bamboo project..day 1

I hit the motherload on 5 gal buckets. The first door I knocked on gave me the go ahead for all I could handle. I got 10 today with more to come when needed.
I stopped by Baileys building supply in DeQueen and picked up some quikrete. I paid $3.75 for 80lb bags. I'm guessing it's about the same everywhere, I don't really know. This is my only expense, so I'm not too worried about it.
I cut what I thought was enough bamboo for a couple buckets, and have the scars to prove it.
Having done the first one now, I can see why the guys that know what they're doing use some kind of form to secure the buckets while they are filling them up. As it turns out, the bucket doesn't want to cooperate with the bamboo going in all different directions, especially on a windy day like today! My Father-in-Law suggested I use some tires stacked together until we come up with something better. What I thought was enough boo for a couple buckets actually wasn't enough for 1. I easily had room for probly 15 more stalks. I used an old golf club to stir and it worked pretty good. I have it braced up now and will see how it turns out in the morning. More to come tomorrow..

I have a project of 6 structures going on right now and I'm using 12 stalks of boo per structure, that's 72 stalks... cutting and toting the boo is a whole lot like work if ya ask me.;)

Ok, I'm still chuckling about the golf club concrete mixer!:D

A tip for you, don't mix your concrete too wet and soupy... it will take a long time for it to set, cure, and become strong. You should mix it to the consistancy of a thick pudding, it is harder to mix this way but will be a stronger and quicker setting concrete.

Putting a couple inches of water in your bucket before adding the concrete mix and then adding a little water at a time to get your desired consistancy will make mixing easier.

My mixer is an old 2 iron..never could hit that thing anyway, glad I'm finally getting some use out of it!
This morning, the entire bucket was laid over on its side, but it set up long enough that everything stayed more or less in place.

You can stick a couple of pieces of boo in the wet concrete and tie them to a tree then put the rest of the boo in the bucket. Works alright, but moderate to high wind is still a problem.

Even with a good jig to hold the buckets, high wind is still a problem. I've had the bucket screwed down and have the wind pull the 'boo up and out of the bucket.

I'm thinkin about maybe drivin some stakes in the ground at an angle that makes it a very tight fit, and then securing around the top of the bucket with ropes. That should work..

I don't have the concrete in my structures yet, but I have them tied off to a wooder privacy fence. They seem to be holding pretty good even in the thunder storms we're having.

I don't know how much weight you have in your buckets or what diameter your boo is Soso, but you may want to consider drilling a small (1/8") hole at the top and bottom of each joint in your cane. The air trapped in your boo joints will negate some of the weight in your buckets... more than you might think if it's big boo. I drill all of mine because I'm only using 50 lbs. of concrete on each one, and I want them to stay where I put them.

Most of these are fairly tall, but none of them are very big in diameter, nothing close to an inch at the base. I could've easily gotten another dozen in the bucket. With the way I fanned them out, the tops are probably 15' across at the top. It's gonna be nice, I just wish I had used some more stalks.

Sounds like you've got a bunch more cutting to do if you're going to fill up 9 more buckets!:D

Do you have a GPS on your boat to mark the spots?

I like to throw out a marker bouy before I sink mine and then sink one on each side of it. I like to use the bouy because the wind always blows me somewhere else while I'm getting another one ready to drop. After I drop the second one I mark the spot on the GPS just before I pich up the bouy.

No gps, but I already know where they're going. One wad of em is going on a steep drop in 17-25' of water on a creek channel. This has been a proven winner for nightstalking in the past. I am basically gonna have the condos sunk in a circular pattern around where I tie off the boat.
The rest are gonna be sunk in specific spots close to bridge pilings in about 30' of water.