SUNIL'S MOUND IS FULLY DECORATED AND READY FOR CHRISTMAS!
Well, the time came and I had to venture into a construction phase that was uncharted for this DIY guy. We combo'd a tire pyramid with PVC trees on Sunil's mound to create what the boss giggled and coined a "cool fish playland".
First, we had to install the PVC limbs permanently. As planned, I used 1.250" stainless screws at both sides of the 4" trunk to keep the limb centralized.

-
-
Then the tractor and truck tires....I ain't gonna miss wrestling with these PIMA's . I knew that it was gonna be difficult drilling thru the steel belts...but...man, you better have the right power and tools or fuggedaboutit. I used a 1.250" dia bi-metal hole saw on a 1/2 industrial drill to buzz (or was it more like "burn") holes into the hi sides of each of the tires. I elected to cut into the side walls close to the tread to minimize the amount of steel I had to cut thru. I tried running it through the tread....Oyyy! The high sidewall is gonna have to do!
I'm not sure if I am totally satisfied with the attachment method, particularly since I recall seeing a post somewhere from Dr Dave shunning the use of nylon cable ties. I don't recall the exact post, nor the reason, but I presume that it related to the ties with a metal cog and it's potential to corrode and fail...? Well, anyway, you guessed it...I used nylon cable ties, but these are all nylon. Once all the tires were tied together, the mass was pretty stable...but...could be stronger, I s'pose. Can any of my "tire structure experienced" comrades offer advice, pros and cons? I still have time to adjust.

-
-
We arranged the trees in a triangle surrounding the tire pyramid, burying the concrete filled 5 gal buckets about 1/2 way into the clay.

-
-
And then, the final product...hope ya like it Sunil. The top of Sunil's mound will be 8 feet below normal pool. It is on the deeper, outer edge of a shallow zone of about 3/4 acre where the water will run up into the woods at the perimeter, creating a quasi wetland (wetland treeline can be seen in background of above pic)
-
-Norm's ditch, directly adjacent to Sunil's mound, has a few inches of water in it. I'm not sure if Norm is gonna see any artificial structure...? I have enough stuff to do three more packages, or I can break 'em up. We'll see, but I gotta get going.