Thread: Question about setting condos

I wonder how some "mini-condos" would do--you would make them with 1 gal. ice cream containers and fewer-shorter bamboo pieces. I have a hard time coming up with 5 gal buckets but can easily get a number of ice cream containers. Besides, my location is in a pretty shallow--8-12 ft.-- area. Has anyone tried this?

Hey maggiemaster,

I have been thinking about the same thing. The ones I use now are 40 lbs. plus. It takes two people to put them out because of the weight. One to drive the boat and one to drop the condos. I am now looking at one gallon buckets that I can get from work. I expect them to weigh about 15 lbs. This way I can drive the boat and drop condos at the same time. This should increase the numbers of condos I can install every year. Try the mini condos and keep us informed on how they work.

Originally Posted by MaggiesMaster

I wonder how some "mini-condos" would do--you would make them with 1 gal. ice cream containers and fewer-shorter bamboo pieces. I have a hard time coming up with 5 gal buckets but can easily get a number of ice cream containers. Besides, my location is in a pretty shallow--8-12 ft.-- area. Has anyone tried this?

I have used those type buckets and they work fine. You only need a few. Cut the bucket down a little to make it a bit shorter. Then cut two slits one across from the other down to the bottom on each side. Now duck tape the two slits. Spray pam or crisco oil in the bucket. Put 15 to 20 pound of concrete and whatever your useing for brush. Let set for 2 days and your ready to go. I use pvc pipe and usually don't put more than 4 to 6 short pieces of 3 to 4' pipe in one mini bucket. I can carry about 20 of these in my bass boat where as I can only handle about 8 regular size buckets. You can really fix up a spot fast with 20. CF

How about starting a new thread on mini condos with some pics? I can't envision what you mean by cutting slots and then duct taping them back up, but your idea sounds cool.

Originally Posted by TN_Explorer

How about starting a new thread on mini condos with some pics? I can't envision what you mean by cutting slots and then duct taping them back up, but your idea sounds cool.

I think he is talking about being able to pull the bucket off of the cement after it has set.

Yep, Thats what I'm talking about. Sorry to not go into enough detail. Start down each side like your gonna cut the bucket in half vertically. Just don't cut the bottom. Duck tape the sides and spray with pam. You may want to wrap tape around bucket 1 time for support. Pam helps to keep concrete from sticking to bucket. After you concrete has set up in the bucket for a couple of days, cut the tape and pull on the 2 sides. The bottom of the bucket will buckle and your condo will pop loose. Now you can tape up the bucket again and start all over. This will keep you from having to save buckets. I keep about 4 big buckets and 10 little buckets for production. I've used these buckets for over 2 years and have not had to hunt down anymore. CF

greenwing , are you serious? Look around while you are down there and see if you can find some crappie!

I use milk jugs with the top cut off sometimes but I think they are more prone to roll over and they wash out easy. Not to mention someone hangs one and they pull them wherever they want.