Thread: Getting Condos Out of Bucket

Take the bucket and cut it in half long ways from the top to the bottom. Over lap the edges about half an inch or so and then screw it together and set it on the ground. We cut the bottoms out also. Pour in your concrete and put in your stakes. After it sets up just take out the screws and pull the bucket off and around the concrete. This works very well. Me and a buddy have made tons of them like this and we made some tonite that way. Now we just got to wait until it sets up to remove the buckets.
This does work.

CX.

I have used motor oil in some forms years ago, but never to be put in water later. I would think PAM might work, but vegetable oil would coat the surfaces inside the bucket better. You might want to consider cutting the buckets vertically, oiling them, and duct taping them back together before you pour the concrete mix in. Later the tape could be pulled off and the pieces of the bucket pulled away. Good luck. I hope to build several for myself this spring...Crappie Xtream and I must have been typing at the same time...his ideas are excellent...

I put a trash bag in the last bunch I made but I think I might try Crappie Xtream's method next time. Thanks for the tip.

We are going to take the buckets off our condos tonite that we put together last night. They are in a barn drying. I will try to remember to take a picture of them and post in this thread. These are bamboo condos.
One thing I forgot to mention is we don't use the entire bucket for our bamboo sets. The buckets are about half. We made two molds out of one bucket for most of them. I would think this would depend on how big your bamboo is. Ours are probably 6 feet tall. We cut the bamboo in half from about 12 feet long pieces.
Also if the bucket has a rim or lip around it, which most buckets do, you will need to trim the rim back a half an inch or so for your overlap. That is so the over lap will be flush the entire length of the bucket when you screw it together. We just use three drywall screws to screw the overlap together and put them in just to where they are just breaking through the inside of the bucket. This so they come out without damaging the concrete.
When you get all of your stakes or bamboo in the concrete sitting the way you want it take a hammer or whatever and tap on the outside of the bucket all the way around. This will work the air bubbles out of the concrete to ensure you get good concrete around the stakes.
We have not had any problems with this system yet and have dropped a bunch of them in our fishn spots.
Hope this helps with your condo projects.

CX.

Why do you take the bucket off? I never do. easier to handle and don't scratch things up or conc crack.

dig bucket sized holes in the ground and make them there and you need no buckets

We don't remove the buckets from the condo and sink the bucket with the condo. Yes, you have to find more buckets, but that's a great way to make more friends and take them fishing when they provide more buckets.

We use dish pans. When the concrete sets up you can just pop them off. No need for any oil. Pictures...........

http://images1.snapfish.com/23232323...89%3A345nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/23232323...3%3B%3C6ot1lsi

http://images1.snapfish.com/23232323...3B%3A%3Bot1lsi

http://images1.snapfish.com/23232323...%3C95345ot1lsi