🛺 The Piaggio Bamboo Hauler 🎍 Surprise Wheelies Anytime, Anywhere 😮
Our fence project is moving along steadily, and now we've secured a source of Chinese bamboo about 18km away near where our kids attend school.
An Affordable Picket Source 🎍
We are a family on a very tight budget, so I knew when would make our fence that we'd have to find a solution other than wood to be used as the pickets in between the fence posts. I had hoped bamboo would work, but the local variety available for free in the forest is not construction quality, and disintegrates in less than a year's time.
Several months ago I noticed a pickup truck loaded with fat green bamboo climbing the mountain, and ever since then I've been trying to figure out where it came from. We recently had a breakthrough, discovering the location, and also that the landowner wants all the bamboo gone ASAP to make room for his expanding durian farm.
You Cut, You Pay 🪓
A quick chat with the landowner, and we worked out a deal to pay 75 cents per tree. We have to cut it and transport it ourselves, and so far the tuk-tuk seems capable of transporting 20x 3-meter pieces per trip, which is about 7 bamboo trees. There are about 40 trees left to cut and take away, and we promised the landowner we'd take it all, it's hard to resists at such cheap prices.
The number one most important thing when we cut the bamboo is to make sure no durian trees are damaged in the process. Windy days are no good because the bamboo is so tall that it can fall in any direction, so we basically just come here when the weather permits. With 40 trees left to cut and transport, I guess I have about 5 or 6 more trips to make with the tuk-tuk before we've cleared the land of all bamboo.
Not Your Average Bamboo 🐼
I asked the landowner if this bamboo's shoots were edible, and he said they were delicious. Goof for construction and good to eat, that's a winning combo, so we have a few stalks and shoots in hopes they will grow roots and we can establish this species here on our land.
This bamboo is incredibly heavy compared to the wild bamboo I am used to working with, or more accurately using the wild bamboo to make kindling for firestarting. I am only able to carry one or two of these stalks across the field at a time. We discovered a nearby road that is actually closer, but I have to walk across a field to get the bamboo to the tuk-tuk. As I am the youngest, I opted to do the heavy lifting job and let the guys do the cutting.
One By One 🛺
The road that I parked on is actually the road I used to use last year when I took the village kids to a school halfway to the town. Teh bamboo is actually visible from this road, so I wonder how I never noticed it before. My biggest concern was the fulcrum effect from having so much bamboo jotting out behind the rear axles. The suspension wasn't squatting, in the back, but the front end was getting very light, so I stopped at 20x pieces.
Piece by piece I carried the bamboo across the above field and loaded the tuk-tuk. In retrospect I now know I need more weight in the front, so perhaps with a passenger sharing the driver's seat I could add 5 or 10 more bamboo stalks. Most of all I was glad to not encounter any landmines or king cobras, two things that this area is full of.
Above is the fully loaded tuk-tuk, a true wheelie-poppin' machine. It's a shame we need the bamboo cut at 3 meters in length because I could carry so much more at 2 meters long. Oh well, it's not a terrible trip, and some of the runs I could do on my way back from shopping or other errands.
Safe Arrival & A Surprise Wheelie 🏚️
I knew the front end was light because the suspension was rattling on the way home, a sign the shock was under almost no load. Going up the mountain and banging gears, everything seemed okay, but the little lip that I have to climb to get in the hardly a garage caused me to pop a surprise wheelie, allowing me to arrive home in style 🤣.
I've had little time for much engagement on Hive and missed several posts because of this project, so I'm having a hard time juggling funding the work while still participating in the work. Well, it's certainly satisfying to see the fence posts in the ground and the mound of bamboo stalks growing day by day. That's all for now folks, more wheelies and picket fences in the near future......
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There s also a bamboo in your place sr? just like the Philippines too! But you have a tool used to cut it whereas here we used bolo only.
We have something like a bolo here, no power tools. We got cut the bamboo with machetes, hand axes, and saws. It is hard work, but the bamboo is so cheap that we want to take it all.
Yay! 🤗
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I'm representing Rolla KE20 club to present Piaggio Ape community this
You need a wheelie bar to fully squeeze the last drop of horse powah from that lil monster
Well that is one of the shortest dragsters I have ever seen. I bet it is hard to keep that KE20 traveling in a straight line at full throttle. It certainly has more ponies and wheelie stability than the Piaggio, but I'm not sure where to put the bamboo 😆.
I hope you are very careful in your work because the bamboo material is very sharp and could hurt you. We recommend that you rent transport as transport is better for transport
I have been stabbed by bamboo more times than like to admit, but usually it happens at home when I am cutting grass and slide down the hill. The tuk-tuk is a good hauler though, and very safe as long as we travel slowly up the mountain.
I never knew bamboo could grow so tall! 😮 That one pic from a distance is amazing, and it dwarfs the man in the photo!
The local wild bamboo grows very skinny and topples over after two years, then quickly rots, but this Chinese variety makes huge clumps and very thick stalks, almost as heavy as wood of the same size.
A busy day for you cutting and transporting the bamboo and constructing the bamboo-made fence!Indeed a very productive day for you!Good luck and take care!
We will try to use as much bamboo as possible because we hate to see the rapid loss of the forest here due to illegal logging, Unfortunately this Chinese variety of bamboo isn't common here, but we are trying to grow some of it on our land.
Bamboo is one really useful plant
We have some big plans, this variety is very good for construction.
During my country last election, most of the candidate's party flags were tied it on a bamboo and displayed on the road side. The bamboo it a very hot item that many people steal it including me 😶
Haha, I can't fault you for that, you can use bamboo for so many things, and in more urban areas, it's exponentially more precious 😆.
Now that's a great find! That tuk tuk is certainly serving you well. Getting all that moved is going to bulk you up at least a little!
I am bound and determined to get my $3,000 out of that thing. I would say we are least 1/3 of the way there at this point. When working with bamboo a full day, it is nearly impossible to not get stabbed at least once.
I guess not everything made in China breaks apart easily and very quickly
The wheelie part made me laugh. I guess it's in your Kentuckian blood ;<)
Sounds like a good deal, this bamboo, for multiple reasons ( construction and food )
Big hug!
I try to avoid Chinese products when possible, especially Chinese products made for Cambodian export because Cambodia has almost no quality control standards. In this case though, I am quite happy to take this panda food and use it for various purposes. And a little wheelie here and there never hurt, gotta keep the inner Kentuckianan alive.
I get that but it's near imossible to get around it, here, if you want to buy something new, that is.
I even discovered, last week, that ginger, that I found in a small local grocery shop, in my street, was imported all the way from China!
Yes, buddy, keep that inner Kentuckian alive! That's the spirit!
That fence is going to look awesome when it's finished. What a bargain for the bamboo. Hopefully you can get some sucklings growing. Better pick your spot wisely when you plant them tho, judging by the size they can grow to.
More than making a fence, I would love to get this species established on our land so we have a longterm source of bamboo when we need to make repairs here and there. They do grow incredibly tall, but at least it is a clumping variety that won't send shoots underground over the whole property.
🙏🙏🙏