Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Yet Another Floating Wharf

I just finished building an 8'x16' floating wharf. I chose that size for economy and ease of building, and it should be just big enough for my needs. I used 10 blue plastic drums for flotation, and 5 fits nicely within the 16'length. The drums were easy to come by through my wife. She works at a dialysis clinic, where they purchase acetic acid (medical grade vinegar) in them.

When the treated wood was delivered, I noticed it was fairly straight, as treated lumber goes. It was all slightly but equally long and out of square. I had to make a decision on whether to square off all that big 2X lumber, or use it as is. Since the 2x12's were out of square by only 1/8" over 11-1/2", I decided to use it. Nobody would notice it but me, and it would save me a lot of time and work. Nobody but us knows that every board is slightly out of square, so let's keep it our secret, OK?

I built the wharf on the ground, on an end of the pond where the levee is 50' wide and pretty flat. The 2 perimeter and 3 inner joist's went together very quickly, despite working alone. I paid special attention to keeping things flat and square, and kept the perimeter 2x12's eyeball straight. I squared up, checked and re-checked, then diagonally braced everything together with 8' 2x4's until I was satisfied. The Torx head stainless steel screws proved to be very soft, and were easy to twist off. I had to set my drill driver's torque adjustment just short of breakage. The decking part went more slowly. I spaced the planks at about 5/16", and fudged occasionally to return them to square. I tried to keep the crowns up, but an occasional knot hole forced me to face the crown downward. I used Gorilla glue for rigidity, and learned to it judiciously, as it expands 3 times. I advise using blue Nitrile gloves when using it, as it's very tenaceous, and stains your hands terribly.

Once finished with the building, I got help to launch the wharf. I ran a single 20' sling around it at the balance point. Using a chain and slip hook, I hoisted it up with my trusty little tractor. I moved it into place, and lowered it down close to the pond, stopping about 18" above the water. As usual, I am kicking myself for not bringing my camera along. The little tractor hauling the wharf balanced on a single sling was quite a sight. My intrepid No. 2 son volunteered to wade into the pond, and shoved the 10 barrels in between the perimeter joists. The joists were spaced precisely for the drum diameter to fit snugly. Total building and deployment time was about 10 hours.

I am delighted with the results. The little wharf looks just fine to me, but you be the judge. It's solid as a rock. The decking hardly yields when I bounce up and down, and the flotation has enormous reserve. The only problem is, the 2x12 joists are a little too wide. The wharf rides only about 5" above the water line. When I stand on a corner, the wharf tilts a bit, and the corner barely touches the water. This is probably harmless, but I would rather keep the wood dry at all times. When I stand way out on the end, it still rides a good inch above the water line. When I stand on one of the sides, it hardly moves at all. In retrospect, maybe I should have used 2x10's for the joists. They would have added 2" of extra freeboard, and would have been plenty strong. The 2x10's would also have saved ~100 lbs off the wharf's ~1000 lb weight, and it would have floated perhaps 1/4" higher. I may decide to add rails and/or lamp posts for night activity. I can't wait to see how fishing poles, lawn chairs, and an ice chest look on my floating wharf.


Here's the bill of materials:

10 ea free plastic drums
5 ea 16' treated 2x12 for perimeter and main joists
2 ea 8' treated 2x12 for perimeter ends
33 ea 8' treated 2x6 decking
2 ea 8' 2x4 studs for bracing
5 lb 10x3" ss screws - deck fasteners
25 ea 10x3-1/2 ss screws - perimeter fasteners
8 oz Gorilla Glue - perimeter, decking, barrel bungs
4 ea 1/2x4" eye bolts and nuts for roping off
2 ea 16" screw-in ground anchors
25' 3/8" poly rope

Cost ~$400

Since I know Eddie will ask for pictures, I ran out this AM and took some. The weather was dreary, so excuse the dullness.

Dreary weather, but smooth water



A longer shot



Excuse my hasty gangplank. We will need a better one.



1 of 4 eye bolts for tieing it off.

this is why i love this site.

nice job bob, great documentation, thanks for the effort of pulling it all together so other pondmeisters could build one if they want to.

and congratulations on the new dock. all it needs is a couple rod holders, chairs and one of those tables with an umbrella comin up through it....good stuff.

Bobad looks great. I built one of these a few years back. Did everything as you discribed, but I didn't have a tractor with a front loader then. Me and my son built the joist frame and attached the barrels. Then we launched it by hand and decked it after it was floating. Are you going to put a walk way on it to push it out further? If so it needs to be hinged to accomindate water level changes. Job well done my friend.

Hey RT. Thanks for the kind words.

Thanks for the tip! I think I'll splice a couple of 8' 2x8's with angle iron, and make a hinged gangplank.

I did about 20 minutes of cleanup work on my wharf after it was launched, and I don't know how you did it! I had my head down scraping glue, and didn't look at the horizon. It made me a little nauseous in that short time.

Bobad...outstanding project! Well done!
I, of all folk, truly appreciate your detailed explanation. I feel like I was right there with ya, squeezin' the gorilla.
There is a whole lot to be said for floating docks like that. The biggest plus is the obvious one: don't like it here; no problem . And don't forget; one transom board and we have a Cody work-barge!

Thanks Brettski. I think I'll build a light row boat some day, and add it to the fleet. I'll call it my "Brown Water Navy".

Bob,

Surely you are refereing to another Eddie? hahhaa

But of course, the pictures are much appreciated!! It's a great looking platform that I'm sure you'll come to love as much as the pond itself. We have a small pier on our little pond and somehow manage to walk out to the end of it just about every day. It's a magnet that pulls you to the pond with the ability to remove all will power to resist!!! hahahaa

The gangplank should be fun to build too. I'd probably pour a small pad on the shoreline and attach it there, or put wheels on that end of it so it can move easily. How much will your water level drop?

The hing to connect the two together presents a few problems. I like to use store bought when I can, but I'm not sure of how big you'd need to suppor the weight of the gangplank and people walking on it. Hinges are pretty strong, so I would think a large exterior gate hing would work. Use bolts with washers to mount it so the hinge back is in the up position so it will open when the water level drops.

Interesting.

Eddie

Eddie,

I was referring to the Eddie that is always trying to train me to post pictures. Your training finally paid off!

Since I don't have a well, the water level could drop as much as 2 feet. I was thinking of bolting on a couple of short pieces of 4x6, then drilling and screwing some "L"-shaped gate hinges into them. The concrete pad is a great idea. If I pour one, I think I'll carve "Thought up by eddie_walker, 2007" on it.

Sounds like you guys really enjoy your pier. I'm already finding that it's the first place I go when we visit the pond.

Bob,

Great project.

I just recently made up a materials list for a somewhat similar floating dock based on blue barrels, but mine was going to be half the width of yours -- 16 x 4 foot.

You changed my mind.

All great suggestions. Doubling the width and turning the drums 90 degrees should be a lot more stable than what I was planning. I too was going to use 2 x 12s. Now I think I will go with your suggestion of 2 x 10s.

Thanks,
Ken

Ken,

2x10's should be perfect... still very strong, but the wood will be an extra 2" above the water line. My boards will probably be fine, but I think the drier they are, the better.

Bobad,
Relax, the 2x12s are just fine, think about how many times they will be exposed to underwater conditions vs dry, you really did good.
You might take a look at a marina if there is one near you for some ramp ideas, the salt water guys deal with a couple of tide changes daily. The one style that comes to mind is a set of rollers on the wharf end, use iron plate for the rollers to glide along on.

Bob, great job. I've been mulling over a project like this during the summer. After seeing your dock I'm inspired. I looked into the floating dock kits but boy do they get expensive in a hurry.

I'm going to have to look into where I can get the barrel floats. I know there is a de-commissioned nuclear power plant about an hour from DIED and my places, I wonder if they have any old barrels laying around?