I know this has been talked about and I looked around for an answer to my question, but did not find it. Sorry if I missed it but has anyone used 30 gallon drums intead of 55 and if so do they work just as good? I am taking on this project next week and I want to get off on the right foot.

Thanks,
RC

Most people I know use 55 gallon or block styrofoam.

I would think it would have to be a pretty small dock for the 30s to work.

Yeah a 30 is 30x20 and a 55 is 36x24 the reason i am asking is because I can get the 30's for free!! And free is good!!! The dock I am making is only going to be about 40 wide by 16 long with about a 10 foot ramp. Nothing real hugh. I was going to try to go 24 feet long but I think that's to much now that I step back and look at it.

Thanks for anyone's help!
RC

30's have plenty of flotation, so that's not a problem. Each drum will support well over 200 pounds.

The problem I can foresee is the deck riding low in the water because of the small diameter. The wood would stay wet if waves splashed on it.

Maybe you could figure how to stand the drums upright, then your deck would be well above the water.

RC, I have been trying to find some 30 gallon drums in my area (Dallas, Tx) to make quail feeders. Have had a hard time locating any, do you have any suggestions on whom might have this size barrel?

Hey guys thanks for the info. I wasn't sure how much a 30 gallon would hold in weight. Thanks for that bobad. I am getting my 30 gallon drums from the coleman dairy plant we have here. They have 30 and 55 gallon but they cant give up any 55's and the 30's are 10 bucks a piece which I know is cheap but I know a guy who know's the guy at the dairy plant who is going to let me have them for free. So i got lucky there. You might also be able to find them at a coke cola plant. I know there not easy to find.

My Dad and I are going to be doing this next week Wednesday. I will take pictures as we go when I can and post them to let everyone see how it went.

RC

RC, I just floated a new 8' x 12' dock with 30 gal plastic drums. Works just fine. (we also have a 10 ' x 10' dock floating on 55's, and i was hoping this one would ride a little lower on the water but it looks nearly the same.) started out with six 30gal drums under it, but that was a tad wobbly, so added two more. i noticed the 30gal drums are easier to manhandle and shove under the dock (than the 55's) when i added the two additional ones.

DVR thats good news right there!!! Thanks for your post I appreciate it very much! Now I feel a little more at ease with someone who actually has used them. Cool I am off to the dairy plant!!!!

Thanks again for the info.

RC, if you have any plans or drawings of what you plan to build next week, it'd be great to see them. i'm considering adding on to our dock already (not in deep enough water, so we may extend out a little further), and always interested in improving the design.

DVR,

I will take pictures as I go. I am taking on this project on Wednesday so once done i will post pictures and the end result and try my best to explain what we did. Oh and just a side note. I got 30 gallon barrels and the lady I got them from said that she has made serveral docks with both the 30's and the 55's and she likes the 30's better. I asked why and she said the 55's have you to high in the air where the 30's seem to be just right from the water. course that would be a personal peference I suppose but either way the 30's seem to work just as good. I will find out as I got 6 of them for my 16 foot dock. I plan on putting 3 barrels per 8 foot section I hope thats enough!! My dock is only going to be 36 inches wide by 16 feet long for now. If it works out well I may add a 8 x 3 foot wide T at the end in the fall.

RC

I think having the T on the end would make it less tippy from side to side with only a 3' width.

Yeah I believe your right on that. I suppose once I get this done I am going to end up doing the T part sooner than I think! I am going to put stabilzer bars in the front and middle sides to try and help with some of that.

RC

Fish, check out this link here - http://www.superpages.com/yellowpages/C-Barrels+&+Drums/S-TX/T-Dallas/. That's a few Dallas companies that will likely sell different sizes of drums, both steel and poly. If they don't they will likely know who would. I'm going to have to consider 30gal after reading this thread. Very interested in seeing RC's dock.

esshup,

You were right on the money with the tippy part. The 40 inch by 16 foot dock is so tippy as a matter a fact we are building a T for it as we speak and will be taking it to the pond tomorrow. I am putting a 10foot T on it with two 30 gallon barrels on each end and bolting it to the 16 foot walkway. I think / hope that will solve my tippy issue. I have taken some pics along the way and I will take some more tomorrow once we are done and it's floating.

RC

Kinda like walking on a tightrope? Looking forward to the pics.

My question is. For the gangway which way should the barrels be placed????

I used 30 gallon on mine - gangway is 6 feet by 12. I ran the barrels lengthwise, side by side, with a vertical support (2 X 8) splitting the walkway. The barrels fit nicely in the little cavity I made. Very stable.

From the bank looking down the gangway. Do you see the side of the barrel or the bottom????