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Hi, Mark. You can dig any size pond you like with pretty much any size machine you like within the three main constraints of the amount of time you have, the amount of money you have and the pond being big enough for the machine you choose to work in it. In my humble estimation, excavators are a last resort for digging ponds as it seems to me that about one in a hundred excavator operators knows anything about, or shows any interest in, using sub-soil clay that will seal and hold water to 'clay up' the areas above the clay line so that the pond doesn't leak. Most excavator operators seem to have a mind-set that they have to dig a hole and that is it. Also an excavator is not a good machine for digging a pond because it doesn't travel up and down the banks to compact the material placed there. As to volume of material, Dave Grubb is right when he says you can't work it out unless you also have the slope details. However, based on water level at 100x50 feet and 1 in 3 batters, you would finish up with around 630 cubic yards storage capacity. And, unless you go steeper than 1 in 3 batters, you won't get beyond about 7 feet deep with a 'dozer. That will leave you a bottom around 8 feet wide by 58 feet long. Batters much steeper than 1 in 3 are too steep if you are planning on having stock water from it and make it awful hard work for a 'dozer to push material up too. As to a machine that will work in a dam with an 8 foot wide bottom, any machine with a blade of 8 feet wide or less. Believe it or not, if you change the pond size to 80x65, you would be able to get 9 feet deep or slightly more and the water level volume would go up to around 740 cubic yards. The steeper the slope you are building your pond on, the less of this amount you will actually have to excavate but also the less material you will have to make your bank. The deeper you can dig your pond, the more usable water storage you will have. Evaporation will take as much as, if not more than, you will get to use. The average evaporation figure over all of Australia is around 6 feet per year. I have no figures for the U.S. but I would not think they would be a whole lot less on average because wind takes at least as much in evaporation as the sun does. Just look at the difference in drying time for clothes on a clothes line on a windy day and a still day. Bear in mind that the steeper the slope you are building this pond on the more material it is going to take to get the bank up above the in-flow level because you are starting from further below that level in the first place. Also, the steeper the slope the greater the difference will between your ground set-out size and your water level storage area size with the water level storage area being the bigger. Hope this helps. You have a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.
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