I rented a backhoe for a week last spring, and of course as soon as I did it started to rain. Still I got started on a couple of ponds, enlarged another, and took care of a few of the heavier tasks that had been holding me up.  I then spent the summer tidying up (backhoes make a real mess once the ground gets soggy) and finally got all the stars in alignment and rented the backhoe again for a full month.

Again, there is lots of tidying up to do, dam walls not quite up to height, swale spillways not established, lots of backhoe tracks everywhere (5 days after the backhoe came the weather report read "dry spell ends with recent rains) despite spongy soil and numerous rain delays, not to mention very cold weather, I was able to get two large gulley ponds most of the way, a contour pond that may turn into a duck enclosure until they gley it up and get it holding water. and one long swale, plus a couple shorter ones.

lots of pics and a diary of the day to day documenting an amateur backhoe operator, rains, drains after the fact, dealing with very damp clay, etc at www.permaculturebob.org .

I created a whole lot of hand work, and also vowed to get my tractor running to take a bit of the burden off my back, so there's never a dull moment and always some new challenge, but right now I'm looking at gravity fed water to my gardens lots of opportunities for expanded aquaculture, and the beginnings of some valuable tree plantings.

I can hardly wait till the next backhoe rental, but a word of advice, even though a backhoe can dig up 15 year old saplings, it's better to cut them first, put them where you want them by hand, then use the backhoe to come in and dig the swales. It will be more precise work, and use lots less of expensive rental time.