Matt:
That is exactly what I did. Home Depot sells cardboard concrete forming tubes. I found that carpet roll tubes were too small of a diameter to sink a tree. The tubes I used are 12" diameter and 4' in length. I cut the tube to 12" sections with a chain saw to produce 4 tubes per tube. Then I placed two ropes between two trees with the rope placed about 4' off the ground. Next put the tubes on level ground, drop in a tree and fill with the cheapest concrete you can buy using a 5 gallon bucket. I bough concrete from the same Home Depot - 90 lb. bags for
$ 2.10 per bag and rented the mixer from them too. Fill each 12" x 12" tube with 11" deep of concrete. Last have the ropes hanging on each side of the trees so that the concrete cures over the course of two days and the trees stand up right. This amount of concrete per tube sunk every 4' - 7' tree with no problem. I ended up putting 225 trees in the lake over the course of three days working by myself. I used two of our docks as a barge to transport the trees (50 per load) and pulled the barge around with me boat to the various pre-selected and marked with a buoy spots. I grouped the trees in tight 10 - 25 tree groups on points and underwater islands with immediate access to deep water. The trees are in 10' - 25' of water now. After placing the trees I took GPS positions of each of the clumps. These have become key spots for me to catch bass in my lake. Amazing what good structure will do to attract bass. Lots of work but well worth the effort.
Dave
