Lafayette, IN · Tippecanoe County

Pond Building Contractors in Lafayette, IN

New ponds, pond and lake dredging, land clearing and commercial demolition for landowners from Shadeland and Romney south of the city to Dayton and Battle Ground east and north, and across the farm country of Tippecanoe County.

Owner-operated, based in Rosedale in Parke County. Full-size excavators and dozers for the larger jobs that justify the drive to Lafayette. Free estimates.

Get a Free Estimate in Lafayette Call or text (765) 548-3704

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Lafayette, IN

Lafayette, IN Pond Building & Excavation Services

Lafayette sits on the Wabash River where I-65, US-52 and US-231 cross, with West Lafayette and Purdue University on the far bank. Tippecanoe County around it is some of the flattest, blackest farm ground in Indiana. The Tipton Till Plain, left by the last glacier, runs in every direction, cut only by the Wabash valley and the creeks that feed it: Wildcat Creek from the east, where its north and south forks meet at Wildcat Park, and Wea Creek draining the south side of the county through Wea Township. Between the bluffs and the fields there is plenty of ground for a farm pond and plenty of old ponds that need cleaning out.

Till-plain ground is good pond ground once you handle the water. The dark, poorly drained Drummer and Brookston soils that make Tippecanoe County farmland so productive hold water well when keyed in and compacted in lifts, but they come with a high seasonal water table and tile under almost every field. Closer to the Wabash and on the Wea Plain south of Lafayette, outwash sand and gravel drains fast and needs a compacted clay core. Reading the difference is what separates a pond that holds from one that leaks.

K&H Excavating is based in Rosedale, in Parke County, and Lafayette sits at the northern edge of our working radius, about 60 to 70 miles from home. We come up for the larger jobs that justify moving excavators and dozers that far: pond builds, pond and lake dredging, large-acreage clearing and commercial demolition. Owner Kory Stone runs the machines himself, so the person who quotes your job is the person who digs it.

Dozer shaping the bottom of a newly dug pond basin

Services

Our Services in Lafayette, IN

Every service K&H Excavating offers is available in Lafayette and across Tippecanoe County for projects large enough to justify the drive. We bring our own excavators, dozers and haul trucks and focus on the work that needs them: new ponds, dredging, silt pond upkeep, commercial demolition, land clearing and site prep.

Freshly graded pond basin with a dozer parked at the tree line on a west central Indiana farm

Ponds and lakes

Pond Construction in Lafayette

Whether you farm south of Lafayette in Wea Township near Romney or own acreage out toward Dayton and Stockwell on the east side, we dig farm ponds, fishing ponds and stock ponds sized for your land and your watershed. Tippecanoe County's till soils hold water well once keyed in and compacted, and we check for field tile and sandy outwash near the Wabash before committing to a depth. Kory grew up farming and running cattle, so he builds ponds that work for livestock, fish and drainage.

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Excavator bucket pulling dark muck out of a silted pond

Ponds and lakes

Pond Dredging Services in Lafayette

Older ponds around Lafayette slowly fill with silt that washes off row-crop fields, lawns and gravel lanes. When a pond turns shallow, weedy and warm, we dig the muck out with excavators working from the bank, then spread or haul the spoils so your property looks finished. Farm ponds in the open country around Shadeland, Romney, Dayton and Montmorenci were often dug decades ago and have never been cleaned out.

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Silted pond channel being dredged, with spoil piled on the bank

Ponds and lakes

Lake Dredging in Lafayette

Tippecanoe County lakes collect sediment carried in by Wildcat Creek, Wea Creek and field drainage. For private lakes and HOA lakes around Lafayette and West Lafayette, we remove built-up sediment at inlets, coves and shallow ends, and we can phase the work across a season. Lake jobs run weeks or months and are exactly the size of project that justifies our drive from Rosedale. We schedule around the wet spring and do the heavy digging when the banks firm up.

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Shallow, silted-in farm pond before dredging

Ponds and lakes

Silt Pond Maintenance & Pond Silt Removal in Lafayette

Silt ponds catch sediment before it reaches a creek or a ditch, and the retention ponds in the subdivisions and commercial developments along US-52, SR-26 and the south side near US-231 do the same job for runoff. Once they fill, they stop working and the mess moves downstream. We offer scheduled maintenance plans for lake associations, HOAs and property managers, with inspections and silt cleanouts grouped so the trip from Rosedale makes sense.

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Cleared and rough-graded field edge beside the woods

Land and sites

Commercial Demolition Contractors in Lafayette

Lafayette has older commercial and industrial buildings along its rail and river corridors, and the farms around it have barns, grain bins and outbuildings past their useful life. We tear down commercial buildings, barns, outbuildings and concrete slabs with excavators, then haul the debris off with our own trucks. Indiana requires an asbestos inspection before demolition and a 10 working day notice to IDEM, and we build that into the schedule so the site is left clean and level.

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Cleared lot with stumps and logs piled for removal

Land and sites

Land Clearing Services in Lafayette

We clear land with excavators and dozers, not a skid steer and a mulching head, so we are the call for the wooded ravines along the Wabash bluffs and Wildcat and Wea creeks, overgrown fence lines between fields and old farmstead woodlots. The timber is thinner here than in the hills to the south, but fence rows and creek banks grow up fast. Winter is often the best time to clear, when January through March freezes firm the ground enough to carry heavy machines.

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Rough-graded building site after clearing and site preparation

Land and sites

Site Preparation Contractors in Lafayette

Before a pole barn, shop or new home goes up on acreage outside Lafayette, the site has to be cleared, stripped and shaped so water moves away from the building. That matters on flat till-plain ground, where the seasonal water table sits close to the surface and water has nowhere to go unless you give it a path. We handle the clearing and dirt work that gets a site ready in Wea, Wabash, Sheffield and the other townships, so your builder starts on solid ground.

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Land and sites

Excavating Contractors in Lafayette

For bigger dirt jobs, K&H Excavating brings the same excavators and dozers we use on ponds. We dig basements for new homes on rural lots, move and shape dirt, and handle general excavation for landowners and commercial projects around Lafayette and Tippecanoe County. We do not do utility or septic trenching, so we stay focused on the large-scale dirt work we do best.

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Local knowledge

Local Expertise in Lafayette — We Know This Area

Lafayette ground is glacial till, and most of it is flat, dark and wet. Drummer silty clay loam and Brookston give you the clay you want in a pond bottom, but a water table close to the surface and drainage tile under most fields mean a fresh dig can fill with groundwater before it is shaped. Along the Wabash and on the Wea Plain south of the city, outwash sand and gravel drains fast and will not hold water without a compacted clay core. We read the soil and find the tile before we set a depth.

Coming from Rosedale, we run north on US-41 to I-74, east toward Crawfordsville, then up US-231 through Romney into the south side of Lafayette. It is a 60 to 70 mile trip, so we plan Lafayette work around the larger projects. Once in the county, I-65 and US-52 carry us around the east side toward Dayton, SR-26 runs east and west across the middle, SR-25 follows the Wabash northeast toward Battle Ground and Americus, and US-231 and SR-43 cross the river to West Lafayette and Montmorenci.

The work around Lafayette follows the farms and the creeks. Farms in Wea, Randolph, Jackson and Sheffield townships need stock ponds, pond cleanouts and fence rows cleared. Acreage along Wildcat Creek, Wea Creek and the Wabash bluffs has wooded ravines and silted-in ponds. North of the city, around Battle Ground, the Tippecanoe Battlefield and Prophetstown State Park, rural lots and small farms want ponds and building sites. Purdue is the landmark everyone knows, but most of our work is on the open ground around the city.

We also know the rules. A pond that disturbs one acre or more falls under IDEM's Construction Stormwater General Permit, and unlike routine farming, building a pond is not exempt even on farmland. Larger impoundments can fall under IDNR dam safety rules (20 feet high, 100 acre-feet of storage or a square mile of drainage), and work near the Wabash River, Wildcat Creek or Wea Creek floodways may need state review. We call Indiana 811 before every dig, and we plan around the seasons: frozen ground in January through March for clearing and demolition, then summer and fall for pond digging.

Excavator arm working wet ground at a pond edge

Why K&H

Why Lafayette Landowners and Contractors Choose K&H Excavating

Pond Specialists, Not a Jack-of-All-Trades

Ponds and dredging are our focus, not a side job. When you hire K&H Excavating as your pond building contractor in Lafayette, you get a crew that spends its season digging, shaping and cleaning out ponds.

Real Equipment for Real Acreage

We run full-size excavators and dozers with our own haul trucks, not skid steers with a brush cutter. That means we can take on a multi-acre pond on Tippecanoe County farm ground or a wooded ravine along Wildcat Creek that smaller setups can't touch.

Worth the Drive for the Right Job

Lafayette is at the northern edge of our range, so we come for the pond builds, lake dredging, clearing and demolition projects big enough to justify moving heavy equipment. Tell us about the job and we will give you a straight answer.

A Farmer's Eye for Till-Plain Ground

Kory has farmed and run cattle his whole life, so he understands drainage tile, livestock water and how flat, wet Indiana clay behaves in a wet spring. He builds ponds that work on Tippecanoe County farmland, not just ponds that look good on day one.

Free Estimates and Straight Answers

Estimates are always free, including in Lafayette and West Lafayette. We're available Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and we take cash, check and credit card.

Where we work

Serving Lafayette and Surrounding Areas

K&H Excavating works as pond building contractors in Lafayette and across Tippecanoe County, plus the surrounding counties, for projects large enough to justify the drive from Rosedale. If you have a big pond, lake or clearing project anywhere in this farm country, we will come walk it with you.

Lafayette & Tippecanoe County

Lafayette
West Lafayette
Battle Ground
Dayton
Shadeland
Romney
Stockwell
Clarks Hill
West Point
Montmorenci
Otterbein
Americus
Buck Creek

South & southwest toward Rosedale — Montgomery, Fountain & Warren counties

Crawfordsville
Linden
Wingate
Attica
Williamsport

East — Clinton & Carroll counties

Frankfort
Rossville
Mulberry
Delphi
Flora

North & west — White & Benton counties

Brookston
Chalmers
Monticello
Fowler
Oxford
Boswell

Lafayette on the mapLafayette against the 50 and 75 mile rings from Rosedale.

Also serving Rosedale, IN, Terre Haute, IN, Bloomington, IN and Indianapolis, IN. See every area we cover.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions — Lafayette, IN

How much does it cost to build a pond in Lafayette?

Pond cost depends on size, depth, soil, access for equipment and what happens to the dirt we dig out. Tippecanoe County's till soils usually help keep costs down because they seal well, while outwash sand and gravel near the Wabash can need a compacted clay core. We give free on-site estimates in Lafayette, so you will know the real number before we start. Our pond construction cost guide covers each factor.

How much does pond dredging cost in Lafayette?

Dredging cost comes down to how much silt is in the pond, the pond's size, whether we can draw the water down and where the spoils go. Many older ponds around Shadeland, Romney and Dayton have never been dredged and carry several feet of muck. Because of the drive, dredging in Tippecanoe County works best as a larger job or grouped with other work. We will walk the pond with you, check the sediment depth and give you a free estimate.

Do I need a permit to build a pond on my property in Tippecanoe County?

It depends on the size and location. If the project disturbs one acre or more, IDEM's Construction Stormwater General Permit applies, and pond building is not covered by the farming exemption. Most farm ponds fall below IDNR's dam safety thresholds, but a pond near a floodway along the Wabash River, Wildcat Creek or Wea Creek can need state review. We will walk you through what applies to your property during your free estimate.

What about drainage tile when you dig a pond on Lafayette farm ground?

Tile is the first thing we ask about. Most Tippecanoe County fields are tiled, and cutting a main without a plan can drain your neighbor's field into your new pond or leave your own field wet. We locate the tile before we dig, reroute or cap what runs through the pond site and keep the outlet working. On flat ground the pond also needs a planned overflow. We cover all of it during the free estimate.

How much does commercial demolition cost in Lafayette?

Commercial demolition cost depends on the building's size, what it's made of, slab and foundation removal, and how much debris has to be hauled. Indiana requires an inspection by a licensed asbestos inspector before any demolition, and IDEM must be notified at least 10 working days before work starts. We tear down commercial and agricultural buildings with our own excavators and haul off the debris with our own trucks. Call for a free estimate.

How much does land clearing cost per acre in Lafayette?

Per-acre cost depends on how thick the trees and brush are, the size of the timber and whether debris is burned, buried or hauled. Because we clear with excavators and dozers, we are the best value on larger tracts like the wooded ravines along Wildcat Creek and the Wabash bluffs or grown-over fence rows between fields. Winter clearing on frozen ground can also save time and limit rutting. We give free estimates after walking the property.

Do you travel to West Lafayette, Battle Ground and Crawfordsville?

Yes, for the right size of job. Crawfordsville is on our way up I-74, so it is the easiest trip in this part of the state. Lafayette, West Lafayette, Battle Ground and Dayton are within our 75-mile outer range, and so are Frankfort, Delphi and Attica. The farther the drive, the better fit larger pond, dredging, clearing and demolition projects are. See our service areas page, or call and we will give you a straight answer.

Ask about your ground near Lafayette

Call or text Kory and ask. If it's easier, request a free estimate and he'll answer everything on the walk-through. Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Get a free estimate Call or text (765) 548-3704

Call or text

Ask Kory about work near Lafayette

(765) 548-3704

Calls and texts answered Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Text a few photos of the property and Kory can give you a head start before the site walk.

Get a free estimate

Free estimate

Ready to Get Started in Lafayette?

Whether your ground is in Wea Township south of the city, out toward Dayton and Stockwell or up along the Wabash near Battle Ground, K&H Excavating is ready to come walk it for the right size of project. Estimates are always free, and Kory takes calls and texts at (765) 548-3704 Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Get a Free Estimate in Lafayette Call or text (765) 548-3704