Support for a water butt

[Doggit]

Sorry Stephen, but the reason that you're getting so much flack, is that we see it as a simple problem, and so we've given straighforward solutions, which youu seem to want to igniore, possibly because you're waiting for someone to agree with you're way of thinking. With the shape of your water butt, you only need six concrete blocks laid on their side in an wide H pattern, and it's as simple as that.

 

[StephenOak]

@Doggit

Well no-one has actually answered my original question, namely a method of doing this that means that is sufficiently cheaper so that two new butts for £51 to no longer seem a good deal. As I said in my reply to Ian H, 12 blocks (of the type you suggested) plus a connecting kit is c. £30.

If a stack of blocks is the cheapest method and that will cost c. £30 then someone could have just said that and left it to me to decide how much I value my time at.

And maybe I was wrong to worry about a stack of blocks (with a 200kg weight on top) being stable and maybe I was wrong to think they needed protection from the elements. In which case I would have thought saying so, maybe with reasons, was more helpful than rolling eyes at my stupidity. People don't post questions in the areas in which they are expert but in the areas where they need help.


BTW, the solutions you personally have suggested may be straightforward to implement but I don't understand how they would work, so in that sense they are not straightforward solution.

I was originally thinking of placing the blocks with the 440x215 side down, two running left to right, then two running front to back then, two running left to right; to give a height of 300mm, the minimum to get a watering can underneath.

Earlier you said "6 concrete blocks will do the job safely, or 4 and a piece of wood across the top" and I don't see how I can get a height of at least 300mm from four blocks and a piece of wood, unless you are thinking of having one of the layers with the 215x100 side down.

In this post you said "you only need six concrete blocks laid on their side in an wide H pattern". Again the only way I can think of getting a height of at least 300mm is with one of the layers with the 215x100 side down.

Without some form of connection between the blocks, both of these sound very unstable to me.

 

[Tigercubrider]

As I mentioned several posts ago, plastic beer/milk crates are very sturdy and stack.
I have a circular polypropylene container that was originally a can recycling bin that is about 1.5 m high and 1m round at the bottom of my garden

It sits on two pairs of crates to get height

You could also just slip a metre of hose onto the tap, placing the butt on the ground.
Use the tap as a valve and sacrifice a few cm of water that won't flow out.

Or if they are going to be next to each other, connect them all together with pipe at the bottom and use one that has height, although less water will be available

 

[r896neo]

To be honest I was just trying to be funny, just add a bit of sarcasm to a very long wordy post about a very straight forward problem. I hope you get it sorted and perhaps if you are in need of an explanation of how to lay a stack of blocks under a water butt the new ones with dedicated stands are possibly the best bet for your situation.

 

[StephenOak]

As I mentioned several posts ago, plastic beer/milk crates are very sturdy and stack.

Thanks for reminding me about that and that sounds plausible. The problem is I have no idea where to lay my hands on them. Do you have any suggestions?

To be honest I was just trying to be funny, just add a bit of sarcasm to a very long wordy post

Sorry the attempted humour did not come off, at least not to me. I did not mean to be wordy. However I have seen quite a lot of posts where someone has asked a question with no, or little, background and then people trying to help have had to ask loads of questions to understand the context. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

perhaps if you are in need of an explanation of how to lay a stack of blocks under a water butt

Part of the reason I got a bit annoyed was that this was not the question I asked but it was the one that people were answering.

I can lay blocks (and do an adequate job of applying mortar & render). What I was surprised at was how expensive it would be for the number of blocks just to make a base, compared to bases, butts, connectors & delivery.

So the question that I asked was "Can anyone think of another way of raising these water butts up sufficiently that would be cheaper than using blocks?".

Apart from shaving a bit off with cheaper blocks (and no mortar/render), I think the only answer to that is the one from @Tigercubrider. Now I need to see if I can lay my hands on some free (or very cheap) crates!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Leave it on the ground and dig a hole in front of it to get the watering can under the tap. This thread just keeps on giving.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Try a pub or your milkman for crates

Obviously you'd need to offer a bit of cash just to be polite

I have several that I acquired years ago and they are handy for decorating and general height boosts

 

[Ian H]

You could do it with 5 blocks.

3 in a H all stood on their ends (as a builder would lay them), the 2 on their sides on top. That would be strong and only £5.

 

[John D v2.0]

If you're after economy we considered getting a water butt but at 1p per 5l from the tap a whole butt is only 40p worth of water.
So you'd have to fill and empty it over 50 times to save anything.
Cheaper to send it down the drain and get fresh unless you have fish.