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Joe Chritz
06-24-2008, 11:44 AM
Anyone out here have a floating dock that is attached to the shore?

I have an existing dock that is 48" by 16' long. I am looking at putting two 50 gallon barrels under the end in the water and attach the other side to a pair of 4x set into concrete. A single bolt should allow the ground end to move as the water level drops over the summer.

I am thinking about using a pair of pipes on each side to help steady the dock but I don't know if I really need anything.

If anyone has something similar I would appreciate any pitfalls or advice you may have.

Also this is a small private pond so there isn't wave action (except for fat guy cannon balls) or anything like that to worry about.

Thanks

Joe

Lee Schierer
06-24-2008, 12:25 PM
our two barrels will support about 834 ounds when fully submerged. Neglecting the weight of the barrels, your dock will only support itself plus about 2-3 people before going under water. You might be better off with a pair of adjustable feet at the water end of the dock, depending upon how much the water level actually changes.

Getting from a floating dock into a boat and back out can be a bit tricky as both are trying to move to support the weight. It might be worth while to have a video camera rolling as people try this for the first few times, you could end up on AFV.

Clara Koss
06-24-2008, 8:18 PM
our two barrels will support about 834 ounds when fully submerged. Neglecting the weight of hte barrels, your dock will only support itself plus about 2-3 people before going under water. You might be better off with a pair of adjustable feet at the water end of the dock, depending upon how much the water level actually changes.

Getting from a floating dock into a boat and back out can be a bit tricky as both are trying to move to support the weight. It might be worth while to have a video camera rolling as people try this for the first few times, you could end up on AFV.

yeah...i thought that too!!!!!jejejejeje....:p

Robert Payne
06-24-2008, 11:07 PM
Last summer I built a 16' by 48" wide dock for my son and his family for their small pond behind their home in western CT. It is made in two 8' sections that are bolted together and the shore end is secured to eyebolts in an embedded 6 x 6 at the shore. Under it are four Styrofoam float blocks (designed for dock flotation) held in place with galvanized chainlink fence stretchers that are bent to hold the blocks and through bolted through the 2x6 sides of the dock. I drove galvanized fence posts through U-clamps bolted to the dock sides into the pond bottom to add stability. The dock was surfaced with ChoiceDeck composite material to hold up to the weather. It was not removed over the winter and the kids used it to get out on the pond for skating as it froze solid. My son reports it is still good and solid.

Joe Chritz
06-25-2008, 12:40 AM
Robert that is the ticket. I think I am going to try to use a couple barrels since those styro float blocks are pricey. I assume the pipes will add to the stability of it, being tippy was my only real fear.

Calculating the buoyancy isn't really hard. Two barrels of 50 gallons each will float over 800 pounds.

Joe