I’m curious to learn how many builders use earthbag stands to hold bags during the filling process. I’ve found they’re unnecessary. I fill earthbags in place on the wall, and with just a little care the bags remain vertical with no added support. A bucket chute holds the bag open, and nothing else is needed. This means one less thing to build or buy, and one less thing to move around hundreds of times (particularly while balancing high on the wall).
It occurred to me that I’ve almost never heard or seen anyone using bag stands except for the reference in Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tips and Techniques. We’d love to hear your opinion. Please leave a comment.
We’re using a bag stand. We use pretty large (5 gallon) buckets though, fill them about a third which is still rather heavy after about 50 or so, and it’s just easier to work with.
No need to line them up. Just let it rest where you are working on the wall. Due to that it is only the butt end that will touch or snag on the barb just an upward lift or tugg sends it loose with minor damage to the bags and more speed on the walls.
thats one for your book owen. Here’s another one: two “L” strips of rebar with 1/4 rings tied into rebar stakes at corners of rectilinear walls.
I agree Barzakh Falah scores one point for a method to eliminate earthbag sliders. (Some people may still prefer to use sliders, but it’s good to show they may not be necessary.)
Please tell me more about the 2nd method. I think you are describing rebar corner braces on square corners. What are the rings you describe and how are they attached? Are the rebar braces horizontal? What direction are the pins?
we don’t use using bag stands
I prefer the “Holy” Bucket myself. We tried a bag stand, but it was too difficult to get the bags to stay affixed to the stand for hands free filling. The bucket was quick, simple, and readily available. Happy Filling.
Thanks Jeff. Sounds like you’re doing the same thing we are.
Do you use a slider? (See previous comment.)
The stands are actually less efficient. The bags can get jammed on them due to the heavy weight of the soil. If your bags change even slightly in width you have to adjust the top of the stands. Even though i like the practice of “scooching” the bag to get that stream line brick look i found out in Haiti that you can do this with the bucket shoots too.
One other thing Owen, I find that I don’t need the use of any type of sliders to avoid the barb wires.
Thanks for the input. How do you adjust bags when they’re hooked on the barbed wire? Or maybe you’ve learned to line them up perfectly every time so no adjustments are necessary?