Pond Liner - planning stages

[PondWish]

Hi! So someone recently informed me limiting the size of my pond based on my fear of the weight of the liner was possibly not the smartest of ideas. However, I don't have easy access to heavy machinery and I’d rather costs go into the pond than renting extra equipment. I'm afraid the day will come and I'll end up with a giant hole and no liner. So, here are some questions!

Assume 25x35 45mil EPDM, roughly 270lbs

- How do you get it off the truck?
- What state is it in when it's delivered? (A 25' giant roll, folded, on a pallet, etc)
- How do you get it down to your site and stretch it out?
- Any tips?

TIA!

 

[Pablo]

Below is a picture of the liner when I took it off the truck. I had them on my pallet forks with the tractor. I had two liners and two underlayment. It was a bit scary getting it off the truck as the weight was a bit over the limit for the tractor, it was about 450lbs. The truck did not have a lift gate, the delivery company made it clear that you were responsible to get it off the truck. I would guess if you did not have heavy equipment you could slide the roll off the truck and then roll it to the area you need it. Once you unroll it then it is not too bad, definitely want a couple of people to help you place it in the pond. I made the stupid mistake of unrolling the liner the wrong direction. I thought I was unrolling it the lengthwise but it was widthwise so I had to maneuver the liner around, very heavy and awkward. Wife was not happy with me, lol.

 

[bagsmom]

I made a decision that was perhaps not the easiest or "wisest." Certainly not the most efficient.
Because my budget was limited and everything had to be done by me and the hubby, I got two pieces of liner (three, if you count the wetland filter) and we seamed the two pieces for the main pond. (Bog into pond was just an overlap.)
I looked at one single, very large liner. I priced out the cost of the special truck charge, the extra "lift gate" fee, and the cost of renting heavy equipment so we could move the liner from the bottom of the driveway and out to the backyard - as well as moving it into place -- it was exorbitant.
Instead, I priced out the largest pieces of liner that could be delivered by the typical delivery used by the seller (Webb's Water Gardens.) We moved these around in the driveway with a hand truck and spend a long and tedious time seaming them. (GBBUDD has an excellent thread about liner seaming that was extremely helpful!)
After seaming, we did a sort of fold and unroll maneuver to put the liner in the pond. So far, so good!!!!!
It was extra work, but much cheaper and more doable for our team of two older people.

 

[GBBUDD]

Hi! So someone recently informed me limiting the size of my pond based on my fear of the weight of the liner was possibly not the smartest of ideas. However, I don't have easy access to heavy machinery and I’d rather costs go into the pond than renting extra equipment. I'm afraid the day will come and I'll end up with a giant hole and no liner. So, here are some questions!

Assume 25x35 45mil EPDM, roughly 270lbs

- How do you get it off the truck?
- What state is it in when it's delivered? (A 25' giant roll, folded, on a pallet, etc)
- How do you get it down to your site and stretch it out?
- Any tips?

TIA!

Here's a couple tips on how to get even a 700 pound roll off the truck. You'll need some pipe or any hd tubing that's not overly large and a pry bar of some sort and a few blocks of wood. place the wood block at the end use the pry bar. 6 foot long to lift he roll ON ONE END. SLIDE A couple pipe under it but leave space between the pipes. Lift the other end the same way but push it under as far as you can. then when you push toward the tail gate slip some used carpet or hd drop cloth /cardboard on the edge of the tail of the truck and as you push you may need to re adjust the pipes but you'll get to a teetering point make sure there's no rocks on the ground / asphalt let the end slowly drop to the ground . but be careful one minute its a controlled balance fall then it's going and you are not going to want to even think about stopping it one one end is down roll the other off the truck or have the driver pull up a little again being careful to make sure the tail of the truck is covered well. so long as there's no rocks twigs sticks that could puncture the rubber dropping it won't hurt it one bit

rolls arrive as 12 foot Thirteen with the cardboard sticking out
i will use ANYTHING cardboard sheets of plastic , drop clothes to keep the rubber off the ground, it will also make it easier to move around and refold it the way you need to.
if you have the width one man can come at the roll with a hand truck and a couple bungies or straps

when you unroll and you are unfolding in sections of the weight so take is as you need a monster roll 35 x 50 for argument sake say its 700 when you have it unfolded or rolled your talking increments of the rolls weight there is no up or down in epdm

Below is a picture of the liner when I took it off the truck. I had them on my pallet forks with the tractor. I had two liners and two underlayment. It was a bit scary getting it off the truck as the weight was a bit over the limit for the tractor, it was about 450lbs. The truck did not have a lift gate, the delivery company made it clear that you were responsible to get it off the truck. I would guess if you did not have heavy equipment you could slide the roll off the truck and then roll it to the area you need it. Once you unroll it then it is not too bad, definitely want a couple of people to help you place it in the pond. I made the stupid mistake of unrolling the liner the wrong direction. I thought I was unrolling it the lengthwise but it was widthwise so I had to maneuver the liner around, very heavy and awkward. Wife was not happy with me, lol.

I HAVE ASKED THEM TO PUT A L ===> on the roll in the direction of length

 

[Lisak1]

Our liner came folded on a pallet - but we had our landscaper (who did the actual digging for us) source most of the pond equipment. I can’t remember the actual size but the pond is about 14x17 plus a bog and large watefalll - so it was big.

Anyway - I was going to suggest asking around for a couple three strong young high school or college aged guys to give you a hand when the moving the liner time arrives. I did give birth to three such humans myself and made good use of them over the years, but now that they are grown and gone I find other young men - sons of friends, neighbors, etc - who love to lift heavy things anyway and also enjoy a few bucks in their pocket.

When it was time to install our liner, the landscape guys who were here finishing up the excavation and a few other things we had hired them to help with were so curious to see the next step that they volunteered to help carry and put the underlayment and liner in the hole. It was like a line the pond party! Haha. There were three of them plus one of my boys and me - easy work with that many backs involved.

 

[GBBUDD]

took 5 men to put my liner in and it was still heavy but we got R done