(Sitting on the) Dock of the Pond :-)

[rmorgan]

DaRube--

Great idea you've got. I'm attaching a picture of a floating dock I made last spring and have used daily since for fishing, swimming, and whatall. It is 8x12 and we use it so much that I'm going to double it this winter so we can have a regular table and chairs on it. I used floats and hardware designed for power boat docks and so probably overbuilt (and overpaid--the floats were about $75 each, and it took six). I got the components from a guy in northern KY who has a website I can't find right now. Scruffy is right that when you want to relocated a floating dock, you just pull up the anchors (in our case, the galvanized pipes you see in the photo) and move where you want. The ramp just sits on shore and is turnbuckled to the dock. Another advantage to a floater is that the water level is always constant relative to the dock. If you decide to do fixed posts, I've heard bad things about using either pressure treated or especially creosoted posts in terms of the potential impact on your fish population; remember that most farm ponds are basically bathtubs and anything that gets in the water pretty much stays there for a long time. A good thing about the floats we used is that they are filled with foam so that if they puncture they won't fill. If you used drums you could do the same thing with spray foam insulation. Have fun!

Rick

 

[DaRube]

Wow, you guys are great! I think floats will be the way to go.

Rick (or anyone else), if you are able to find a link to where I can purchase the materials.....I'd love it. Although I'm assuming that a good boating supply store would probably carry this stuff.

BTW....great pic!!

 

[DaRube]

OK..I've done a little searching. Here's what I've found.....

http://www.connectadock.com/dock/connectADock.asp
http://follansbeedocks.com/pages/products.html
http://www.seacomarine.com/html/kits.html

Opinions, anyone??

One of these places addresed the shoreline attachment issue. I have a 3 or 4 foot bank...about a 45deg angle. Thinking that it'll probably require a 12 ft ramp. 8 ft might do, but it would be an uncomfortable slope.

 

[rmorgan]

DaRube--my guy's website is www.dockmodules.com. If you go to "approved foam floats," you'll see the 2x4x12" floats that I used and the other hardware as well.

Rick

 

[dmccarty]

DaRube,

I think the floating dock is the way to go since it adjusts with the water level. I would try to stay away from styrofoam floats. My grandfather had a dock that floated with styrofoam and beads would break off and float around the lake. This was a decent size lake so it was not to noticable but on a small pond I think the beads my be a problem. I'm sure the beads are still in the lake even though, yikes, 25 years have past.... I would try to get plastic barrels or at least try to wrap the foam floats somehow...

Good luck.
Dan

 

[uppermich]

I love my floating dock! The pond level varies considerably between spring run-off and end of summer, so floatiing is ideal and I love to sit so close to the water. There are three 4'x 8' sections and one 8'x 8' at the end. It is built out of pressure treated lumber and pink insulation board (not the white "bead" type). I was going to use barrels, but barrels get pretty "tippy" and high off the water unless there is enough weight. Besides, I wasn't sure I could find enough barrels to do this.

It is "bouncy' enough to intimidate most people - you need your sea legs to walk on it. I ordered the hardware from Follansbee Dock. I just drop (not pound) in the poles to steady it, and I put solar lights and net in the poles. There is a bronze frog fountain and solar panel on the side and rod holders w/rods at the end

It will hold quite a few people, but is only comfortable for two or three adults with lawn chairs and/or fishing poles on the end section (especially since my Great Dane follows me everywhere). If I were going to redo it, I'd make the end section larger - maybe 8'x 12'.

Oh yeah - the pond is "P" shaped and about 75' x 150' on the main area and 8' deep pretty much throughout.

Pat (Techno-Tractor Mom)

 

[Harv]

Yikes, Pat!

Couldn't you find a more recent picture? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif What with the geographic time warp, I was viewing your pond about an hour before you took it. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Looks like paradise to me. Gorgeous colors. I might have to rethink my preconceptions of upper Michigan. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

You guys are creating a new project for me. My fixed-post dock is now about 10 feet above the pond basin, which is nearly dry at the moment (long hot summer continues). It's a little unnerving 'cuz my kids are quite used to running out to the end whenever it suits them. Guess I should be fencing it off for that reason alone. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

These floating docks make a lot of sense, but I'm thinking I'll need a pretty long ramp to handle the 8-foot drop (normally) each year. Any rules of thumb on that aspect?

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

DaRube,

Fun project/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif One thing I might add to all the help your getting is, consider the winter ice should the pond freeze over. I have seen a lot of darn nice looking docks that didn't make it thru the winter.

Al

 

[Tdog]

Floaters make a world of sense. Does anyone have any experience in working from scratch [not ordering one of these kits], say, using plastic 55 gal. drums?

 

[scruffy]

Tdog, never worked with the plastic drums, but have with the metal 55gal drums. Those are simple to seal, tack weld together in a row and lay your decking over. My brothers and I used 2X10's (if I remember right) and cut arches to anchor the pontoons under it, with an end board to lock the dock cover in place over the drums. Worked fine. Just be sure to seal the (?) ...dang, lost the word for the plugs on the top end!