I stumbled across this Youtube video. I got alot of my ideas from sites like this one. If you have photos or vids that give ideas for building a floating or stationary dock, post them up here.
Roadwarrior, thanks for the help in getting me started in building my floating dock. I really appreciate all the advice you gave me. I purchased my hardware from dockbuilders.com. It is very beefy hardware and undoubtedly overkill for my small project but will definitely outlive the lumber that I used to put it all together. Looking at the prices of the parts individually it doesn't seem too expensive but when you add it all up it can become a pricy project. Luckily I have a wife that indulges me in my projects...sometimes.
I have attached pics of the progress that has been made. I constructed a gangway that is approx. 40"W X 10'L that will attach to the dock that will be 10X10. I plan to anchor a frame (which can be seen leaning against the tree) to the bank approx. 3 feet deep and concreted in place. The dock isn't built yet but I completed the gangway today and am pleased with how it turned out. I will begin building the dock within the next week or two and will post pics of the progress. If anyone has any questions I would be glad to help. If only I could get rain now to fill my empty pond I would be doing great!
I'm almost done building my floating dock and noticed something the other day that concerned me a bit. We have had alot of hot days in Texas and this has made the barrels expand a bit but the other day I noticed in cooler morning temperatures that the air in the barrels had contracted causing the barrels to collapse just a bit. I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this problem and how it affects the flotation of the dock. I have built a 10x10 dock using 14 barrels. Maybe when they are in the water they will maintain a more constant temperature and won't expand and contract with the changing temperatures. Any thoughts??
That's just it, I don't have any water yet. Just needed a project to work on so decided that a floating dock was a good one. When I'm done building it I'm going to drag it to the bottom of the pond and wait for the water to float it. Hopefully soon! I pray every day for rain.
Finished building my dock today and I must admit, it came together pretty well. The hardest part was building it at my house and then disassembling it so that I could rebuild it at my property. There is no electricity there yet so had to use a battery drill. I enlisted the help of my neighbor (and his tractor) to flip the dock upright after tying the barrels off. After flipping it I tied it to my truck and drug it into the bottom of the pond and put the decking on. Now when it rains it will float, God willing. It was a fun project and couldn't have done it without this forum so thanks to everyone who either directly or indirectly helped me get it done. I'll post more pictures when I get it anchored to the shore and get the gangway attached. The ground is so hard I believe it would take dynamite to get a hole dug right now so I will patiently wait for rain and then auger a few holes.
That looks sweet Todd. Congratulations. To bad you couldn't get the gratification of useing it right away, but you're now prepared for when the pond does fill. I'd also take this time to add in some structure, contours, shelfs, etc. to the pond before it fills.
