when digging dams whats the best for moving mud?

Answer 1

An excavator with a mud bucket and articulated dump trucks.

Answer 2

I was making "french drains"- open trenches per say.

I had to dig all mine the old fashioned way by hand.
I used a golf cart with a thick rubber back end and a lined it with heavy contractors bags (plastic) and put the dirt on top and relocated it when it filled up.

It was hard, but not as scary as the "copperhead" poisonous snakes that kept being in the digs with each shovel...I was freaking out like a bad movie....like Indiana Jones or something.
My shoulder hurt for killing snakes and there was not need for coffee...my full attention was on the project and my boots.