About to tear down a fence and make some structure

We are about to tear down a hundred or so foot section of wood privacy fence in my backyard and I'm going to keep some of the wood to use for condos. The boards are about 7 feet long and 2 inches across so I may trim the length a little if needed. My I usually use 5 gallon buckets and cinder blocks for bamboo condos but there is virtually no risk of them dropping on their sides because the bamboo floats. I don't think cinder blocks are a viable option due to the lack of space to put the boards and concrete. I'm worried buckets will fall over if not on a perfectly flat surface when sinking. Any thoughts on good alternatives to buckets or have people had good luck with stakes and buckets?

I use rectangular or large square bases that aren't as deep as buckets...this is the smaller size rectangle 15 litres, that I use for PVC, a 50lb bag fills the container up about 3/4th...on the lg square or larger rec, a bag fills it up about half so sometimes I'll add alittle more if needed...these containers spread the weight out more and keeps things stable....I normally find these containers (20+ litres?) at discount stores for a dollar or two and just sink them also, this keeps the 'crete from breaking up over time.
You can also build wooden forms to make 'crete bases, but I am more into the no hassle and easy clean-up cover building!:):):)

Thanks, that is helpful. I was thinking about that or planter pots. One thing I figured out when making bamboo condos is you don't need nearly as much weight as you think. The first ones I did had probably 50-70 lbs of concrete and were really hard to lift compared to using say 30 lbs or cinder blocks with concrete poured inside.

Agree!
If I'm using lighter material like PVC, I still use a 50lb bag....sometimes I need to go heavier, if I'm using big limbs or Oak 2x4's and will use another half bag...We have the flexibility of going heavier because we have ALOT of help!:):):)

Believe it or Not, but we actually have a VERY FEW people who DO NOT LIKE the cover projects (because they lose lures) and purposely try to remove the cover...we try to make it so heavy, it is impossible for it to be moved...I call it "Idiot OverKill"!:):):)

Yea I didn't pour enough concrete into the base of a x-mas tree and got to watch if float away when I dumped it over the edge......

This is the MAJOR concern we have to deal with....we CANNOT have things breaking free, floating, or moving...like I said, the reservoir that we are working with is well over 2 thousand acres which gives us alot of room and varying areas to improve and experiment with....BUT, if one of our pieces of cover breaks loose and damages the Dam....we are done...Project terminated! That's why we go to such Great lengths to make sure this doesn't happen!

We have been doing this since Ike blew through in 2007, it provided all the lumber we needed for several years....Lowell and I have tried just about everything...we have pics of the cover and how it is doing...we try not to harvest off it, since we are trying to grow the lake. What most of us do take off the cover when we check it, is normally put right back into it!
The lake is getting close to being able to handle anything Man or Mother Nature throws at it...then we can manage it easier than doing these massive projects every year.

Please understand that we aren't trying to come off as a couple "blow hards" just tooting our own horns...we generally Love what we are doing and have found alot of things that work better than others...if I see someone trying to improve their lake or fishing area, I truely want them to succeed, why waste time and money when others have done the experimenting for you.
When we started, we had ideas and some general experience from watching some of my friends in SC doing this stuff...we did ALOT of research also...but unlike others, WE took on an entire Reservoir...I'm not stupid enough to think that what we have done is fully responsible for the quick turnaround...the creel and size limits helped immensely, and Mother Nature has blessed us with Global Warming so the Shad haven't been dying!:):):) BUT...we are the ones who have increased the fish holding capability of the entire lake, stabilized the NATURAL baitfish population, given more fry and small fish places to hide, eat, and grown....and caused the increase of numbers of all species that now cover then entire lake...and we are bringing back natural vegetation...not bad for a group of "dumb" fishermen!
So if you guys have any questions...just ask and we'll try to help you in any way we can!
Things that worked in SC are working here...Ideas I gave my buddies in SC are now working there! Once you understand how the "circle of life" works and you begin to establish the small ecosystems fish need, then you will have one hell of a "honey hole"!

Luckily I'm not dealing with public water, we have three private lakes on our property (and when I say lakes, they are lakes not ponds. About 10 surface acres each with maximum depths of 20 feet). As hard as it is to believe the bass were out competing the crappie as of three years ago. We have tons of lay down piles but not much vertical. I started with x-mas trees, then moved to pvc structures, bamboo condos, natural brush cemented in etc. It took a year or so but we are now pulling fish off every bit of structure I put in, with all producing crappie (and bass, and bluegills, warmouth, etc.) I'm opportunistic in what I sink now as we have a good base but with all the fence pieces and nothing to do with them, figured I could put em to good use.

VERY NICE...CONGRATS!
Heck yeah...just be carefull, you want to stay away from treated lumber...don't want all those poisons/etc leaching into the water!

I didn't think about treated lumber......The fence is probably 15 years old but I imagine at one point it was treated.....hmmm

DO keep in mind that the arsenic in "treated" wood will leach out as the wood decays and WILL end up in that food chain. Some organisms can survive it, but as they are in turn consumed by higher organisms further up the food chain those concentrations can reach survivable but potentially HAZARDOUS levels. BTW, another reason for the heavier than minimumly needed weights is placing cover along windward shores; repeated storms can actually drive shallow lightly weighted cover aground...better to use "too much" than "not enough" weight, which in our particular case would be the END of our "project"...