Anybody ever made a cheaper version of the porcupine pvc structures?

I am not exactly sure what the porcupine structure is (but can imagine), but this is something inexpensive I used in my pond. 5-gallon bucket, 1 bag of concrete, paddle bit, and leftover irrigation poly tube. Ended up with 3 of them in the pond. They do get pretty heavy and tricky to place. Probably get away with just adding enough concrete to lock in the poly tubing and call it good.

These are what the porcupine pvc structures look like:

The major downside is the cost of the middle piece, which is around $40 for a 3-pack.

Yep thats what im talking about. The pvc is really reasonable, home depot sells 10ft sticks for $1.50 each. I was just curious if anyone here had ever made something similar

ah this reminds me....i have a ton of scrap pvc, 3" field tile, pex, buckets and some mortar - i should put it all to use!

See this from the archives - lots of pics

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

I found this online and are building 10 of them. They are made from plastic barrels cut in half. I also cut out most of the ends so that fish could swim underneath as well. Each one has 20 five foot pieces of 1/2" irrigation tubing looped through the holes I drilled. Total cost: Barrels were free and tubing costs $35.98 per 500' roll. I used two rolls so I have less than $80 in the entire project.

Dean

how did you keep them under water?

I have a shed full of half 55 gallon barrels. More than happy 2 give away a few. So if any in my area wants some send me a PM.

Know any bowling alleys that might have throw away bowling balls? That and a drill bit and you are set.

Stringer what were you doing with all those 1/2 barrels? Planting in them?

We was throwing them away at work. So I snatched them up. Figured I'd make some kinda cover for fish with them. I have used some of the full barrels before. These our underwater in the 2 -5 foot range.

Also going 2 (maybe) plant a lilly or 2 or maybe lotus. Not for sure.

Anyone find the ideal way to drill fairly large (up to 2.5 inch) holes in fairly thick PVC?

I've tried a lot of different hole saw brands over the years.

This is where I wound up:

https://www.diablotools.com/products/DHS2500CT

Highly recommended.

If you can't break thru the PVC with the daiblo hole saw, look at their self feed bits. https://www.diablotools.com/explore/drilling-boring