Building a Farm Pond, Dam Prep. Part 2/7 

Here as a couch potato, no farm, no truck no excavator, no bulldozer.. not even the stamina to get the remote. But boy do I love these videos

Came for the cannon casting, stayed for the awesome DIY projects. :)

Comment for the algorithm to help the channel 👍.

I'm here for the machine repairs. Honestly, I'm fast forwarding through the dirt moving parts.

A new tank is a bit expensive but time saved is money earned in terms of projects like this one. 🙂

Just a suggestion, anytime you are loadinga truck like that and you have a nice pile or row of material. Try to get the machine on top of it and load from there. You will be suprised how much faster and more efficient it is than loading from the ground. Ideally tracks even with the bed, but honestly even a few feet of elevation makes a difference. Hope this can help you out, nice job .

I remember helping my grandfather haul dirt when I was a kid. He had a single axle dump truck a little similar to yours. Difference was you had to hold the PTO handle while pulling back on the dump handle to dump the bed. It was a good bit of work, but I remember getting a decent work out as a kid when I worked with him 😂. Also learned how to run backhoes and other equipment.

Jon, here's some food for thought: Insurance. My original retirement plan, was to be a small-time excavator. So, several years before retirement I started gathering up all the equipment I would need: Dozer, backhoe, skid steer, trailers, dump trucks, etc. As farm equipment my insurance costs was almost nothing. For example: full coverage insurance on one of the dump trucks is $285 as a farm truck vs $3,000 a year as an excavation company truck. Here's my point: if you're working for hire - you're an excavating company and you need that kind of insurance. Damage something - you're on your own, because your insurance company will not cover the claim. IE: a $40,000 fiber optic line. True story: A neighbor asked me to bury a horse for them. They marked the spot. Here in Ohio I called the "811" Locate people to come out and check the spot. The home owner said, "There's nothing there. Go ahead and dig." I said, "No. When it's checked, I'll dig. They know it's a grave and I put a rush on it." Well, there's what the 811 Folks found: A 2 inch medium pressure natural gas line, 4 - foot deep, in the exact spot, they wanted me to dig the grave. So, ALWAYS have your dig sites checked for utilities. If you don't and you damage it: you will be responsible to pay for the cost of repairs. Lee

The filming & editing style of this video series and several more of John's has the look and feel asif it should be narrated by Mike Rowe, and I mean that as a compliment.

Personally the greatest youtube channel I've found. Love commentary love the learning along the way love the accumulated knowledge. Fare better than any tv show ever produced thank you .

You are correct that mud is bad when building a pond, but so is dust. Dust will not compact. You need to save some of the top soil to place on the top and back slope of the dam.

I live in a different work world but love your videos for their persistence and common sense. Thank you for all the great wisdom!

Always a great day when I get to watch your videos. Thank you for your hard work.

Absolutely love your spirit and genuine warm personality. I really enjoy your hard work creating content for your channel.Cheers my friend.👍🍻🍻

Have to say, I like reading the comments almost as much as the video ! Can learn as much or more sometimes

Old dump truck putting in some hard work And taking it like a Champ 💪nice Work Jon @FarmCraft101

Best Dam video I’ve watched

Hi Jon great video as usual, tip for excavator when loading a windrow of material get up on top with your excavator go along the windrow ,gives you extra height to get into the truck and keeps a big pile of dirt in front to get full buckets Cheers from Aus

Loving how we got to enjoy watching all 3 of these machines being repaired back into working action over the last few years, and now we get to see all 3 team up together on this project! Curious and hoping that we get to see more of those "ruins" over next to the pond - original farm house and barn?

You got this. Just keep on pushing. Glad you got the Dozer going again with some patience. LOL

Great video dad. The producer is a nice addition. Remember that the audience came when you worked alone. So i'd like it to seem like you're working alone. Even if someone else is filming. Emulate the old style.

That dozer fills me with hope of an upcoming engine rebuild video 😉

Man I love your videos! I look forward to them every week 👍💪 Keep up the good good work my man!

Love seeing that little D3 doing some work!

Terrific entertainment and talks through the video which is so much better.

Kinda like watching you use a tea spoon to fill a dump truck

You have an amazing ability to keep a positive attitude, or you’re brilliant at editing out your darkest moments of frustration. Also, interesting that as you’re dumping the load where you talk about the GoPro camera, there’s a Tesla Model Y in the background. Don’t imagine there’re many farmers driving those around. 😊 Overall, among the best RU-vid channels!

Make sure you get a good "seal" on that dam.

Looks like a fun project if the equipment runs!

Thanks Jon…excellent videography…appreciate all the camera angles. I know it adds to time spent on working but it makes the video much more interesting. Loved the lost Go-Pro saga. 😊

As always a well thought out program of work

I respect his work, he always delivers quality content

The home and the 3 bay barn/garage on that property look beautiful

Jon, your videos are always interesting, but seeing the construction of a dam, even a small one like this, that's just an extra layer of fascinating!!

Stay safe and we'll see you next time.

If you have further problems with the pump, maybe you should take it off and send it to Area Diesel service, I know they have rescued many a pump for Matt and others.

he’ll need to screen all that loom, full of roots / junk.. looks like a job for another time

Looks like the in line filter is helping a ton to keep the fuel clean and it is running like a champ Jon @FarmCraft101

Nice job on the pond and the repair of the dozer😊

Been looking forward to watching this next video 👍

Great video as always Jon Appreciate the Entertainment nice work coming along well @FarmCraft101

Great video John, you should look into getting a flat bottom ditching bucket, handy for clearing and tiding up after the digging bucket

Great videos John. Looking forward to part 3.

Yep... the fun is endless - all provided by Jon... and a couple of jumpers! Just as well no seals were busted! The ongoing saga is much anticipated, thanks!

For a small machine, you're doing well!

Loved the dirt cam. Might use it as an idea for my burial, whenever that may be!

I’ve watched a couple of ponds being built. One simple hole in the ground and one with a spillway, valves, drains, etc. there is an art to the designs. Looking forward to what you do. 😊

Rocks in the dam way 🙄 Lookin good and yeah, a lot of work.

when you load something with excavator its a good idea to stack it one scoup and drive on top of it - then you will load from highier place and it will be easier

A Merc and a Tesla in the driveway. Thinking these are 'gentleman farmers' more than a true farmer like John!

Love how you explain things that you are doing

To get better traction you can weld on some steel plate pieces every 5th plate or similar. 5 mm thick, 10-15 mm high would work nicely

25:40 Graceful AF Like a swan

BIG JOB. Well done so far.

A great video to start the day with.

The exhaust muffler is very near the injector lines. This may cause vapor lock when hot. Put a heat shield between exhaust and lines or place the muffler further away.

Anything your family can do, you can do better, when it comes to jumping off rock faces! Great video and a fascinating project to boot. Not so many pond builds on farms in the UK.

That was a nice dump.

Love that shift knob. That soil is 2200 lb/cy? 10 cy box. Shouldn't even be a strain for that truck.

😮 dam it, on one end jump into it on the other, fish it between ends.

Ingenious tripod weight!

“Buried Alive” cam was pretty impressive. Lol

Nice drone views.

New toy idea! Bucket loader for Christmas!!

The problem restarting was air in the system but inside the injector lines. That is best done by two people (or one with a good mirror) so you can actually look at each line as you bleed them. First bleed one at a time to the injector pump, then bleed one at a time to the injectors; the idea is to observe the bubbles coming out at each point. The bleeder pump works best when dealing with one line at a time. Depending on the system design you can use compressed air to bleed up to the pump, pressurize the fuel tank to about 5-7psi and just crack the lines at the pump. That’s how bled equipment in the SRMY for over 20 years, and it never failed.

It may be different where you live but up here in Ontario Canada it is against the law to bury topsoil... Simply put when you build a house garage etc. the topsoil must be stripped off & piled away from the structure....Then some kind of gravel/sand has to be trucked in for foundation work etc. .... You can use it as a topsoil later around the house etc as long as it is not buried ... Good job John luv all your videos !!

Beats a wheelbarrow and a spade 👍

You almost disappointed me that there wasnt going to be a Dam dam quote....LOL

Fingers crossed the dozer is running good now!

Make a fuel polishing system with a filter and a reversible pump. The inlet and outlet hoses go down into the fuel tank and recirculate the fuel. Move the hoses around with the pump on to stir up the sediment. You can buy a fuel polishing system but making your own will cost less.

That's a fast dozer 😮 keep up the good work!!

awesome series.. almost have the full Tonka set ... just need the cement truck I think. I had ones you could sit on when I was little . not the full set though.. of course that was 40 years ago.

For work you did I hope the equipment will himself.your area is very dried but good time built pond.i hope lot learn the way you teach what going on .thanks video.calgary alberta.

I just bought an 79’ D3 yesterday, and I’m so glad I found your channel! Thanks to your videos, I was able to confidently give a it a thorough inspection and gave it some over due maintenance. It took away the feeling of “I think this is that” and saved me a couple of hours of pretending to be a mechanic. Click 😂

Yeah, I prefer a higher dirt to root/stick ratio in my topsoil. lol.... Just kidding, I know you have to take what you can get sometimes. Good luck and thanks for all the videos man!

Great footage of the bulldozer. Such an amazing little machine. Changed the world. Same goes for the excavator, of course. _Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel_. But my favorite was always _Katy and the Big Snow_.

I always enjoy your videos.... Learn something new every time!

Hello John!

The dam man went to the dammed dam to get some dam water.

You need to bleed it from the injector side. Loosen one injector cap and turn it with the startmotor. There was air in the lines thats why it didnt throttle up. Some pumps have a bleed bolt, maybe that has one too, you should check it out.

Dam good video!😅

You’re doing a great job. Love seeing you do this with the machines you have. You don’t need anything bigger than what you have. Keep the great content coming

Your rock pit is just about how my rocky my soil is all over and with huuuuuge rocks 😭

Old diesels are like old people they just need time to warm up in the morning.

I like how Jon's only hobby outside of machinery things is jumping off of really high places.

Looks like you are making progress on your dam build

Expert mechanical diagnosing and fixing!

😊 35:52 thats a bunch of Dan work.

I was just getting ready to make a post saying "The stars and planets must be aligned" because didn't have to fix anything this week, and then you had to go and break out the fuel filter! LOL Nice Job!

Dam fine videos!

Thanks for the keyway picture/ explanation. Now I get it.

Big job, for sure. Looks like you got the fuel issue resolved on the dozer.

Tanks will rust even though the fuel is an oil. It can draw moisture and rust. I have a CAT D5C with this problem and I drained the tank, and cleaned it out, changed all of the filters (after blowing all of the fuel back into the tank). I scrubbed out as much of the rust/crud as I could. Then keeping the tank full or at least more than half full helps prevent the reoccurring problem. Thanks again for your videos.

It's coming along nicely! Of course there are always hidden complications lurking around every corner. Why cant a project just be easy for once? 😅

Don't want any dam rocks!😂

No, no, no. You didn't forget it. You made a conscious decision to take your viewers on the same ride all of the top soil takes. Adventurous!

By the way once got it running try breaking 1 line at a time loose to blead last of air out works great also can tell you if have issue with air entering your system .that is what ive found to work for me anyway sorry for so many messages wish you all the luck ,your more than able .

BTW the off road fuel is nasty not just dyed road fuel. I would run on road fuel only. Bio diesel is a big part of off road fuel industry and glycerin and waxes that's used seems to coagulate and become a black looking sand. To check how clean your off road diesel fuel is, get a clean 5 gallon bucket and put a couple gallons in it and cover. Check back in a couple week and see if and how much sediment is in the bottom. Newer tier 4 engine fuel systems will not survive well on off road and even on older non tier engines it just clogs the filters. Good luck on the dam dam.

Heck, I could have just watched the last 30 seconds!

I love everything about your videos and always get excited when you post a new one. The amount of work and dedication you have for everything you do is astounding and it makes you a superb role model. For this project, have you considered using a pond liner or geobarrier of sorts instead of relying on the clay to hold the water? It might add to the cost and effort but if there's too much rock and gravel, you might not have a choice. You can also make a soil cement but this can also add a bit of cost since you need the cement.