Wetlands access

[Golfgar4]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Well HUH, the scales haven't tipped yet. )</font>

How about this?

With the barrels, if the water rises, so does your walkway. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

With the wood frame idea, if the water rises, your boots had better rise too! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Does that help tip the scales? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[johnday]

Garry; The most water I get is only a couple inches depending on how high the beaver dam is. Sooo, I'm still thinkin'. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ByronBob]

The barrel idea is the way to go. It's portable and nobody could say you built a permanent structure in a wetland that way. If you build it in sections though 200 feet is a lot of material............
Don't ask anyone for permission. Doing that will be fatal. Not only will the whole world bark, you'll be a target in the future. might as well raise a flag as a traitor.

Flaura, fauna smauna what's the difference anyway. Developers fill in wetlands all the time. Your at least leaving it there. Think of it as a giant lilly pad your building. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ronjhall]

<font color="blue"> But I might have a bottomless quagmire. </font>
What John means here is that his tractor is to big go out on the ice. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
But I'm not volunteering mine either. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[johnday]

Now Ron, we could always take both tractors upnorth, and you could try first. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Once you got buried I could try to pull you out. Whats a little adventure anyway? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue">Free materials and more work, or pay for materials and less work. </font>

You have to build the deck anyway, so the cost for that part is the same.

Free barrels VS even $5.00 a post tips the scales towards the barrels in a hurry. They just used metal strapping to hold the barrels to the bottom of the deck. If you built the deck in 10' sections you could roll them out on top of each other as you built out. Just come up with some kind of improvised dolly and removable railing system. That way, if you ever have to take it out or re-locate it, just pop off the railings and pull the sections out again.

As I mentioned, they had to add water as ballast because the thing floated too high and was tippy. It actually started in a wetland, then progressed to the lake and the last 40-50 feet were a boat dock. They added enough water to make it float about 6 inches off the water. Worked great.

 

[SPIKER]

I like moss's idea with the floating barrels:

I would use some sort of good method of attaching them over the metal strapping unless you use Stainless Steel? I would think some good bolts into the barrels wout help hold them untill you got a better tie into them. not sure about filling them much as up therer the water freeze may crack them some? make the thing zig & zag, in 10' to 16' sections, and carry each new section out while walking on the top of the others. the zig/zag will keep them from rocking much when people walk on them. good stainless steel attaching materials would be needed between the sections as well as the barrels.


Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Dargo]

The only reason I mentioned posts is because the first dock I built on my previous lake was a floating dock. Never again. I had enough barrels under it to supposedly float a battle ship, but it was so unsteady. I couldn't have my kids out on it with us for fear that someone would move and they would lose their balance and fall in.

My dock, and the one I built for my mother on her lake, is securely planted with 6X6 posts. Even our county cannot use floating walkways in our public wetlands because of the liability of people falling. It is sort of like walking a rope walkway if anyone else is on it with you. Be sure to have tall and secure railing the entire length if you go floating. It will not be stable.

 

[LBrown59]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Moss; Ah yes, the ubiquitous blue barrels. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif And I can even get them for free, )</font>

Get them free ; Man I wish I could get em free.
Or even get them for that matter.

Where do you get them?

I need a bunch of them to put in a 250 foot drainage ditch.

 

[johnday]

LB; I've been getting them from a water treatment plant in a small town not far from me. Hydrogen Peroxide comes in them, 55 gals apiece. I've hauled around 30 of them upnorth for the locals. One neighbor used them to make a septic tank for his deerblind. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif He's very serious about hunting ya know. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif I'm not sure what the peroxide is for tho. I think they remove sulfur from the drinking water with it.

I'm curious, how would you use them in making a drainage ditch? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif