FFA and Corp. of Engineers Crappie Condo Project

We haven't set a date to drop them yet. Right now it looks like it will be on a Monday through Thursday. That's the days the Corp works. I'm guessing we'll drop in the first lake in 2-4 weeks.

The Corps has staff working 7 days a week. Perhaps they just aren't working on this project but four days a week.

Many of them work an extra hour each day and then take every other Monday or Friday off, for a three-day week-end every other week. Savvy? Nevertheless, they are working 80-hour pay periods.

Man, this project could really be a big thang for the lakes involved. I appreciate you ram-rodding the deal.

There's a guy doin' the same thing for Ouachita in conjunction with the AG&FC. They are sinking cedars and hardwood tops, along with some boo. They had trailer load after trailer load of cedar and hardwood coming in for two week-ends. I will try to get the numbers and share them on the forum, if I am successful.

aj

Looks like we will be dropping the first batch of 'boo in Lake Degray on March 5th. Now I've just got to cut 1600 stalks of bamboo over the next two weeks! The Corp is planning on delivering 110 sacks of 'crete to the school tomorrow.

Here's a look at all of the concrete sitting in our shop:

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...g/P1010504.jpg

Here's a look at the jigs we're building to hold the buckets, while the concrete sets up. We don't want a bucket full of bamboo and concrete falling over! Hopefully the jigs we're building will work. I danced on top of one of them to see if they were sturdy. I'm pretty sure if my 270 pounds didn't mess it up, the bamboo, concrete, and bucket shouldn't be a problem.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...g/P1010511.jpg

Those jigs look like they may work well. Jerry Blake was telling me about another way to build a jig. He said to put a 2x8 block in the bottom of a bucket and drive screws into the 2x8 , thru the bottom of the bucket, and into the 2x4's on the center of a pallet. This creates a cheap and sturdy jig.
One thing that he said was to make sure that the bucket on the jig is not too tall or the boo bucket will get hung. I would drill several holes in the jig bucket to help keep them from sticking.:)

I talked to Jerry and he mentioned that method to me too. I based our jigs off of the ones he has on his website.

I've got 2 old pallets that I am going to try. Need to do something with them anyway.

Tried building three buckets today just to show the class how it was done. The wind played havoc with them. Not sure what we're going to do if we keep having wind.

I know what you mean about the wind. Make sure it's not too windy when you take them out either. Had one blow out of the boat twice going across the lake one time. It stayed where it went out last!

Here's a picture of about 12 or so 'boo buckets. We put these together this morning. So far it looks like our changes to the jigs is fixing the wind problem.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...2buckets-1.jpg