What depth and width of plant shelves?
- Thread starter Causeofhim
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Just spent the past few hours watching all 21 episodes of how to build a fish pond. Interesting stuff, and very helpful.
I will not be using "Character Stones" like he did in that build! I have one of me and with three of them they struggled!
Oh, I'm so glad you took he time to watch - that's a great series he put together and the way he breaks it down makes the whole process so much simpler to understand. Plus he shares lots of pro tips to make a pond look natural rather than like a hole in the ground surrounded by a ring of rocks.
The big boulders can be challenging! But the idea is the same, whether you scale it up or scale it down. And when it comes to rocks (that you can see) less is always more. I've seen lots of pretty waterfalls made with three nice, manageable boulders.
I'll tell you how we managed the bigger boulders in our build (and by we, I mean mostly my boy - but sometimes Mom got into the rock hauling act when the brothers weren't all available) - we used a piece of underlayment as a sling. We'd lay out the underlayment and roll the boulder on to the center and use the four corners as "handles" to carry rocks that were way bigger than anything we would have managed by hand. Frequently we set the rock where we wanted it and then just cut around the underlayment and left what was under the rock in place. It was way easier than trying to get it out from underneath and it provided a bit of padding between the rock and the liner.
Late in the pond building game we discovered this tool:
It's called a "pot lifter" or I've seen it sold as a "Pro Lifter". What a difference that thing made! We made quick work of our last dozen or so boulders once we bought this thing. It was designed for nurseries to lift and carry big planters, but we actually found it at a pond store.
I realize these are all "we" stories and not "me" stories, but maybe you can find that one special person to help you. Or maybe you can find a teenager who'd love to make a few bucks helping you haul some boulders. The boulders we moved were all what are considered "two man" or "three man" boulders. All were manageable with the right tools. And like I said, frequently it was me and my son moving the big rocks and, while I am a relatively strong over-50 year old woman, I am no match for my boys. But we managed without a whole lot of difficulty.
The big boulders can be challenging! But the idea is the same, whether you scale it up or scale it down. And when it comes to rocks (that you can see) less is always more. I've seen lots of pretty waterfalls made with three nice, manageable boulders.
I'll tell you how we managed the bigger boulders in our build (and by we, I mean mostly my boy - but sometimes Mom got into the rock hauling act when the brothers weren't all available) - we used a piece of underlayment as a sling. We'd lay out the underlayment and roll the boulder on to the center and use the four corners as "handles" to carry rocks that were way bigger than anything we would have managed by hand. Frequently we set the rock where we wanted it and then just cut around the underlayment and left what was under the rock in place. It was way easier than trying to get it out from underneath and it provided a bit of padding between the rock and the liner.
Late in the pond building game we discovered this tool:
It's called a "pot lifter" or I've seen it sold as a "Pro Lifter". What a difference that thing made! We made quick work of our last dozen or so boulders once we bought this thing. It was designed for nurseries to lift and carry big planters, but we actually found it at a pond store.
I realize these are all "we" stories and not "me" stories, but maybe you can find that one special person to help you. Or maybe you can find a teenager who'd love to make a few bucks helping you haul some boulders. The boulders we moved were all what are considered "two man" or "three man" boulders. All were manageable with the right tools. And like I said, frequently it was me and my son moving the big rocks and, while I am a relatively strong over-50 year old woman, I am no match for my boys. But we managed without a whole lot of difficulty.
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That is a cute green fish!
Man, I wish I could find one of these! Sold out everywhere! There are a few other options on Amazon I may be stuck with but not as slick as this one.
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I was planning on trying this method too. Not knowing how well it works has me looking for other back up options as well. Sounds like maybe I dont need a backup then. Some of these boulders are big and dreading having to move them.
there are other alternatives .
forearm fork truck
www.zoro.com
another indispensable is a hand truck fabric liner fabric cardboard and you can lower boulders strap them to the dolly and then roll the boulder to the side
using fabric on the ground like a slip and slide and then roll bolder onto card board and slip sliding away roll cardboard up boulder in the front and tape around the boulder to hold it up
Or do what we stuborn pollocks do Punt. rent an excavator WITH A THUMB to set the boulders.
As I'm thinking about it I do have a 12 inch wide sling I could sell for half price plus shipping if you'd like I'll never use it again.
forearm fork truck
Stren-Flex Synthetic Web Sling, Cargo Basket Sling (Wide Body), 4 ft L, 6 in W, Nylon, Yellow WB1-906-4 | Zoro
Order Stren-Flex Synthetic Web Sling, Cargo Basket Sling (Wide Body), 4 ft L, 6 in W, Nylon, Yellow, WB1-906-4 at Zoro.com. Great prices & free shipping on orders over $50 when you sign in or sign up for an account.
www.zoro.com
another indispensable is a hand truck fabric liner fabric cardboard and you can lower boulders strap them to the dolly and then roll the boulder to the side
using fabric on the ground like a slip and slide and then roll bolder onto card board and slip sliding away roll cardboard up boulder in the front and tape around the boulder to hold it up
Or do what we stuborn pollocks do Punt. rent an excavator WITH A THUMB to set the boulders.
As I'm thinking about it I do have a 12 inch wide sling I could sell for half price plus shipping if you'd like I'll never use it again.
Last edited:
there are other alternatives .
forearm fork truck
Stren-Flex Synthetic Web Sling, Cargo Basket Sling (Wide Body), 4 ft L, 6 in W, Nylon, Yellow WB1-906-4 | Zoro
Order Stren-Flex Synthetic Web Sling, Cargo Basket Sling (Wide Body), 4 ft L, 6 in W, Nylon, Yellow, WB1-906-4 at Zoro.com. Great prices & free shipping on orders over $50 when you sign in or sign up for an account.
another indispensable is a hand truck fabric liner fabric cardboard and you can lower boulders strap them to the dolly and then roll the boulder to the side
using fabric on the ground like a slip and slide and then roll bolder onto card board and slip sliding away roll cardboard up boulder in the front and tape around the boulder to hold it up
Or do what we stuborn pollocks do Punt. rent an excavator WITH A THUMB to set the boulders.
As I'm thinking about it I do have a 12 inch wide sling I could sell for half price plus shipping if you'd like I'll never use it again.
Hey @GBBUDD not sure i am following this? I have been using a hand truck to move the around the yard and it works well. Are you saying slowly lower it down the shelf like you would stairs? I would be afraind of ruining the edge but maybe thats not a big deal?
I was thinking about using a few boards to roll them down with the hand truck or even just slide the boulders down the boards to where I want them to go.
Excavator would be $500 bucks with delivery included. Its not so much the price that gets me. Its being non skilled at operating and since I would probably need another set of hands even with the rental, i figure might as well just do it manually.
using a endless sling you tie the boulder have the bucket above or just off to the side slip sling over a tooth or better into a shackle and lower it.
forgot you had a hand truck
but yes much easier with help and endless slings aren't free but they are reasonable.
once a boulder starts moving its weight multiplies quickly/
Another trick is a long piece of fabric about 12 feet long place about 3 feet on grade close to the edge place some boulders on the very end for weight place the boulder you want close to the edge on the fabric then bring the remainder of the fabric up over the boulder you want to lowe. slide the boulder over the edge while its wrapped with the fabric the lower side held by the extra boulders and your weight while you are holding the fabric that going over the top and lower it in
forgot you had a hand truck
but yes much easier with help and endless slings aren't free but they are reasonable.
once a boulder starts moving its weight multiplies quickly/
Another trick is a long piece of fabric about 12 feet long place about 3 feet on grade close to the edge place some boulders on the very end for weight place the boulder you want close to the edge on the fabric then bring the remainder of the fabric up over the boulder you want to lowe. slide the boulder over the edge while its wrapped with the fabric the lower side held by the extra boulders and your weight while you are holding the fabric that going over the top and lower it in
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A couple 2x10s or larger ought to do the trick to slid them down into the deep end. You could also make an earth ramp (better if you handn't already excavated it), take the boulders down that ramp, then fold your liner back and remove the ramp. Then fill in the empty spot where the ramp was and move up to the next shelf.
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