OK, here is the final product:

One HD 5 gal bucket, one 60# bag concrete mix, 4" x 5' length of non-perf drain pipe, 7-8 pc of DWV qual. 1/2" x 10' PVC pipe (cut in half at 5' sections). The holes in the 4" drain pipe are from a .875" spade bit in a power drill with vertical sliding stabilizer unit (for drilling thru the drain pipe at a 90 degree perpendicular angle). The hole locations are by eye...c'mon, like somebody is really gonna double check the accuracy of my work :rolleyes: . The pipes slide in nice and snug, but I will buzz 3/4" stainless screws into ea limb and ea side of the 4" drain pipe to permanently centralize them. Total cost per tree = $18
Now, my big question...
I will have 12 of these. I truly hope and plan to add 12 more. How would one arrange these things? At what depth(s)? A row of 6 would make a great reef x 30' long. The area of the pond where I will be working will have depth options up to 12 ft. One side of the pond in this area (about 3 ac) will be a fairly steep bank and the other will be rather gentle, running up to and adjoining a shallow wetland zone.

One HD 5 gal bucket ($5), one 60# bag concrete mix ($4), 4" x 5' length of non-perf drain pipe ($3), 7-8 pc of DWV qual. 1/2" x 10' PVC pipe ($6), the look on that BG's face when he sees his new crib?.......priceless....

nice job Brettski....w/ no advice I'd put em at intermediate depths (spanning ~9 to 4'), but I'll let the experts chime in.

Make sure they're where you will be able to cast to from shore. I know you can fish from a boat, but will you always want to?

So I'd put them close enough to shore to reach, and take clearance distance back to the trees into consideration (maybe you're clearing far enough back all the way around, if so, ignore that). Being able to cast with the prevailing wind is nice, too.

Brettski :

It all depends on what type fish you decide on and goals plus the rest of the pond bottom and items to be added (ie tires). It all works together as a plan. Building the pond was that way (total plan) so wouldn't you know fish , structure and cover are also. I will try to find you a good link or two. Can you post a topo/drawing of the pond and bottom ? That would help.

Here are a couple.

http://mdc.mo.gov/documents/fish/aquaguides/barrel.pdf

http://msucares.com/pubs/infosheets/is1529.htm

Brettski, unlike the 16 lb. bowling ball spheres that are somewhat mobile, your 60 lb. tree magnet is a heavyweigh ! I think you should keep it somewhat shallow just in case a big LMB, Cat, or HSB hangs up in there

Nice job !

Brettski, Ive got very similar material just waiting to be built and placed for when I get more rain water. The HD bucket and concrete will complete the project. Thanks for the idea.

D.I.E.D....
Theo....excellent point; more of the stuff I have come to expect from you, thanks. The roadway that we built around the perimeter is fairly substantial; you should be able to whip that fly rod with no issue. The road, tho, is along the steep side of the pond where the shoreline is is 3:1. S'pose that this is still OK for a cluster of 3 trees? Maybe set the bottoms (5 ft tall) at about 8 ft deep?
Ewest...your Linkapalooza parties always deliver...and sell out! The topo map is pretty high on the priority list. Soon come.
Eastland...the bowling ball spheres continue to be the highest level of ingenuity I have seen, but this bucket thing whips together pretty quick and reasonably cheap, too. You're right, they are heavyweights...I think this is an advantage, along with the upright design. It will allow placement in a hole in the bottom, about 1/2 the height of the bucket...very stable. Then, every inch of the PVC limbs will be exposed, even after years of soil movement in the bottom as it may silt over somewhat.
Burgermeister...about a year ago, a new HD opened in an adjoining town and one of the promotions was these buckets for $1. I bought 10. I wish I had bought 30. Another thought: I have a pal in the building trades and he is good friends with the owner of a drywall taping business. He once told me that if I am ever looking for 5 gal buckets, well.... WRT the conc mix, I just poured the entire 60# into the bucket, threw in some water, mixed it with a spade shovel (narrow point to get in there), and then pushed the pre-drilled 4" tube straight down into the slurry. Level it by "eye" and let 'er dry.

Anymore when I place structure, I'm marking it so I can find it and making it mobile so I can move it if I don't like where it is. I have found the 9' granite boulder that we placed before the pond filled is rather hard to reposition.

Brettski, nice work.

If your pond turns out to be 5.5 acres, think about getting started on another 25-50 of those things!!!!.

Hey Brettski, this is great. Do you think hanging some plastic snow fence (maybe 6-12" strips) from the 1/2" PVC would help even more, or would that get lures hung up on the structure?

I may try this when I build my new pond.

NEDOC,
I think you are right on the lure hang-up. I like the idea that these things are virtually snag-free. I do plan, tho, to work the PVC trees into a zone or two of the truck-tire pyramids...kind of a playground...still workin' on the slide design :rolleyes:
The first link in Ewest's post above has a cool lookin' structure item using snowfence. I wonder if that would serve to entice a catfish to spawn if you only plugged up one end?

interesting quote out of ewest's second link above......how closely do you guys follow this recommendation?


"Bream will be using gravel beds frequently throughout the spring and summer. Remember to keep all the bream you catch; never throw them back into the pond, no matter how small they may be, unless advised by a fisheries biologist."

DIED an explanation is in order. That is from the Miss. Pond Manual written by Marty Brunson a top notch fisheries science professor and author of numerous BG and HBG studies. In Miss. (deep south) it is recommended that for every pound of LMB you harvest from a pond you should take out 10 lbs of BG. On average it is suggested that from a balanced fertile pond you should take out 6 to 8 lbs of LMB per acre. That means you need to harvest 60 to 80 lbs of BG. That is a huge chore. If they are each 1/2 lbs then 120 -160 per acre taken out (not caught). Given that one should not harvest just the big BG then the average weight of those taken out drops and the # goes up. Any how that is a bunch of BG to catch and keep. Most people won't do that so thus his statement don't throw them back. In context from the Manual :

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1428.pdf

"Most of the fish harvested from the pond should be bluegill and redear sunfish. Bream reproduce
throughout the summer and are the most numerous fish in the pond. A general recommendation is to
harvest a minimum of 10 pounds of bream for every pound of bass. It is extremely important to keep the bream harvest in line with the bass harvest. Many Mississippi ponds are underfished for bream and can stand a much greater bream harvest. This should insure an adequate number of bass for reproduction as well as
control of the bream. When too many bass are removed, the remaining bass can no longer control the bream, and the bream become over crowded and stunted. Once bream become overcrowded, bass reproduction is reduced or stopped completely. "

Georgia Manual

http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/warnell/service/library/index.php3?docID=41&docHistory%5B%5D=1

In succeeding years, a fertilized pond should produce 150 to 160 pounds of harvestable bream (600 to 700 fish) and 30 to 35 pounds of harvestable bass (25 to 30 fish) per surface acre per year. In fed ponds, up to 500 pounds of harvestable bream (about 2000 fish) can be removed, but do not remove bass at rates higher than those suggested for a fertilized pond

This is another one on building fish attractors. GA

http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/warnell/service/library/index.php3?docID=184&docHistory%5B%5D=1


Here is Ohio. Remember ice fishing .

http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0001.html

D.I.E.D,

Not at all...zero. I almost never remove a BG from my ponds...only to very rarely eat and/or use a fish that was dead from an angling event.

Personally, I think the recommendation to remove every BG that you catch in Southern ponds stinks. For my Southern ponds, that is probably one of the most absurd recommendations I have ever read. I catch thousands of BG year-after-year. Never have removed a single BG except as noted above.

I'm not bragging, just illustrating a point...but I'll put my BG size and distribution and health up against any pond, anywhere.

Since I have a bass-crowded situation in both of my lakes (as do most people), I have never understood the idea of removing bream. My small bass do not have enough to eat and removing bream especially the small ones would seem rather stupid to me. The only fish I routinely harvest are the small bass and I take out all of them. Maybe I'm wrong, but it just seems like common sense to me.
Bill

I pull out eating sized BG (6" - 7.5") when I have the time to clean them, and foul hooked BG & RES over about 5.5". I haven't actually removed any LMB yet, although I'm positive of a couple of C&R morts and of course have probably caused others. I will be cleaning any foul-hooked LMB this year, but do not plan on actively removing any LMB until at least next year when my first LMB spawn will be big enough to spawn on their own. First I will have to figure out what LMB size(s) I want to encourage or remove to further my big BG management goals, but that's an item for another thread.

I never pull out BG either, if I need to pull out anything, I need to pull out more LMB than I do. Seems most ponds end up being bass on bass anyway. The idea of pulling out my BGs just doesn't sound logical.

Brettski, that looks awesome. I'm gonna copy your design and make a few of my own.

Guess you could remove the bucket and save it for another day too.

Viking,
Thanks, but it definitely is repeatedly stolen engineering. I think the only thing I added was the thicker 4" trunk and tried to apply branches at 1/8 turns or 45 degree increments (Lusk, I believe, said to use 2" PVC pipe and 1/4 turns of the trunk...?)
Yeah, I seriously considered spraying the inside of the bucket with form oil and seeing if I could shake 'em out. Then I thought about: a) the ease of shakin' out that bulky mass b) the cost of the $1 buckets c) is it worth the risk of failure or problems. I then carefully weighed the additional bucket costs against the cost to build the pond....

Looks like GREAT cover Brettski! I have been planning to plant 1" Dia. PVC "Stick ups" in an array about 6'or 8' wide and 40' long. Now you've got me thinking. My plan simulates a bamboo thicket. Yours simulates trees. I guess I'll figure the material and go the cheapest way. Wonder if fish think in 3D? Maybe I worry too much...

Just curious to know the pros and cons of these questions...

How far did you drop down from the previous hole? Looks to be about 4"? Would going closer, say, 2 inches make it tight enough, so that you wouldn't need the snow fence wrap for smaller fish cover? How about not using the bucket and just leaving 2.5 feet to drive into the bottom, leaving the first horizontal pipe 6" from the pond/lake bottom?

BigMac,
Yep, the distance between hole-sets is about 4 - 5"...guesstimate, by eye. One of the reasons I went to the wider OD 4" drainage pipe is to allow closer spacing of these holes and still have a stable mass supporting them. One of the reasons I did NOT put them closer together was a trade-off on cost for the limbs. After seeing the sputnik sheres, I shifted gears to a less dense product knowing that it should still be suitable. You are right, though...you could surely put the limbs alot closer and denser if desired.
WRT pounding them into the bottom, I briefly consider that too, but dismissed it for the more stable 60# bucket design. Just a choice, but I felt it was worth the additional $4 per tree for long term stability.

Brettski......you improved on a design I used last year. I used 10'lateral line with pre-punched holes that I had to widen to accomodate 1" pvc. Imagine your design with no bucket. They laid horizontially not vertically. The big mistake I made was not weighting them down. Our pond had a big rise in the early spring and most of them have moved. I like your idea much better and will be making some more in the near future while our pond is down during this drought.

Brettski,
I just closed on 14.011 acres of land, near Coldspring, and think I have found a good dirt worker. Getting it brush hogged this weekend, then they get in their to do the engineering. It might be October, before the actual digging starts.

I am glad to see your post, because I plan to go with suitable channels and humps for structure, but want to use PVC for snagless fishing. I recently bought 12 of the plastic spheres to make my own sputniks. Your right! All that PVC pipe, even .5 inch, adds up! Cost me about $177.00, with cleaner and glue, but it will be worth it to not have to stop fishing to retrieve a $5.00 lure my Mom or Fiancee hung up.

Now, I'll go pick up some 4" PVC septic line and some more .5" PVC to build some of these trees. ;

Mega-congrats on the acquisition, BigMac!
As many of the pondmeisters have often noted herein, the journey is exciting. Stay as involved as possible and use...I mean USE that digital camera. Create a folder on the computer and each step will be a file full of pix. Even looking back now, only a year into development, I have kinda lost perspective for what it looked like before we started. When I go back and compare to today, the diff is astonishing...awesome. Also, do like Eddie Walker and establish a BigMac thread for continual updates on your trip to Pond-amania. We all dig when a comrade digs.

First off, congratulations!

Now - notice how no matter what the size of the property is, it takes 5 digits to define?

Whether a big piece like 10,000 acres or a big piece like 14.011 acre.

We bought our place 20 years ago this coming September, and I have known ever since that it is 42.926 acres.

BigMac,

Howdy neighbor! Welcome to the club! Brettski has good words and lots of folks here eager to help, including myself.

Thanks to all for the well wishes! This is a 15 year dream becoming reality. Had to get rid of the city girl and other debts, first.

We almost ran beyond the Earnest Money Contract on this one. They claimed it was 15.018 acres (5 digits), but the square footage didn't add up to that from the 28 year old documents. After I proved my point with a survey, I worked to get the price down for the one acre I was not getting.

Luckily, that's all behind me and now moving forward to build myself a swimming grocery store. I'll open a thread and begin posting, when they get to the actual dirt work, which may be 2 months. For now, I'll just take the pictures to show the project develop.

Again, thanks for the well wishes. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. That will probably change, when the actual bids come in and the reality of the costs rears its ungly head.

BigMac,
My own post got me to thinkin' about the changes. I have a page on the website dedicated to before/after shots, but it hasn't been updated since we cleared the site.
The following 3 pic chronology is the kinda stuff you're gonna want to document for posterity. All these shots were taken from an area within 50 ft of each other, looking in the same direction:
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This is the first day of clearing the 6 ac site of fairly dense timber. This particular area was thinner since it was the low spot that collected water...the part that attracted me in the first place. About 1/2 ac clear so far.

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This is a couple weeks later; a little over 6 ac is cleared and burned. Only a couple of root ball piles remain, smoldering well into Winter. We quit for the year at this point last September. It allowed us to spend quality time in the site, dreaming and scheming.

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This is where we are today in July, some 9 months later. The dreaming and scheming paid off big. We changed a number of facets over the Winter. We have made a good decision in waiting and thinking.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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)
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-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.

Great job Bret. !! I use nylon cable ties all the time and they have done fine. Some have been there 10 years. I have not heard that they could be a problem. Small dia. trot line string (black nylon) works great also.

Great combo of items. Some thick (trees) for small fish , some loose (tires) for big fish and good depth 4 to 8 feet + the mound (bottom stct.) and all adjacent to deeper water.

Don't fill in the ditch with cover. It is the ditch depth change that attracts fish and provides them a highway. If you feel compelled to add something then pick one location on the ditch and add a tree or two that go over the ditch - root ball on one side on top and tree crown on the opposite side on top. That is a lot of trouble now. I think I would wait. After xmas gather about 6 discarded xmas trees and weight each one and in the spring place 3 on the top edge of the ditch about 6 ft apart in a line with the other 3 directly across the ditch.

Geez, 'ski! That's really impressive. I honestly think you could put together a book with the documentation and photo support you have. I hope you eventually end up like this when it comes to fish.

I've had nylon cable ties last 5 or 6 years above ground and exposed to sun, rain, etc. They were still holding up (although starting to get a little brittle) when the "temporary" project was replaced with the "permanent." Underwater with no sunlight or freezing, I think they'd last a long time.

Brettski has merely insured the PVC trees will last for multiple human lifetimes, like everything else he builds.

Brettski post, sometime in the near future:

"We finished stocking the forage fish today. Donna-ski put her foot down and would only let me get 1000 of the 12" RES from Dr. Frankenbruce to go with the 10,000 14" CSBG he's supplying. Here's the fish truck bringing them in from Nebraska."

...Theo treads softly so as to not wake me from my dream:
Theo, even if Bruce provided any portion of this blessing, I would still need mega-support for convincing Donna-ski of the financial need to execute this deal. I would ask your assistance, but she has more than once noted that Theo is the "Pond Boss funny guy"; I fear your credibility on this effort.
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We got back out to do some mo' structure stuff. Man, I swear those tires are gainin' weight!
We set up 2 more tire pyramids about 50 feet apart. We then set 6 PVC trees at a pointed arc between the tire pyramids. The top of the point is closest to Norm's ditch. (we ran outta PVC limbs on 3 of the trees, but their installation next trip will be the easy part of finishing the zone)

Sunil's mound, completely decorated, can be seen to the left about another 75 feet or so. Not really knowing what I am doing (SURPRISE!), I am trying to create a reef that is between the gentle slope from the wetland area (where I am taking photo from and to my left) and the carved bottomscape beyond.
Hope to install the missing limbs next weekend and some mo' tires and trees.
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(oh yeah, we got another dowser of rain last week...the water is up about another 6 - 8" as it fills the low pockets)

Brettski you'll never be able to cast a line that far from the dock. What are you thinking?

Oh sorry now I know why you put a boat ramp on a 5 acre pond.

Theo reminds me...
Okie dokey, how 'bout a cluster...maybe 30 feet from the front edge of the building site?
There ya go, Prof Gallus! Allow me to introduce "Theo's Cluster".
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We completed the limbs on the PVC trees in the reef, then installed Theo's cluster? That pretty much populates this borough with new housing.

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...then, a little more flack about cheese-cake casting from Rockytopper:
...hmmm, I have 13 more truck tires, Rocky-T has a good idea, and I need something quick and easy 'cuz I'm beat.

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OK, here's the deal...I need help namin' this one. It was inspired by Rockytopper, so we need to work him into it. C'mon...somebody has to have a good way to blend Rocky-T with a pile of old truck tires :p .
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...and lastly, I need input and opinions. Rocky-T's pile of tires is just that...a pile. There are no fasteners or cable ties holding any of it together. Every tire has 3 holes x 1.5" dia on the top of the sidewall, spaced out evenly, to expel air accumulation. They are between 9 and 6 feet below the normal pool, almost to the base of a slope that terminates at 12 feet deep. I don't think they will slide any farther...? I would feel better, tho, if they were fastened together. I really like the geometry and would like to maintain the mass in the form that it is right now. Should I tie them together? Thoughts?

The Texiz RT treadpile?

Why do I sense "Theo's Cluster" is an abbreviated title? :rolleyes:

I am honored, Sir.

I'd tie the tires together, Brettski. When you snag one, they'd be much more likely to stay in place.

My pessimism on this (or optimism toward the lbs test of your fishing line) comes from pulling Robbie the Robot over last night - now I have to take a rake out in the canoe, snag Robbie's float tether, and try and stand him up again. No rest for King Ding-a-Ling.

Do you have some rebar left? If so take about 6 pieces 4 ft long and bend a loop in one end. Drive them in the ground all the way down to the loop, 3 in front of the pile and 3 in back. Take some heavy trot line cord (or cable) and go from one loop in back through the tires and tie it to the front loop. Repeat until all are tied down. Then take a couple sacks of quickceret mix it up and put one shovel full in each tire away from the holes drilled in the tires. The last step will make the tires float , if at all , with the holes up so any air can escape.

Ok, this is gonna sound stupid...but...tires don't float, do they? Yeah, I know that they may entrap air, but if they are totally devoid of air, they will sink...right? Jeesh, they gotta! I'm guessin' they weigh around 80# each, maybe more. Those lousy tractor tires must come in well over 200#.

You know, Brettski, I think I'm gonna haul a couple tires down to the pond and find out. Maybe one of those throwaway spares (maximum rubber content, very little if any steel) and a heavier tire (typical "steel belted radial"). I might tether them off to posts and see how long it takes them to lose enough air through weep holes to sink (assuming they do).

With no air they sink but not well and have a tendency to move around a lot with any water movement. Think about it this way a ten pound fish weighs that much (force needed to lift it) in air , not water. In the water things just tend to move around. With a small amount of air (or CO2 or CH4 )they move around a lot more and can float.

It all looks like a Paint Ball field! BG vs. LMB! Who will win?

So-SKI I see how you are. I'm now just a pile of ...., Now that I've been be littled as such please let me return the favor. If I may be so bold I have a few piles of my own that deserve proper names. If you will post for me we can let the games begin.

Rockytopper...
Mount Rushmore started out as a big ol' pile of rocks; not too glamourous. I see this rubber-based monument as a way to immortalize a PB brethren. Sure, it's basically a pile of old tires, but it's the inspiration that you have provided that will make it sooooo much more. Someday, you and I will be flippin' lures over this monument, pullin' in 10" Dr Frankenbruce BG's, and laughin' about the day that you were ALMOST offended. Consider "Theo's Cluster"....he recognized the potential right away!
...but, if you still desire returning the favor by naming a pile of sumthin' after me, Donna-ski will e-mail you a list of names that she has methodically compiled. One will surely suit the need.

SKI you miss understand, I have had way to much time on my hands with the lack of rain. I have already had to mow the pond bottom once and it looks like it is time again. I have created multipule piles of artifical structure,humps and bumps and fish structure with the kubota. You will only have the rights to one of them. I'm giving you first pick of the one you want to have named in your honor. The rest of the PB bretren will get one two. There are plenty to go around. If we run short of piles I'll add some more. If you can post the pic's for me we can let the games begin.

...following up on a previous post from Pg 3 of this thread

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OK, so first of all, I needed to put a documented name to this Rockytopper inspired rubber mass. This fine articulated geometric re-tread radial design shall here forward be known throughout the pond as the Rockytopper Lunker Stopper . A whimsical tongue-twister, reminiscent of my youth, spun off of rubber-baby-buggy-bumper.
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Ewest and Theo kicked back firm opinions that these things should be tied together somehow. I'll tell ya this much; anything having to do with cuttin' holes and threading cable ties thru the thick rubber and wiry steel belts really sux. Even when the drill bit finally cuts (burns) thru the rubber and steel, the hole nearly closes and heals itself as soon as the bit is withdrawn. Then, if anything shifts and the holes aren't aligned...well, you know. It is slow and arduous. Oh yeah, let's not forget the bulky weight of truck and tractor tires for ease of handling.
So, I want to continue with my goal of long-term installation, but try to engineer something that is a little easier. I kept thinkin' about those little nylon fasteners that hold the price tags to clothing...somethin' like that would be great...yeah, right. (Remember the Buttoneer?) It's gotta be able to blast thru the thick rubber walls and steel cords AND last forever. hmmmmm.....
I took a pc of leftover 6" dia PVC pipe from the drain. The walls of the pipe are stout at 5/16". I cut a very short length at 2" long; a big bracelet, if you will. Then, I layed in down on the bandsaw and cut the bracelet into 2" sections. Then I took a #10 x 3" square drive SS deck screw and fitted it with 3 SS washers of graduating ID/OD to create a fairly large fender washer (I had the various SS washers in stock).

Wherever two tires met, I put a tie thru both adjacent tire walls, securing them together. The sharp point of the SS deck screw blew right thru both tire walls, no issue. Then, because the point of the screw terminated inside the tire on the bottom, it was in an awkward position. Donna-ski put on leather gloves and assisted by reaching under and inside the tire, blindly positioning the PVC nut for installation. She moved the PVC nut back and forth over the screw tip until it hit the hole. I then slowly ran the screw gun as Donna firmly held the 2" square PVC nut. The screw self-tapped into the PVC as the nut drew up onto the SS screw threads...DONE. It actually worked pretty darn good.
There is one other trick, of which I did not get a pic. Because the screw gun (actually a drill with bit holder/#2 square bit) did not fit inside the top tire so I could drive the SS screw, I had to adapt. I took another drill, chucked with the hole saw that I used for creating the air release holes, and cut another hole in the top tire wall directly over the spot where a SS screw will go thru both tire walls below. I used a 12" bit extension with the #2 tip at the business end, dropped it down thru this new strategically located 1-1/2" hole, and buzzed the screw right on thru both tires directly below...worked great.

Brettski:

Good job and narration !!

I tried to drill holes in tires once. It did not work well so I stopped. Currently have 5 to use somehow. The top of the sidewall is much easier than the tread to cut (still not easy). A torch might be the easy way to make an air escape hole through the tread.

With your method think about this for making a structure. Get a 8 ft length of your 6 ft pvc , and 2 of your fasteners for each of about 6 tires. Cut the air hole in top of tire and space out along the pvc leaving 1 ft on each end and fasten them to the pipe through the bottom of the tire, air hole up. Put rocks or some quickcrete in the pvc and or stake it to the pond bottom.

This might be easier. Take a longer pvc length and some fasteners and turn the tires sideways to the pvc and fasten through the sidewall near the bottom to the pvc. Make one row on each side of the pvc. Run a cable through the pvc and stake at each end to pond bottom.

We could call them Brettski structures and sell them.

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...an update with an answer to my own question; all prompted by Theo's thirst for vulcanized knowledge as he prepares his Pond #2.
Not a single tire showed any signs of movement as the water backed up. I bumped into one the the tire pyramids with the jon boat while under 1/3 throttle on the 45# trolling motor. They ain't goin' nowhere. I don't know about the smaller car tires, but I'm very confident that truck and tractor tires are not buoyant. I will say, tho, that Ed Eitel's point that anything semi-submerged that gets trapped in frozen water and then lifted by rising tide is something to keep in mind.

Is tire material a possible source of toxins in a small pond? My neighbor's 1/10 acre (corrected area) has no structure or spawning beds currently and he has plenty of tractor tires. I considered laying the tires flat and filling them with sand, but I wonder about the chemicals that might be released in this warm pond.

I've never seen any issues with tires in a pond. If they're shredded, then you might see a little rust color from the steel belts. We've always drilled holes in them to get rid of any air pockets and allow them to sink if putting them in a full body of water.. Maybe, others on the forum have had a different experience?

I seen your pic on what you did and I would suggest next time to cut the pipe in half this will allow the pipe to collect a food source for minnows and frys. Don't leave a sharp edge or they will stay away from it. Now the best way I have done this was to put them in a radius with the center open atleast 15 feet. This works great for the fish to circle around inside and becomes your HONEY HOLE. I would also suggest using larger pvc pipe on some then cut them in half long ways in order for plankton to sit on top side of the pvc.

i forgot to tell you when putting in the cement install 4 steel rods galvanized would be best on the bottom of the bucket about 2 foot long so when you do drop the buckets in and goes to the bottom it won't fall over.

My attempt at some PVC trees.

I like, Omaha.
I might have made them with a few more branches, but I doubt that adding branches would necessarily make them better....just "bushier". It looks like you used 1.250" or maybe 1.500" for the branches. You might be able to take the design over the top by adding one piece of 1/2" x 36" thru the end of each (or at least some) of the branches.

I found these scraps on this farm we were hiking around on earlier that day so I used what I had. I like your idea of going a little nuts with the ends of those branches. Will have to look into that.

Not sure where else to post this, so I'll throw it in here. I saw in the Structure Thread (http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463) someone utilized some of those disc snow sleds. First of all, what are the target species for this structure and how do you place them?

That's Brettski's pond. I suspect he is out in the country for the weekend; I believe I can give some of the answer.

The saucers were possible SMB beds (note the gravel on the ones that already had their feet wet). IIRC they are each secured to three pieces of rebar driven into the bottom.

He placed them near PVC trees and the crib structure which should help provide cover for baby SMB after they leave the beds. The crib is also a likely YP spawning habitat.

Ingenuity of people with their structure ideas amazes me... Truly a wealth of knowledge for anyone looking to put new structure in their pond!

Gotcha. I won't be putting SMB in my pond, but I was curious what these were used for.

Is there any way, like the Structure Thread, that we could have a generic thread specifically for structure questions and ideas? Possibly make it a sticky?

I finally made my pvc spheres about three weeks ago. I made them on the driveway then loaded them onto my truck to drive to the pond.

My truck has been great to me...no major work needed...only bought one set of tires, one starter, one battery and new brake lines(8yrs in PA) it has over 150,000 miles on it and is 11 years old. I thought for a split second it would be easier to put them out if I just drove the whole thing into the pond

No way...but she is for sale now

Correction: Josh meant to say he WILL be stocking SMB in his pond. Silly mistake - we accept your apologies!

Great looking trees btw!

Back in July I wasn't stocking SMB. Now, however, that picture and those ideas, are very much relevant to my "new" project. How cool is that?

Maybe Bski can jump in here and offer some specifics on these. I can see the rebar poking out through the disks there, but some more details would be awesome.

Holy moly - I didn't see the date of the post. You're right - things change don't they? Cool progression. Are you excited to head over and try to coax one of my new SMBs to nibble a jig/crawler? Hope I didn't have a winterkill...so much snow for so long.

About as giddy as a schoolgirl. I actually just ordered some handmade/painted roundheads from a guy at HuskerLand. Can't wait to see how they turned out.

s'all buried in here

Thanks Bski. When are you going to compile all these threads into a single publication?

I was going to ask about snags, but it looks like Bruce commented on it in your thread. Still reading....

Most of it is here: linked from the 3rd page of the archives

You are inspirational Brettski. I think I'll will try something like this. I might try for tighter distances between the branches. And a different anchoring system. But the upright design and the 1/2" branches gives me a great idea.

As far as taking bream/bg/sunfish out. I run my LMB ratios past any normal scenerio. I have to add 500 bream a season minimum. I really could thin out the bass, but I prefer to add forage.

Thanks Pond Frog.
Any inspiration is simply a hand-me-down based on creativity and guidance from the knowledge base within this forum.

+ 1

True dat

I was thinking( really outside my capasity) But to cut a few 30gal.
barrels in two add the rebar leg and graval and set them in my little pond for bedding sites. Bass and gills what ya thing
South Texas

Honestly Rick, I wouldn't bother. Your LMB and BG will spawn on their own.

I agree with Josh here - but if you really want to take on the project, creating artificial LMB and BG beds is often done and many good designs exist on the forum to provide some guidance.

One thing I am personally doing in my BG/RES reproduction pond to help stimulate a spawn is placing several "kiddie pools" - the plastic baby wading pools, and filling them with pea gravel and sand.

I believe LMB also like prepared beds much like a SMB - and I have too much experience constructing the latter. Many designs available on the forum for bed construction.

Good luck let us know what you end up doing!

I built a small floatable island this weekend for my little 3/4 acre pond. Used the garlin and let mom do the the top with fake flower from hobby lobby. Hope this give a little coverage for the frys after spawning.

Kinda looks like a floating casket. But old will if it get them coverage them I'll tell everyone it the guy that I caught fishing my pond with out asking.

I laughed.

What about the picture of the roaming plastic chair?

Another good idea using artificial plants on the island, then my island can bloom all year even at 20 below.

Personally, I prefer the real thing, but I certainly realize the difference in work that would be.

Building a copy of this over the coming weekend for my 50 year old well established farm pond. These are heavyweights at 60 lbs of concrete and was thinking about using half the concrete (30 lbs.) and then taking treated lumber (1 x 6) and attaching a cross (X) of that lumber to the bottom of the bucket (before putting in the concrete). Each leg of the cross would be 2 feet (cut an 8 foot 1 x 6 into four pieces). Would certainly be easier when lowering over the side of a john boat at the appropriate location but would it be steady enough not to tip over once it is in the water and on the bottom? Soft muddy bottom for most of our old farm pond. Should the cross lumber on the bottom be longer than 2 ft? Thoughts? Thanks...first time poster/new PB subscriber....wish I would have stumbled on PB and this forum years ago.

Stick a piece of rebar out of the bottom 24" or so (depending on how far it'll sink into the bottom) and use it as a spike to hold the thing upright?