's amazing how much work can get done when all the equipment operators think alike! Me, myself, & I always work well together! Thumbs up! Stay safe! Jim
Chris I thank you for the beautiful and wonderful great content you provide us with one day Leroy's going to be able to do the same and have the same setup for me with my clearing operation thanks for everything Chris❤ may God continue to bless you and help and wisdom🚜
I live in the thumb of Michigan and that smoke is super thick and we haven't had rain in over three weeks. There was a 3000 acre fire in the northern portion of the lower peninsula. We have alot of open farm land with patches of woods that from less than mile away you can barely see them. The only good thing about the smoke is it keeps down the intensity of the sun rays.
Do you ever get underway with a job and then realize that you way underbid the job? That it will take a lot more fuel/labor/dirt than you originally expected?
where I used to work, we had to deal with gray clay. In upstate NY we have grey clay that is like modeling clay. It is solid and very hard if it is dry. Mix that with gravel and you have what is called hard pan. Sometimes we had to use jackhammers to bust through it. The backhoe could only scrape a couple of inches at a time. Looks good so far.
He’s limited in height to 25 feet before he has to build an engineered structure that has to be inspected both while it’s built and every so often for the rest of the dam’s existence. So you will mostly see him build 25 foot tall dams. The length just depends on the topography. But he’s built some long ones in the years I’ve been watching. Not sure which one I’d the longest or holds the most water.
I tell ya, gna have to start calling you The Pond Man!!!...I just absolutely love watching you create these ponds, or lakes which some of them actually are! 🤫🤫🤫LOL. Again, thanks Chris for bringing us along the journey!
I noticed how when the truck is full and you need to dump it ,you dont just set the bucket down, you fill it with a scoop of dirt. That way when you return the truck to load, the first motion of the excavator is loading the truck. Very efficient i might say. No lost motion in how you work. Very impressive.
@@petenolte4192 We're basically on the north shore of Lake Ontario towards the east end and we've had a pretty strong wind out of the north for at least the last couple of days. Visibility isn't good though some areas are a bit better than others. The smoke burns your throat and is probably the cause of the headaches we've had for the last couple of days even though we've been staying inside pretty much.
I noticed there seems to be a lot of sticks and roots in the dam material. I thought that was a big no-no when building a pond dam. At least it has been in the past. Someone please explain why this is the exception in this pond dam? Thanks!!
Digging dirt, loading dirt, hauling dirt, dumping dirt, spreading dirt, compacting dirt. This is my kind of dirty video! Thanks for all of the hard work and especially for up loading the video. Prayers for all the folks in Canada dealing with the wild fire and for everyone downwind dealing with the dirty air. Every one stay safe and be strong.
Some awesome work was done today. This pond is going to look magnificent when you are finished. Even when the machines are next to the dirt piles and core trench, scale is sometimes hard to fathom because everything looks shrunk down until we see you standing there, then it's WOWZA! Thanks for bringing us along. I have always enjoyed watching quality work, honest work, and joyous work. You bring it all, sir. Thanks again.
I agree with you
13:12 "It's kind of like that rock clay but... BOOM! It no diggy. It smokes the teeth!" Yup, this sounds like great base material for a safe dam of that size! Thank you for sharing your experiences with us all!
Awesome core trench this pond will be great thanks Chris for letting us watch over your shoulder
I’ve been watching Chris for a long time. I don’t know to many excavation owner operators that have the work ethics and pride of ownership as Chris. Both Letsdig18 (Chris) and DirtPerfect (Mike) have set some amazing business standards for not only pride of ownership but work ethics and customer satisfaction. They both have the eyes and ears of the manufactures on them for R & D in the cutting edge of heavy equipment. Great Job Chris. You’re Living the Dream.
How many excavation operators do you know?
Dang Chris, I was just watching the video and thinking about all the dirt Barney has moved for you since you bought him. I'm guessing it's been in the high hundreds of loads, if not thousands. No, he isn't shiny and new, but he has certainly made it possible for to get this kind of job. This pond is going to be amazing when you finish it. Be safe out there.
Without a doubt, putting in the core is the most exciting part of building a pond. And that is some beautiful clay that is going into it. The land owner is going to have a solid dam when it's finished. Great job, Chris, I always enjoy watching you work your magic.
Great production day, so far it is going really well. The fuel trailer is like having a hired man on site to tend to equipment, what a time saver, thanks for the update sir, this just an awesome series to watch, hope your having as much fun constructing the project as I am watching it.
The day we have all been waiting for is here!! Always appreciate how you think of how you want to build these projects and what will work for you to do it efficiently!! That’s a lot of dirt!!
Chris, you got so much accomplished today that it is jaw dropping! Wow, incredible sir. Well done sir.
That's amazing. 32 loads, one man. I applaud you. The property owners are blessed to have you working for them
I can’t believe how many ponds you do. Seems like everyone in your area wants a pond. You sure as hell know what you’re doing building these ponds. Thanks for all the video’s Chris. I really look forward to watching all your new ones.
Thanks for the perspective. That thing is huge.👍👍
After you've got the core put in and the bad dirt dug out. The little coffer dam can just be left, add a bit more fish habitat since fish really love structure of any sort. Ledges, stumps, rock piles, and such. Plus having it there will help gauge how fast the rest will fill up.
I think I saw while cutting the core width, in that chunky clay, it seemed to slow the dig a bit because if how packed it was already. Not quite red brick hard, but getting close.
As a Canadian I can confirm there are definitely some big fires going on
Can confirm, getting smoked out in Ottawa
I can confirm it’s on fox news
It's really dark and hazy here in NJ. Like an eclipse of the sun. No wonder the dinosaurs went extinct.
Sure hope you an youres makes it thru those fires hopefully they can get them out fast
Its all over New England
Man Chris thats gonna be another massive pond dam, these are awesome, great work and thanks for sharing the best videos, an I look forward to seeing the next video 💪🇺🇲👌🤙✊
Chris, I’d love to hear you discuss what the different types of dirt are each best used for
Now that’s some damn fine dam clay! Hope the source material is plentiful for you Chris.
I love these large pond builds!!! Keep them coming Chris!!! Looks awesome!
As a young man I helped my dad build a pond. We had an old D6 and my dad used dynomite to blow the dam core.50 years later its still holding water
A lot of work accomplished by yourself. Dam is really taking shape. Will be a really nice pond when it is done. Thanks for sharing.
That's one mighty big heap of work done in one day by one man! Kudos!
I liked the view from the roof of the roller, we can see the operation of it better. Good job. That dam is gonna be huge!!!
That dam core will have two columns of the most compact soil on earth from the haulers weight. The sheep's foot doesn't have anything on the haulers sheer weight. It would be interesting to do a compaction test.
Yes it does, it vibrates the soil as well.
I know, but the weight of the hauler compacts it better. Vibration + maybe 5 tons is nothing compared to 40 to 50 tons.
@@jenkins2162 50 tons over what surface area ? Those tires have a pretty wide footprint. 2ft wide tires, assuming a 12" surface area (conservatively), that's about 95psi per tire (probably less). Sheepfoot compactor (assuming a BOMAG BW145) should be at least in the 150psi (probably more).
LOVE TIME LAPSE!!!!!! Lookin’ really good!👍🏻
Impressive how much dirt and clay you were able move on this day.core trench came out nice ,good start to building it.Chris the one man show.great video as Always.keep doing your thing.😎😎😎👍👍👍
normally we get a lot of smoke from fires in quebec being in northern maine but so far we arent getting much if any. but the winds will shift eventually.
sad that fire season started so early.
nice work on the dam.
Hmm , might need Chris up in Canada to build some more ponds so they have more water to fight fires , lol .
I have been watching Chris now for a few years , and am addicted to his channel . Chris the amazing equipment operator , and all his other skills , but I think of him as the Michealangelo of Soil Sculpture . Love it !!
Great idea on the change to building the core trench - it should work to your advantage. Loving the red clay. The pond dam is a biggie and that means lots of dirt 'moved'. Such a relief fueling and greasing up at the end of the day on-site. Great camera angles too.
The 6x6 looked like a toy in that one shot....one heck of a day for a one man show. 😆
The time lapse near the end was awesome! Thanks!
You remind me so much of about 10 years of my life. Worked by myself more than I didn't and could get more production done most days because I didn't have to explain what we were going to do to three or four people.
Ha, know exactly what you mean by not wasting time having to explain everything and do it yourself.
So cathartic to me to watch you do these wonderful ponds and home sites and and and. Love every second.
Plan the work, work the plan. Good that you found good hillside clay early. Sand dam should hold, you have backed up water dredging mud with wet sand. Might need the trio to install core clay like Bealy Good - you in V 220, Todd in Barney and Robert on Kenny Komatsu / Rodney roller.
If you had two more people you’d get a lot more done. You have to do what you have to do because you’re not always going to have help. The amount of dirt you can move in a day by yourself is impressive.
Cant understand on these big jobs why you dont have 2 or 3 guys to bust it out? Im sure there is more to your situation than we know.
@@RussCarey
The other fellows might have jobs other than just working for Chris, I don’t know but maybe.
Y'all don't forget 18 is committed to his uncle John 3 days a week too.
@@RussCarey Chris actually mentions why he's solo today in the video. He has people coming tomorrow.
Having a helper is less efficient - someone is always sitting. While Chris is loading the truck, the truck driver is just sitting there. While the driver is dumping the load, Chris is just sitting there. You'll get some more done, but inefficiently.
The biggest advantage is that Chris doesn't have to be climbing back and forth between excavator & truck. (He doesn't like doing that.)
Thanks for making these videos. You do excellent work! And the Canadian wildfire smoke has made it to central Arkansas too.
23:23 cute little dump truck you have there, Chris! :D
Love the progress I’m addicted to seeing this pond full of water
Pond is coming right along. Great job.
In the future, if you keep building ponds and get more established, this is where something between the 220 and 550 would be nice But at the same time you don't want to big to fast becauce equipment is so expensive and also expensive to operate and the maintenance cost.
Looking lot different Chris from the beginning great job 😊
Good to have the clay so close to the core trench :-)
Temporary coffer dam or Future fish habitat area?
Chris, too bad you didn't hold off a few months to demo that 550 from Volvo. With the amount of dirt needed to move here, this job seems like you would have made good use of that beast even more so than that last pond where you used the 550. Amazing work. My absolute favorite channel.
Thanks Chris , good progress on your own 👌👏👏👏👏👍🍺
Dammit Man !! You killed it there today by yourself. Man, When you filmed the Off Road Truck down in there, that ain't No Joke !! It is going to be a lot of fill going in there !! lolol... You could really see how red that clay was when you took off that first load, when you had the camera on the Truck, looking like some really good packing clay !! Dude, that is going to be a Monster of a dam when you start getting on up there towards grade !! lolol....Gonna be like a Billy Goat hangin' on ,when you start doing the slopes on the front and back of dam in the dozer !! lololol... Off too a Great start Chris, ought to put a good dent in it with some help !! Great as always Man, Have a Great Evening, And, Off too the next !! Yeah Man, We have had the smoke off the wild fires here in Western Ky. for about a week or so now, been really foggy looking out for a good minute now !! Have a Good one Man......
That fuel trailer is worth its weight in fuel, literally.
As I mentioned in a previous comment, refueling large generators after Hurricanes. The time saved alone is worth the price, although it is a hefty price tag for one.
Today was a good day at the pond, you got alot accomplished for one man. Excellent job brother.
It has just occurred to me that the Sheepsfoot roller not only compacts better because the extruded feet greatly increase the weight per square inch, but the pattern left also keys in the next left. I wonder if Justin misses the roller and if he ever borrows it back off Chris?
The drum also vibrates.
I'm watching the next day's video right now, and realize that what I said about the pattern left by the sheepsfoot roller keying thew next lift is not actually true, because the off-road truck is rolling the previous lift flat when dumping the next lift's clay.
I know you're very thankful to wake up to peaceful mornings Chris.
It is amazing how much work you get done by yourself.
I feel so sorry for that poor little dozer, thought the old girl would enjoy the that little bit of work for her
Just when I think you cannot get one more scoop of dirt in that truck, you put one more scoop of dirt.
Great to see you doing what you are passionate about again Chris!
The high speed bit at the end reminds me of kids in a sandbox ... lol!
Chris that 550 would come in handy about now!!
The beginn from the Dam building, You Work however with all Your great to know. The Foundation from the Dam the important Work, in little Structure Stepp. This to rule You Perfect and this is by this Video first Class to see. Glad my of the next Video and the farther Dam building. 👌
Greetings Chris
After seeing the Bealy Good pond, I would recommend a way to drain the pond through the overflow.
Smoke can travel far when it gets up into the jet stream.
Great video-I really enjoy watching the pond and the dam taking shape. Can someone please explain what "def fluid" is.
Hi Chris, Looking REALLY good! It's amazing how much work can get done when all the equipment operators think alike! Me, myself, & I always work well together! Thumbs up! Stay safe! Jim
looking good,, Yes the smoke is terrible here in Va.. I came in early... messing with my breathing..
I just found out I lost a classmate and his son to a plane crash from possible the smoke just down the street.. A very good man and friend..
Wow.... just look at how the clay is sticking to the dozer blade....nice material.... 😊
Love it when a plan comes together ‼
👍😁Thanks for the video
13 Yrs. and counting,! i must be insane, NO not really just enjoy Chris's work ,love the ponds he builds,
It will be interesting to see how much ground water fills the cofferdam while you’re coring the dam. Hopefully, you’re able to stay ahead the “game”!
Implementing things you learned on previous jobs 👍🏼
Whoo hoo, Dam Day is a great day😊
Chris I thank you for the beautiful and wonderful great content you provide us with one day Leroy's going to be able to do the same and have the same setup for me with my clearing operation thanks for everything Chris❤ may God continue to bless you and help and wisdom🚜
That little sheeps foot roller does impressively good for its size.
I did not think that truck would fit in the trench but perspective is difficult. Great work.
Your work is awesome ❤❤❤ thank you for bringing us along!
Chris, I live 45 minutes from the Canadian border, and that smoke haze is horrible here. But the smoke aside, that's going to be a huge dam.
WHAT A GREAT GOLD PIT OF RED CLAY ... and just yards from the destination
I live in the thumb of Michigan and that smoke is super thick and we haven't had rain in over three weeks. There was a 3000 acre fire in the northern portion of the lower peninsula. We have alot of open farm land with patches of woods that from less than mile away you can barely see them. The only good thing about the smoke is it keeps down the intensity of the sun rays.
Do you ever get underway with a job and then realize that you way underbid the job? That it will take a lot more fuel/labor/dirt than you originally expected?
Yes lol. Valuable life lessons
Chris, that is the best video depiction of your one man band work ever! Great video!
That is an impressive hole, even after filling it in some. :) Thank you and have a great day.
You make it look easy with all those expensive toys.
Love watching this project come together!
That water cooler is a great addition to the fleet!
LetsDig 18 !
where I used to work, we had to deal with gray clay. In upstate NY we have grey clay that is like modeling clay. It is solid and very hard if it is dry. Mix that with gravel and you have what is called hard pan. Sometimes we had to use jackhammers to bust through it. The backhoe could only scrape a couple of inches at a time. Looks good so far.
Chris, is this the largest pond dam you've ever built? This project will be amazing when it's finished and full.
He’s limited in height to 25 feet before he has to build an engineered structure that has to be inspected both while it’s built and every so often for the rest of the dam’s existence. So you will mostly see him build 25 foot tall dams. The length just depends on the topography. But he’s built some long ones in the years I’ve been watching. Not sure which one I’d the longest or holds the most water.
Every time I watch I think of planning & planning. great job
I tell ya, gna have to start calling you The Pond Man!!!...I just absolutely love watching you create these ponds, or lakes which some of them actually are! 🤫🤫🤫LOL. Again, thanks Chris for bringing us along the journey!
"My name is Pond. Chris Pond..."
It is about time with all these teased videos leading up to this. (Just joking people) Thank you for making these videos, Chris.
Great Video Chris moving all that dirt for the core!!👍👍
Wow that is going to be a big dam.
I noticed how when the truck is full and you need to dump it ,you dont just set the bucket down, you fill it with a scoop of dirt. That way when you return the truck to load, the first motion of the excavator is loading the truck. Very efficient i might say. No lost motion in how you work. Very impressive.
You do an amazing job by yourself! Yeah we got a bunch of fires all across the country!
It's amazing that the smoke gets that far south
@@petenolte4192 We're basically on the north shore of Lake Ontario towards the east end and we've had a pretty strong wind out of the north for at least the last couple of days. Visibility isn't good though some areas are a bit better than others. The smoke burns your throat and is probably the cause of the headaches we've had for the last couple of days even though we've been staying inside pretty much.
Yep, a 550 would be real nice about now.
I feel for ya I know what it’s like doing 4 people job by yourself but I know what and how it’s done when it’s done. Keep up the good work
It would be nice to have the 550 for this dam
That bulldozed wheat would make some good flatbread
dam thats a lota dirt for the dam. guess you couldnt "borrow" the 550 again 🙂
Coming right along!
I noticed there seems to be a lot of sticks and roots in the dam material. I thought that was a big no-no when building a pond dam. At least it has been in the past. Someone please explain why this is the exception in this pond dam? Thanks!!
Clay is clean
@@letsdig18 Thanks for the reply, Chris!!
Hard woking Chris. Nice job, so enjoy watching the progress. Thanks for sharing with us.