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#7829 02/25/06 08:27 PM
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Holy innnertube, Batman...even the smaller truck tires weigh a ton!

Theo, I couldn't resist the monster tires. I kinda see 'em worked in with or attached to some PVC tree structures. It feels like someone threw my tinker toys in with my erector set and nuk'ed 'em. Maybe I should just tow the trailer into the basin, unhook it and fuggedaboutit.
My tire guy did offer some interesting, perhaps ticket-saving advice. He told me to never carry more than 19 tires at a time; 20 requires a special trans. permit (or license?).

#7830 02/25/06 09:51 PM
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Well, if you're only gonna haul 19, you have to make up for it with size. ;\)


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Hi guys, just was wondering if there were any updates to how the tires have turned out? I have a brand new 2 acre pond starting to fill and wanted to get some ideas on putting in the structure now before the pond is completely filled. I have some deep 16' areas. Any help would be great.

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Welcome to the forum Steve.

I have at least one tractor tire, some semi tires and also car tires in tee-pee fashion and also in conjunction with concrete foundation pieces. Far as I know they work ok. I have went down with scuba gear and checked on them. Still there.

I do have CC recruitment so they could be using the tires for cavities to spawn in.

You might try the structure archives. Structure archives here

Unfortunately because of a change in Photobucket, a lot of the pictures will not be view-able unless you have a patch for your browser to get around the link problem.

Last edited by snrub; 11/10/17 09:51 PM.

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I can't provide any specific evidence as to how well they work to "hold fish", but I can offer some basic advice.
You will need to put holes at the tops to allow any air accumulation to escape. You will likely hit steel cords if you go thru the tread. Drop down to the wall of the tire, keeping about an inch away from the tread. I also punched smaller holes thru the walls, at mid height, to allow lashing them together to support each other and stand up. I used UV resistant, heavy duty zip ties. Here, some years later, most of them are still lashed together and standing. The couple that busted are suspect due to ice movement....which leads me to my next piece of advice. If in a climate that suffers hard freezes for weeks or months, consider how low the pond level might be at the time the freeze occurs and weigh that against the top elevation of ANY structure. I have had plenty of damage to anything that got frozen into a 2 or 3 acre ice floe that the wind pushed around the pond.

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My biggest piece of advise is with any type of structure location... Your pond will rarely and for a short amount of time be at FULL POOL. Be sure and compensate for that when placing your structure if you don't want everything sticking up above the surface. Also I tied duck decoys to every stack of tires and structure I put in my pond for easy location. When I fish near a duck it tells me if it is truly "holding" fish near that structure. Plus it has helped bring live ducks in to the area. Also ditto on drilling holes in the tires. You will need it!!


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Flame #482606 11/13/17 08:53 AM
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Originally Posted By: Flame
Also I tied duck decoys to every stack of tires and structure I put in my pond for easy location.

Duck decoy locators = excellent idea in warmer climates. I lost every one within 2 years due to shifting ice = no good for frozen ponds.

snrub #482611 11/13/17 09:49 AM
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Thanks.

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Originally Posted By: Brettski
Originally Posted By: Flame
Also I tied duck decoys to every stack of tires and structure I put in my pond for easy location.

Duck decoy locators = excellent idea in warmer climates. I lost every one within 2 years due to shifting ice = no good for frozen ponds.


You could pinpoint them with a good GPS fishfinder, or make floating locators that don't reach the surface in winter, and always stay below the bottom of the ice in winter, or do both.

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I have positioned my first tire pile where only the select few will know where to toss their line...but really it is along the line of my culverts and the point on the other side...I may use the decoys at some other locations.

I am trying to decide if I should put a few more piles of tires (I have 1 more large tractor, 5 smaller tractor tires and 4 truck tires remaining)...I will also place a bunch of PVC tree structures and PVC bushes all around.

snrub #482620 11/13/17 11:36 AM
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John,
Can you describe a bit in detail how you did the tee-pee tires or other ways to use them as cover? I'm not sure if putting them in a stack and flipping to the side like a tunnel is a good idea or not. Thanks.

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I would probably do some of mine differently were I doing it over. I found PBF after I already had my structure for the most part done and the pond was filling up. So I did not gain the benefit of what I have since learned here on the forum.

One pile I just stacked them flat in a circle, then an overlapping circle inside that, then another on top of that forming a tee-pee shape. I drilled holes in the sidewalls and stuffed rocks in and around the tire beads to hold them open and as ballast. I would not particularly recommend doing it that way. There are a lot more effective ways of doing it and the structure archives describe some of the methods. Most of my structure was out of concrete foundation pieces, cedar trees, and inverted stumps. So the tires were kind of an afterthought and I did not put the effort into them to gain best effect, in my opinion.

The tractor tire and semi tires I leaned and stuffed them in and around my concrete foundation beams (concrete stacked up Lincoln log style), drilled holes in them, and put some rocks inside to keep them from floating.

I did have one derelict tire float to the bank which I had to re-position and re-sink after the pond filled, so it is important to get enough holes that gas does not accumulate in the inside of the tire and float them. Even if you get the air out initially and the tire sinks, pond gasses formed from muck can still accumulate in cavities and float them later. So the holes are needed so there is an escape route for gas buildup.

Since I did my structure, I have seen lots better use of tires than what I did. Check out the archives although unless you have a browser plug in a lot of the pictures have been lost access to. I think some browsers have a work around so those pictures can be viewed.

structure, cover, etc archives here

Edit: I see a lot of the old links are not working, including the one on tires. Sorry about that.

Last edited by snrub; 11/13/17 12:39 PM.

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I had four old 20" rim truck tires I found when cleaning up the overwhelming brush behind the pond. Was going to use tires in the pond. Wife said tires are ugly....didn't want to see them if pond gets low. Had to dispose of them at city clean up. YMMV. I talked her into my using five culverts instead. Our pond water is very clear.

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Thanks guys. I have set four tractor tires so far, as pond is filling slowly and naturally via springs. I wanted to share the pics, but unable to attach.

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Steve if you are attaching as an attachment then you might be limited because file size is too big. I think limit is 2mb and you would have to use Paint or some other resizer program before attaching them.

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I have a picture resizer somewhere............... but I am lazy.

I just email the pictures to myself and my email program automatically asks me what size I want to send. Probably not the most efficient use of internet bandwidth, but it works.


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Here is the first set of tires. They are the large 5' diameter Tractor tires. I have drilled 4-6 holes per tire near the top most part of the tire. I also latched them together using polypropylene rope.

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Tire Structure

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You might want to wedge something in between the beads in two or three places. Depending on how stiff the sidewalls are of the tractor tires, laying horizontally, the opening may tend to collapse some. Wedging two or three concrete blocks, bricks or something of that nature will make sure the tires keep their shape better.

Also setting the tire laying flat on the bottom on three or four concrete blocks will keep it from being lost in the muck in a few years. It is surprising how quick six inches of light fluffy muck develops on a pond bottom. Concrete blocks are cheap and last forever.

Another thing that will help the tires hold fish is to have some dense cover in and around the tires. Like a cedar or old Christmas tree. Dense cover will hold small fish. Small fish attract medium size fish that will use the tires that will attract even larger fish to eat the medium size fish.

Something else to think about is making a "fish highway" out to that cover. If small fish have a way of safely traveling from the shore line, where they like to feed, out to your tire pile they will be more likely to use it. If small fish use it, it will attract larger fish. Maybe some rock piles, block piles, Christmas trees, etc making a path out to the tires. This is something I did not know about when I did my structure/cover and wish I would have done more of it. I did like you are doing, just put independent "islands" of cover. Giving small fish relative safe passage to and from cover areas will make them more likely to utilize it. Small fish attract big fish.

The way you have it will work fine. Just some of my ideas that would make it better.

Last edited by snrub; 11/16/17 07:30 PM.

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Thanks John, I will definitely incorporate some of your ideas. The fish highway and additional piles are definite musts. Will also prop open tires more.

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