Attempting to get spring water to flow through channel of a hollow log to create a waterfall.
Hello Rob here from the Flanagan Homestead today I’m going to start what I hope is going to be a really fun Project I’ve got my pond right here That’s spring fed and it’s starting to Fill up but it’s not filling up nearly As fast as I’d like because it’s been The longest driest summer ever and There’s just no Not much water coming out of the spring Right now that pipe that you see in the Background that Riser eventually the Pond level is going to come up to that Height and then drop into that pipe and Drain out but it’s not Rising right now But when the October rains do finally Come and or maybe it’ll be November Rains this year the water level the Spring is going to fill up be charged And start flowing a lot more right now You can see that there’s hardly any Water Coming through the spring whatsoever Which is not a good thing but if if you Have a situation like this you can take Advantage of it normally like most of The year there’s going to be 20 gallons Per minute flowing through this spring Right now there’s maybe half a gallon Per minute Anyway Um so if I want to make some features in The creek now is good time because the Water is not flowing so what I’m
Planning to do today is I’m going to Hopefully find some logs that are Hollowed out or a half a log hauled out Or maybe haul it out myself set it in Here at an elevation that’s higher than That top of that pipe and then keep it Horizontal and then I’m hoping that I Could have the water run following the Inside of the log and then trickle off The end of the log and if the water Level is here it’ll fall directly into Pond water not onto ground itself but uh It’ll fall into the pond and since I Have basically no water to deal with up Here right now I’m gonna hopefully build That before the rains come First thing I need to do is make sure That I have the log higher than the Water level that it’s going to be at so This is not a traditional setup but I Got the transit out level about the Height of the top of the pipe and then Just visually took the siding on the Bank and then I knew the level the water Is going to come up to the pond water And I just need to put my log higher Than that All right my surveying wasn’t done Completely traditionally but I got a Good reading 27 inches will be above the Pipe which is right here so I’m looking At the level that I need so water should Be coming up to right about where my Knee is actually right now so I want to
So when I catch the water I want to be At least a foot above it I’ll probably Go looks like I need to go all the way Back into where it Narrows and shove the End of the log back there and then I can Run it out and drop it in here it’ll be Dropping into shallow water but it’ll Still be dropping into water I need If I’m going to catch it all the way Back there and I need to bring it out to About where my knees are right now to Drop it off so it’s falling into the Pond itself I need to make sure I get a Log long enough so let’s let’s see what That measurement Is So basically I’m looking at trying to Find a log that’s at least 10 feet long That I can get that concave in is that The water will follow in and fall out You know hopefully it doesn’t just spill Out like a pipe right at the end I’m Hoping to and I can create this with a Chainsaw get it so that the water runs Out and some trickles off the end and Some a little bit off the side and then Falling into the pond but uh it’s just We got to be creative with that as we go But first of all I got to find a log That’ll even work I may have got lucky And got a log that was given to me in a Bunch of blow Downs uh that was given to Me so I cut up all this firewood I got a Lot of cords of firewood in there and
But this was a log that I set aside Right here and you can see it’s got the Concave I’m looking for it’s pretty long It may be cracked through so where water Might run through I’m not sure I cannot Lift this up myself it’s too heavy I’m Going to have to go grab my excavator Pull it out take a closer look at it get Some measurements [Music] This is so promising the rot of this Maple rotted out the center of the log And created this hollow in it but I’m Afraid that it there’s it’s going to Lose the water up here and back here the Crack might be too thick and we’ll be Losing water I might be able to seal it Up I don’t know if I’m going to be able To get 10 feet out of this I can always Use my chainsaws and scrape some more And create channels where I need to but Uh this is looking somewhat promising I Don’t know if you could pick this up on Camera or not but this channel Is just amazing For uh running 20 gallons per minute Water through and at the very end it Would fall off on the side and the end I don’t know if we’re going to have Enough log to do this It might want to run off the sides here But I could probably create a faults Channel or just make the channel deeper With my chainsaw but we have a lot of
Promise here When I measured I said I wanted a length Of at least 10 feet Um at the end of that it comes to a Point and water might be falling off for At least a foot before it gets to the End so I want to get at least 11 feet Here I’m going to cut off Some of this end that’s too big and hard To move and it’s got cracks in it though Just lose water I’m probably going to cut it about 12 Foot length right now I might need to Shorten it up but if I cut it shorter Now I can’t make it longer so I’ve been aim for about 12 feet right Now All right now I’m going to pick it up And lay it on a more flat area and rock It because and and kind of get a visual Because some of these grooves might be Turned enough that if water’s running in The channel and they get enough to Decide that’ll fall out so I want to see What that’s going to look like but it’s Hard to do unless you’re laying this Flag [Applause] Foreign Now the question is uh can I get a bunch Of young strong helpers and help me move This log into place or am I going to Have to find a way to get the excavator In there
I can I can tell you even with uh Several strong helpers on that Hillside It’d be very difficult to get this log In there so I think what I’m gonna have To do is I’m gonna have to get my Excavator go around the back side get a Little bit of a trail in there And then carry the log and put it down There it’ll also help hold the log up While I build support underneath it but That’ll have to wait for another day uh It’s getting late in the day and I have Some other tours I have to get done on The property here Um I got a football game tomorrow so I will Probably be back on this weekend to try To finish this So here we are back a few days later Brought the log up to go with excavator For myself and facing downhill towards The top of the pond uh right below me is This pretty steep slope to get down to The pond but just do a ball on an Excavator there is a lot of brush the Weed that was pushed over there when I Made the trails like a few months ago And I need to clear that out now A few scoops of down smaller trees and Brush you can get them out of the way Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music]
Turn it around Here we are back at the camera that’s on The other side of the pond so you can Get a view from what’s happening on the Other side right now I already have Turned the log around now but there’s Some Boulders of stuff in the way I need To push out a bit folder and then try to Get this log Horizontal in the position that I wanted Okay right now I am trying to get them All up into place horizontal I push that Big moment down there and I cut a few Logs and placed it Stems up for support but the beginning Angles was hard that the log wants to Keep sliding back My hope is to grab the end of the log Hold it lift it up hold it in place and Get supports underneath of it Foreign Well I’m afraid I’ve been temporarily Defeated on this uh making a waterfall Into the pond through a log that log That I was put in there we had just too Much dips and Contours to turn it the Right way without I mean if I I could Have got if I could have precise control Of it with my hands I probably could Have got it to the right just the exact Right level built it up but because I Was going to have to build it up and Move it with the excavator I just was Not going to get the angles right so the
Water would stay in that channel and run Out and then waterfall off so I am Temporarily defeated on this one I am Going to be looking for a straighter log That is either hollowed out or I can Hollow out and that I don’t have it Won’t be as artistic but uh I need Something that’ll be easier to keep the Water flowing out to the end and then Fall off and then like I I can Contour The end and whatnot to make it a little Bit uh A little bit more aesthetically pleasing Thanks for joining me on the Flanagan Homestead where Christmas trees are my Business teaching including Horticulturist my job and outdoor Projects like building this waterfall Are my passion Hopefully I get it right next time hope To see you again soon be blessed Everyone
