Thread: How much weight??

I,am not the pro on this but 30lb sounds a little much for me but then again i,am old and the liter the better lol

You will need enough concrete to hold the pipe up straight and in the bucket good but should not take over a half of the bucket anyway. If I were you I would cut one of the pipes in half then drill holes in the sides at the bottom of the buckets to make a cross x in the bottom so they would stay upright good when dropped in the water. You also need to sand the pipe good with about 60 grit sandpaper to where algae will grow good on the pipes

Save concrete , use rocks to get pvc in place and then add enough loose concrete to bind together .

good idea. I have access to several dozen abandoned bricks. I'll throw several in the buckets and add concrete. thanks

Originally Posted by FishnFed

good idea. I have access to several dozen abandoned bricks. I'll throw several in the buckets and add concrete. thanks

When I use 5 gallon buckets, I take 2 pieces of rebar, drill holes in the bucket bottom, and poke them through to make my X to hold the buckets up and keep them stable...I use putty to fill holes so 'crete doesn't leak out on my garage floor....by the time the rebar is finally gone the buckets will be cemented into the bottom with sediment.

We had to make our cover extremely strong, since we have a large lake and dam....We put a couple stainless SCREWS halfway in the ends of the PVC that were going into the buckets (because PVC will pull out of concrete EASILY)...then we sanded all the PVC with 60 grit (for Algae attachment) and filled buckets 3/4th full of 'crete, and put the PVC in!

By really filling each Bucket with concrete, you fill the bottom of each tube, and with the sanding and screws, it locks the PVC in...SECURELY

You can be diabolical and put in your "X" in the bottom of the bucket, put in your sanded PVC with screws in them, pour enough cement to catch the screws securely and them put broken and chipped 10 hole bricks into them from a local building supply store. Before sinking place some hot dogs crammed into several of the holes in the bricks and put 1/2 dozen live crayfish into each bucket and add water. Chances are the crayfish will attempt to swim downward as the bucket sinks. Upon coming to rest you have just created mini crayfish "condos'. Use crayfish from the same waters as you sink the cover in !!! the point is where you live what eats crayfish ? Where I live EVERYTHING eats crayfish !

After the crete is cured drill a small hole in the pvc close to the bucket or before if you wish.
I'm thinking vapor lock. On a large scale I'd hate to drop 30 or more lbs of crete into the water only to watch a condo float.
Instead of using rebar use small pvc with holes drilled through it a few times. The fish don't need the extra metal.

Originally Posted by canebreaker

The fish don't need the extra metal.

???? Maybe some fish are Iron deficient????

If Metal is an issue to you, then the chemicals in PVC, or Plastics, or the plastic buckets, are an even worse issue! Also the concrete mix can changed the PH of water??
So, If that is the case, you can use all Natural limbs, secured with natural vine, in a woven wood basket, with natural River rock as weight, and your X made with hand turned wood dowls!!!!! lol