How to create bridged network interface?

I am trying to create a bridge network interface off my eth0

i'm on ubuntu 13.10 :?:

I've tried several different methods editing /etc/network/interfaces

All my attempts end with me lossing network connection to the machine and I have to rebuild to regain remote access.

Heres my latest /etc/network/interfaces which is currently on the machine and currently unable to ssh to

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual

auto br0
iface br0 inet dhcp
  bridge_ports eth0
  bridge_fd 9
  bridge_hello 2
  bridge_maxage 12
  bridge_stp off

I have also tried a setup like the following with same results:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual

auto br0
iface br0 inet static
  address 173.230.156.218
  broadcast 173.230.156.25
  netmask 255.255.255.0
  gateway 173.230.156.1
  bridge_ports eth0
  bridge_fd 9
  bridge_hello 2
  bridge_maxage 12
  bridge_stp off
  post-up /usr/sbin/brctl setfd br0 0 addif br0 eth0