I want to build a 8ft x 16ft float to put at the end of the dock. I have attached a picture of the plans for it. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with a difference between dock floats vs plastic barrels? I have personally never been on a float with either but it sometimes seems on videos that the floats made with barrels are a little more tippy and after a few years the the wood and frame look like they twisted or are uneven. Now the ones that use the square floats seem like they don’t move much at all. Not sure if this is really the case or not so trying to get some advice. Barrels are definitely cheaper and way easier to come by. I have found a few used floats on marketplace but it is hard to find more than a couple. For this project I would need 8. Thank you!
Hi. I built a T - Dock approximately 20 feet long by 12 feet across at the end. I used all treated lumber and plastic barrels. That was 19 years ago. Never had an issue. It is in the pond year round. 365 days. Don't know anything about the floats. The barrel dock DOES tend to roll/dip a little I used nylon webbing to secure the barrels.
Wallman, I am glad that the barrels worked and are continuing to work for you.
I put mine in around 2012 using the blue (and some white) plastic 55 gal barrels and have had the white ones crack and leak, the blue ones are much better, but when I re-do the pier I will be using the rectangular floats from Dockbuilders Supply.
Wallman, I am glad that the barrels worked and are continuing to work for you.
I put mine in around 2012 using the blue (and some white) plastic 55 gal barrels and have had the white ones crack and leak, the blue ones are much better, but when I re-do the pier I will be using the rectangular floats from Dockbuilders Supply.
Yikes, esshup! I just bought 6 white barrels this morning for this purpose. I chose white reasoning that they’d be a little bit cooler than blue or black and thereby be less likely to add even more heat to the water beyond what the Texas sun naturally adds. Do you think it had something to do with what was stored in them before, or are the white barrels just more prone to cracking?
Wallman, I am glad that the barrels worked and are continuing to work for you.
I put mine in around 2012 using the blue (and some white) plastic 55 gal barrels and have had the white ones crack and leak, the blue ones are much better, but when I re-do the pier I will be using the rectangular floats from Dockbuilders Supply.
Yikes, esshup! I just bought 6 white barrels this morning for this purpose. I chose white reasoning that they’d be a little bit cooler than blue or black and thereby be less likely to add even more heat to the water beyond what the Texas sun naturally adds. Do you think it had something to do with what was stored in them before, or are the white barrels just more prone to cracking?
I don't think the white plastic has UV protection built into the plastic. White PVC pipe will shatter if out in the sun for years, the purple PVC won't because it has UV protectors in the plastic. I had some of the white barrels crack and break as I was pushing the pier into the water after completing it. (pushing it over wet grass). So, I lifted it up and replaced the white ones with blue ones.
The blue ones still leaked a bit and I will never build another pier with barrels. (or treated wood that isn't rated as ground/water contact). I want to build it once and have it last 20 years, not rot away in 15.
