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ralphthedog

Building a Floating Dock.

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ralphthedog

I am planning on building a floating dock, for a camp. It is a small inland lake, and I am thinking about an 8' x 8' deck. I was going to use those 55 gal plastic barrels, and was thinking 4 would be good. Basically, my plan is to make a deck, and float it on the barrels.

Any thoughts or suggestions?? All are appreciated.

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Bear
I am planning on building a floating dock, for a camp. It is a small inland lake, and I am thinking about an 8' x 8' deck. I was going to use those 55 gal plastic barrels, and was thinking 4 would be good. Basically, my plan is to make a deck, and float it on the barrels.

Any thoughts or suggestions?? All are appreciated.

I have built quite a few in my time. I would recommend a few things. Use pressure treated lumber. Build it at least 12 feet long, longer if you can, it makes it more stable. I use foam floats but barrels are OK, just be sure they are secure under the dock, if one comes out good luck getting it back in. Also if you are putting a ladder on the end for swimmers, put some extra flotation on that end, it just makes it more stable. Use screws not nails, a little more expensive, but they do a nicer job and if you ever need to change a board or get underneath, it makes life a lot easier. Put rails on the side, it stops stuff from rolling off and gives you a place to secure your boat.

Good luck.

Bear

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Bill Arnott

You can 1/2 fill the barrels with water to get them underneath and then pump out with a hand pump. Depending on the weight of your platform you may leave some water in the barrels to float at the correct height . The water will also add some stability by reducing the bobber effect.

>Bill


CRESTINER BOATS SMITHS RV BRENNEN FORD THUNDERBAYFISHING.COM

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Some Old Guy

Yes Bill!

I had to lift my dock last year and float it back into place. I used two barrels. I filled them with water (the top had two screw in openings). I then placed the barrels under the dock and left the top cap on and took the bottom one off. I then used my air compressor and filled it with air from the bottom. It worked perfectly and fast. Got the dock back into place and took off both caps to get the barrels back out. One of the easiest fixes for a dock that broke in half!

Roger


R.T.R. Respect the resource!

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ralphthedog

Thanks for the responses and ideas so far.

All I want is a dock to fish off of with my little guy for perch, and to be able to pull it up on shore without the use of a skidder for the winter. I was also planning to build it in town, and transport it out to the lake. Easier to run to Canadian Tire for supplies.

Would it make sense to build 3 4 x 8' sections, 2 barrels per section, and then bolt them together using hinges??

I was planning on using screws, PT wood, and 4x4 corners to use as a railing, probably about 2 feet high, so you can still fish over it.

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Snowball

My brother recently built a dock using 2 plastic barrels for the flotation devices. It floated very well but was somewhat unstable. Legs (2x4s and trees) had to be added along both sides(secured with deck screws and into solid ground on the river bottom).

It was a temporary installation, removed when we left.

Regards,

Snowball

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tracker

The trouble with barrels is the surface area that sits in the water isn't all that much. My neighbour built his dock out of 2 litre plastic pop bottles contained with wire mesh. Very stable but it took a lot of bottles.


Tracker

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