Bamboo Stake Beds Life Span?

I've been sinking lots of brush trying to figure out what works best for our lakes. People in our area (upstate SC) don't drive stake bads typically. Lakes are deep with hard red clay bottoms. But if you go into coves or upper ends of lakes there are places that have silted over the years so I imagine you could drive them there. All our saw mills seem to just do pine in our area so hardwood stakes aren't readily available. Thinking about trying bamboo.

Here are my questions: I assume you want to cut the bamboo in the warmer months when it is green and growing? Do you want to put it in green or let it dry for a period?

When you do it right, how long will driven bamboo beds that never get exposed to the air last?

I quit Bamboo , it will last a few years . I have made hundreds of stakebeds. Sometimes there would be Pine stakes mixed in a load of wood. Built some of the Pine and still caught Crappie . Under water even Pine don't rot quickly .

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

I quit Bamboo , it will last a few years . I have made hundreds of stakebeds. Sometimes there would be Pine stakes mixed in a load of wood. Built some of the Pine and still caught Crappie . Under water even Pine don't rot quickly .

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That's kind of what I was assuming. The times I have sunk bamboo it barely lasted a year and a half. I did find some hardwood stakes in North Carolina that I'm going to drive up and get to try.

Bamboo in thicker 1 to 2 inch thick stalks lasts a good while , maybe 3 or more years easily , and by then , it’s about time for some other spots anyway cause the world done found all them , just saying :Rofl

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

Bamboo in thicker 1 to 2 inch thick stalks lasts a good while , maybe 3 or more years easily , and by then , it’s about time for some other spots anyway cause the world done found all them , just saying :Rofl

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I was working up in NC a couple of weeks ago and a guy had $.50 hardwood tobacco stakes for sale. I loaded as many as I could in my work car. Going to see how well they pound into our lake bottoms. If they work, I'm going to bring my truck back up and buy him out.

look for casket companies that donate warped handles . we used tons till early cat fishermen love them to run trot lines from and firewood .

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Originally Posted by 91tiger

I was working up in NC a couple of weeks ago and a guy had $.50 hardwood tobacco stakes for sale. I loaded as many as I could in my work car. Going to see how well they pound into our lake bottoms. If they work, I'm going to bring my truck back up and buy him out.

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Look on marketplace for used ones . Maybe even get a bulk discount or imperfection ones from the mill. Build a PVC driver to do it out of your boat .