Looks like a nice area, but my first thought was also if the dirt would hold water; looks like sandy loam. It's possible that you might hit a layer of clay that you could spread / line the pond with.

I will also second chickenlittle recommendation about the roll cage. Rollovers on steep and loose dirt is pretty common. It's also where you can bolt on a sun / rain cover. Worth every penny when you're out in the sun for hours.

I have a 35 hp New Holland (absolutely love it) and you'd be amazed what you can do once you get your technique down. We'd had a very bad drought the previous 2 years, and my stock pond had gotten to about a 4ft depth (normally 12ft). I took advantage and really opened up one side. This is all in pretty tough yellow clay. I can consistently set the blade and peel 1 inch deep x 5ft wide and 8 feet long every time. I opened up an area 40ft wide and 70ft long, tapering from 0 to 6ft deep last summer. The dirt went into a pretty large hill / shooting backstop.

A box blade and 3 point boom are also very useful implements to have.