Lowdown and cheap...

Tim's brother-in-law, Gary Hess, is crafting us a serious honey hole in Missouri.  Guaranteed water in standing crops, about a mile from a major refuge.  In order to utilize this honey hole we need low profile cover that will keep us dry and concealed.  We also have to guarantee that we can remove all traces of it once season is over.  Oh yeah, it needs to be cheap!

Enter the 'so far' fantastic idea of using slightly modified 275 gallon industrial totes.  Don't feel dense if you don't know what a 275 gallon tote is, I didn't either before this project started.  It is basically the big brother of a 55 gallon drum, and is used to transport and store liquids, usually hazardous

This is what the tote looks like before modifications, the first of which is removing the bars from the top and cutting off the top of the 275 gallon polyethylene 'bottle'.  After that, the specific modifications to make these totes fit our needs begin. Click on the links to view pictures of each step.

We build a 4x8 frame and mount to the top of the steel cage.

The 4x8 frame will serve as a dry spot to set stuff since these pit-blinds will be sitting in the middle of a flooded field.

We cut the top off of the 275 gallon polyethylene bottle. The 4x8 frame is attached to the steel cage using 2" galvanized bolts that hold the bottle to the cage. The bolts sit on the bars of the cage.

We paint the polyethylene bottle with Krylon Fusion paint, the wood with and steel with ultra-flat spray paint. I then apply my patented "Mossy Pompus" camo pattern to the whole deal using lighter colored ultra-flat spray paint.

We paint the inside of the polyethylene bottle with Krylon Fusion paint as well, then apply a "Mossy Pompus" pattern.

We came up with sliding tops made from PVC and heavy tarp. The units will be attached end-to-end in the field, with a dog unit and a storage unit in between the totes.

Here is a closer look at the sliding tops.

An overhead view of a completed tote.

An overhead view of a tote before the tarp is painted.

An overhead view showing incomplete dog unit and how it will fit between tote units. When installed, it will be LEVEL with them.

An overhead view of three totes and the dog unit, similar to how they will be installed in the flooded crop field.

Another overhead of the completed tote.

Here is a picture of the dog unit with the roof installed and most of the unit painted.

Here is closer view of the roof on the dog unit.

Same view with rafia grass attached, this will conceal Hank.

Full view of dog unit.

Side view of dog unit.