Cutting poly tubing all afternoon

[Telkwa]

Bought a 500' roll of 1/2" poly drip irrigation tubing at HD. I tried cutting it with our chop saw, but that was wasteful (plastic sawdust with each cut), loud, and created pieces of tubing with lots of burrs and rough bits of plastic hanging on.

On another trip to HD, found Ridgid PC-1250 Plastic Pipe and Tubing Cutter.

A young fellow was walking by. I described to him what I wanted to do. His face lit up. He said, "Dude, that thing cuts thru irrigation tubing like butter."

So I bought one. It does cut thru the tubing pretty easily, but 500 feet is still a lot. Partway thru I zip-tied the PC-1250 to a sawhorse so I could just lean on the handle instead of clenching it.

500 feet of tubing, when chopped up into approximately 1 1/2 inch pieces, doesn't exactly make an impressive pile of media. Doesn't take up much more space than the original roll did. Looks like I'll have to chop up a couple more rolls to make a halfway decent layer in our 350 gallon tote.

Yes, I know, a 350 gallon tote is overkill :lol:

I have this crazy idea for attaching the tubing cutter to a board, then making a wood disc that attaches to our drill motor, and combining the two into some sort of motorized tubing cutter. Fabricate a stop at 1 1/2" so one person spins the drill motor with the wood disc while another person feeds poly tubing into the chompers. Will post a picture if I can make it happen.

 

[Olee]

I just hire my son to do it....lol

 

[addy1]

I just hire my son to do it....lol

That is the way to go!

 

[bsr8129]

it must take 1000-1500 just to fill a 55 gal drun i would hate to think how much it would take to fill 350, thats a lot of cutting

 

[DrDave]

I used a small paper cutter and a laborer. It took 2 hours to cut 7000 pieces.

 

[addy1]

Wish I had a laborer................if nothing else to haul rocks, those suckers are heavy!

A paper cutter, great idea.

 

[Telkwa]

Doc, I'd read your article on your website, and thought a paper cutter was a great idea. Just couldn't think of someone who could loan me one. I probly shoulda stopped by Staples and checked on prices.

I also didn't have a laborer. Well, my wife would say she has one :regular_waving_emot

I was not inventive enuf to make a motorized tubing cutter. I got it to make a few cuts but it just didn't work as planned. Patti watched silently as I angrily tore the contraption apart and threw it on the garage floor. Kept the clamping part, which was just two pieces of plywood screwed together so that the Ridgid tool was affixed in between. I screwed the clamping part to a sheet of plywood, then bolted a lever to the plywood. With a little piece of wood between the lever and the Ridgid handle to act as a pushrod, I could row the lever back and forth and work the tubing cutter. Patti fed tubing as I rowed. We got a pretty good rhythm going, but were very happy to get to the end of another 500' roll.

For those of you who are wondering, a 500' roll of 1/2" poly tubing cut into approx. 1.5" bits fills a Rubbermaid 32 gallon trash can just a bit less than halfway. It was disheartening to see how little media we'd made after dragging the tubing chomper lever back & forth for hours.

I'm stopping at three rolls of poly tubing. That oughta make a deep enuf mat inside the 350 gal. tote. Patti wants to fill the thing, but that would take about $500 of tubing!

 

[stroppy]

Doc, I'd read your article on your website, and thought a paper cutter was a great idea. Just couldn't think of someone who could loan me one. I probly shoulda stopped by Staples and checked on prices.

I also didn't have a laborer. Well, my wife would say she has one :regular_waving_emot

I was not inventive enuf to make a motorized tubing cutter. I got it to make a few cuts but it just didn't work as planned. Patti watched silently as I angrily tore the contraption apart and threw it on the garage floor. Kept the clamping part, which was just two pieces of plywood screwed together so that the Ridgid tool was affixed in between. I screwed the clamping part to a sheet of plywood, then bolted a lever to the plywood. With a little piece of wood between the lever and the Ridgid handle to act as a pushrod, I could row the lever back and forth and work the tubing cutter. Patti fed tubing as I rowed. We got a pretty good rhythm going, but were very happy to get to the end of another 500' roll.

For those of you who are wondering, a 500' roll of 1/2" poly tubing cut into approx. 1.5" bits fills a Rubbermaid 32 gallon trash can just a bit less than halfway. It was disheartening to see how little media we'd made after dragging the tubing chomper lever back & forth for hours.

I'm stopping at three rolls of poly tubing. That oughta make a deep enuf mat inside the 350 gal. tote. Patti wants to fill the thing, but that would take about $500 of tubing!

have you thought of trying the strapping stuff ....no cutting and very good

 

[addy1]

have you thought of trying the strapping stuff ....no cutting and very good

yep add the strapping to the poly tube have both, good idea stroppy

 

[Telkwa]

Yeah, I have thought of the strapping. I even emailed an ebay supplier to make sure his did not have adhesive. My wife liked the idea of the tubing more than the strapping, but I think you guys are right - add some loosely netted strapping on top of the poly tubing to fill up some of the extra space in that cavernous 350 gal. tote.

 

[Oldhead]

That cutter is exactally what i used to cut mine. parked in front of the tv and had at it.

 

[DrDave]

I can't remember what size pond you have but unless it is over 10,000 gallons, this is a waste of a good tote. I would use it as a quarantine tank & a nursery during spawning and the first 6 months.
A 55 gallon drum is perfect for upt to 2,000 gallons and if your fish load isn't too high, you could go higher with it.

 

[Telkwa]

Hi, Doc -

Our pond volume is roughly 2000 to 2500 gallons. What with the shelf and the rocks and the kidney shape, we weren't sure how to calculate.

Based on the info picked up from this and other forums, we knew the 350 gal. tote was overkill. I thought, what the hey. But I didn't fully comprehend what it was going to take to create a working bed of media in a 3' by 4' container. We got the tote for free from work. But if I spend $400 to fill it with media when a rain barrel and $100 of media is more than enuf, the "free" tote doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it?

We'll have to sit down with coffee this morning and decide which way to go.

It sounds like you'd suggest bagging the tote as a biofilter and just go buy a rain barrel or trash container? Some of the wheeled trash barrels have nice flat faces on them. But I wonder if they bulge outwards when full of water?

EDIT: We have 10 adult goldfish, and 14 kids. Four young shubunkins, and 10 offspring of the adults. I don't know whether the 10 offspring survived from last year or this year? They're about an inch and a half long right now.

I've bought several pond books, and the general rule of thumb appears to be one inch of fish per square foot of water surface. I think that was it(?) We're already right at the rule of thumb just with the adults. It would be great to hear from the forum members how they arrive at fish loading calculations.

 

[koiguy1969]

at 2500 gals .. 2 55 gallon barrel filters would serve you well or a 150 gal stocktank would be fantastic. my 70 gal stocktank keeps my 1200 gal pond crystal clear and my water parameters are ideal, consistantly ideal!!...the lower profile of the stocktanks make for an easy waterfall build...as this picture shows
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2216&d=1270229466

 

[addy1]

EDIT: We have 10 adult goldfish, and 14 kids. Four young shubunkins, and 10 offspring of the adults. I don't know whether the 10 offspring survived from last year or this year? They're about an inch and a half long right now.

I've bought several pond books, and the general rule of thumb appears to be one inch of fish per square foot of water surface. I think that was it(?) We're already right at the rule of thumb just with the adults. It would be great to hear from the forum members how they arrive at fish loading calculations.

With the bigger filter, i.e. the one your are building, you would not have to worry as much about how many fish you have. It would help.