Duck Raft - Utility Pole Pontoons?

[lennyzx11]

PVC tubes of 8" capped off may work as pontoons.

 

[Jstpssng]

PVC tubes of 8" capped off may work as pontoons.

Expensive though. I just priced it, for a 14'section the pipe without caps is $76.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Those poles will float enough for the ducks weight.
Probably will float about 3/4 submerged.
Most utility poles will be cedar and therefor will float nicely.

Years back our association made boat docks by floating 4 utility poles wide and simply nailing cross braces and decking with scrap planks.
You could load the docks from end to end with adults and nobody got wet feet.

HOWEVER if your poles were creosote treated (not environmental accepted) the ducks might be affected.

Why not simply get a chunk of dense foam board , like 2" thick 2' x 8' and cut in half to make a 4' X 4' 'raft'.
Deck it with simple 1/2 sheet of plywood and bingo a duck rest raft.
Use the other 1/2 of that ply to make a roof.

OR, last summer a 4' X 4' foam based raft ended up on my lakefront due to a storm.
Free, come and get it. LOL
U wont need a duck ramp and that'll last a lifetime.

^^^ This ^^^ +1

Foam board is cheap, but sunlight will degrade it. Cover the foam with plywood and it will last a good long time. An 1' upright in each corner and cover it with deer fence/chicken wire/whatever is all the protection they need from hawks and eagles. Come to think of it, the ducks may want to sit on top, so it may need to be more than deer fence stout., or have a couple of cross slats.

 

[Argonne]

^^^ This ^^^ +1

Foam board is cheap, but sunlight will degrade it. Cover the foam with plywood and it will last a good long time.

I'm gonna try the utility pole route today. Only 1" foamboard is available locally, so I'd have to laminate at least 3 4x4 sheets to get the desired flotation. That means 2 4x8 sheets at $26ea a sheet plus suitable adhesive. I already need to buy rope and hardware, so it pushes the total cost up to near $80 putting the foam idea a last resort.

I think they're gonna get a flat tin roof, something with little horizontal wind loading to challenge the concrete block anchor stiction. The "hot tin roof" effect will likely discourage them from using the upper floor.

 

[EddieWalker]

Will the ducks use the floating islands? I have a real island in the middle of my small pond and sometimes they use it, most of the time they sleep on the shore where coyotes kill them. After losing enough of them to coyotes, I put in an electric fence. Since then, I've only lost a couple birds per year to hawks and owls. Coyotes would kill half a dozen and just take one, with the others just laying there to rot.

 

[Argonne]

Will the ducks use the floating islands?

We shall see. I launched the raft last night. Night before we lost two more ducks, and I am rather mystified as to who the culprit is. What ever it is, it is leaving zero evidence of violence. Coyotes usually eat them nearby and leave feathers, but this is 4 ducks gone now and nothing. Maybe a big owl or a mountain lion.

I don't have high hopes for most of these guys. We have some kind of ninja predator out there that seems to like a 2 duck meal every 5 days. I do not feel like all night stakeouts with the night vision to protect ducks, and if it is a lion, they'd see me first and lol at me.

As predicted by the first poster, the utility poles worked perfectly as pontoons. They float 3/4 submerged. I ended up decking it with 6" x 6' cedar fence pickets rather than plywood.

 

[Jstpssng]

We shall see. I launched the raft last night. Night before we lost two more ducks, and I am rather mystified as to who the culprit is. What ever it is, it is leaving zero evidence of violence. Coyotes usually eat them nearby and leave feathers, but this is 4 ducks gone now and nothing. Maybe a big owl or a mountain lion.

I don't have high hopes for most of these guys. We have some kind of ninja predator out there that seems to like a 2 duck meal every 5 days. I do not feel like all night stakeouts with the night vision to protect ducks, and if it is a lion, they'd see me first and lol at me.

As predicted by the first poster, the utility poles worked perfectly as pontoons. They float 3/4 submerged. I ended up decking it with 6" x 6' cedar fence pickets rather than plywood.

Raccoons will do that; but this time of year any predator might take their kill, as they have young back at the den. A former animal rescue downstate had a fenced in pond with an island in the middle. They also had multiple floodlights that would turn on and off all night long, at various brief intervals.

 

[Argonne]

Raccoons will do that; but this time of year any predator might take their kill, as they have young back at the den.

Interesting. It's just that this pond is in the middle of about 50 acres of pasture with no cover within hundreds of yards. Seems like I would find one feather or something, somewhere, if it was a smaller predator, but who knows?