Cardboard crappie condo

This morning it was a lot warmer than it has been lately, so decided to make a free-standing cardboard crappie condo. (low-rent crappie!)

The dimensions are 9" by 12" by 6" tall. The weight using 150#/cubic foot would be (if exact dimensions were used, and no bowing (bad assumption) of the box occurred) about 56 pounds. Then you have the voids in the concrete from the material to take away from the theoretical computed weight. I also added some more rocks along the bottom edges so as to use less concrete and add more weight. This added more weight. I used one 40# bag of sakrete and would guess the total attractor weighs slightly over 50 pounds.

Using the cardboard box allowed me to place plastic conduit horizontally in the base through the cardboard to hopefully keep the attractor upright after I place it in the lake. This would be impossible if the concrete, etc. were placed in a dug-up-hole.
I used electrical wiring as a lifting loop. Small holes were drilled in the conduit and PVC. Holes drilled in the conduit and PVC will give a greater bond to the concrete. Other holes in the exposed portions of the PVC and conduit will let water enter the material and to decrease the buoyancy.

Now all I have to do is wait about 7 days, get it down to the lake, strip off the cardboard and put it in the lake! :)

Husker you must have a great wife because mine would have been raising cane if I was out making condos when there was still snow in the driveway.

Thanks for the tip on the legs for condos. I cut some boo yesterday and am going to try it on the ones I make tonight. I hope it will help steady the condo when the flows on the Little Maumelle get moving. I would think that when those legs hit in that silty bottom they would really take hold and not let go.

Thats A Good Ideal ----don,t Know Why I Never Have Those Kinds Of Thoughts :)

Looks like some nice condos!!

Looks good Husker...Jack and i will help you put it out i just hope i remember my gps;) :)

i like that you have taken care of the stability by putting horizontal braces, i have to deal with that with my lake. thanks for showing that to us that have to contend with bodies of water with a small amount of current, those trees will be nice for years.

Looks great! I use old tomato baskets. I put my stakes in and hold them and then pour in the sack crete. I never thought about boxes. Great idea.

I picked up some copy paper boxes from the office. I think I will be able to make some shortys (2 to 3 ft) in the box top, and some mid range (5 to 7 ft) with the bottom. Plan to use the cross brace but modify it. I am going to stick 2, 5ft peices facing the same direction. When I sink em I will make sure they sink so the brace is providing some strength from the occasional strong current.

and I can get all the fax paper boxes I'd ever want, from work. (and not have to purchase plastic pans, or seek out 5gal buckets) The PVC is not a problem, and I already have the 'crete'. :D

I am wondering about one thing, though ....
I suspect that you guys are not picking up these 50, 60 pound condos .. and slinging them out of the boat, into the lake. :D SO, my question is ... with those condos that have the "brace legs" ... how exactly do you get them over the side of the boat ? My concern would be breaking the PVC legs ... or are they tough enough to not worry about that, or do they bend/flex enough to allow them to be pushed over the gunnels ?

Another factor I'm interested in ... how do you keep the concrete base from scratching the heck out of the boat ?? Do you use a 12" wide board to slide them off .... carpet remnant ?? ... or what ??

I'm a novice at this condo stuff (I'm sure it shows :rolleyes: ) ... so I'm not only asking for my own benefit, but for others that might want to try this, but are unsure of potential damage to the boat (or the condo) if not done correctly.

Good discussion, on a popular subject .... keep up the good work, and information flow !! .......... cp :cool:

the only thing I have noticed that's a draw back, is the legs grab everything...You can't just toss them out of the boat...When you load the boat down, it can be a real pain to get one out with 3 others sittin on it's feet. The "feet" are PVC and are flex and will give, but dang they grab your fish finder, your drill, your shirt, anything they can. I got another way to do it...

At first thought when I made the first condo with the box was to use the conduit, but insert (for sufficient strength) approx. 24" of rebar-3/8" or 1/2".
One way that I thought of doing this was to tape the ends of the conduit (length of which would be only the width or length of the box. Then after the concrete cures, remove the cardboard, remove the tape, add the rebar and grout it in. Other possibility was just to use rebar in the initial casting without conduit. I can always add the rebar to the present condo the way it was cast.
As far as placing the condo in the water. In my case I have to get it down to the lake first. This means having to get it over a 6 foot rock wall and then down to our dock. The lifting loop allows a length of 2x2 to be threaded through it. (This way my wife won't have to carry it down herself.:D )
When the condo is down to our dock I will hang it over the side of the dock about 8 foot or so deep, and secure it to the dock with rope. Then I will get in my boat, back to the dock, untie the rope and tow the condo to it's final resting place. Sounds easy but it's always harder than it sounds! Have done this with cement blocks and brush or 5 gallon buckets with conduit or wood, but this will be a little heavier.
One thing that I want to do this spring is to sink some timber anchored to concrete. Crappie love old stumps, so I will try to give them what they want.

i love the line about your wife not having to carry it herself...so thoughtful of you to put the handle in there for her.

Not having any trouble getting those condos out of the boat, but my boat has the raised front and back decks. I dont have to lift them 4 inches to get them out.

Im sure having the legs will make it a little more difficult to move but I dont think I will have a problem if I just stick them pointing out the side of the boat. It may look like I am spiderriging on the way out to drop em, but think it will work just fine. I certianly think its worth a try for our stuff right in the channel, And we are using big diameter boo instead of pvc so breakage is not a concern.

Keeping the boat clean is one thing I really like about using the box idea. I am not going to take the cardboard off so the cardboard works as your protection from the scratches

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Originally Posted by crappiepappy

and I can get all the fax paper boxes I'd ever want, from work. (and not have to purchase plastic pans, or seek out 5gal buckets) The PVC is not a problem, and I already have the 'crete'. :D

I am wondering about one thing, though ....
I suspect that you guys are not picking up these 50, 60 pound condos .. and slinging them out of the boat, into the lake. :D SO, my question is ... with those condos that have the "brace legs" ... how exactly do you get them over the side of the boat ? My concern would be breaking the PVC legs ... or are they tough enough to not worry about that, or do they bend/flex enough to allow them to be pushed over the gunnels ?

Another factor I'm interested in ... how do you keep the concrete base from scratching the heck out of the boat ?? Do you use a 12" wide board to slide them off .... carpet remnant ?? ... or what ??

I'm a novice at this condo stuff (I'm sure it shows :rolleyes: ) ... so I'm not only asking for my own benefit, but for others that might want to try this, but are unsure of potential damage to the boat (or the condo) if not done correctly.

Good discussion, on a popular subject .... keep up the good work, and information flow !! .......... cp :cool:

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