Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Dock in winter

I just put in a floating dock and the floats are made of plastic. Should I pull the dock before freeze up or leave it in? I can pull an aerator underneath it but don't want to leave run all winter. The water depth is 6 feet underneath but drops to 12 fast. Thanks

I would run the aerator.....you want some open water through the winter.

Encapsulated foam dock floats?? I don't know anyone around here that pull them and they hole up fine..

My Menards floats have been in the water continuously for years.

My docks are floating on plastic barrels - 55 or 30 gallon depending on the dock - these have had mixed results left in to ice-over during the winter. Some break, some don't. This year I'm having to replace 3 or 4.

But if you're talking about the actual foam floats, I can't see how letting them freeze in place would hurt a thing?

Living where I do, we don't freeze quite as hard as you do. I have a three year old dock with sixteen 55-gallon blue drums under it. I built it with the intention of not taking it out during the winter. Except through flotation between the joists, the barrels are not secured to the dock.

So far, so good. We typically have 6-12 inches of ice from about mid-December to late February or early March. The dock is secured to land via a 16-foot walk-way tied to 18-inch diameter, by about 40-inch deep, concrete anchors (bollards) that allow a fair amount of vertical and horizontal movement using gatepost hardware.

Where I grew up in Northern Wisconsin, we had very similar swimming rafts that we put in each spring, and removed each autumn. It was long enough ago that the barrels were 55 gallon steel drums. Using today's plastic drums, I'm not sure I'd take them out, except in waters where there can be a significant ice floe -- such as in lakes of several hundred acres.

Ken

I bought my dock from Menards so I'm a little cautious on quality. They are all plastic and no foam. The dock is made by Play Star. Just concerned with ice poking holes in the plastic.