Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Homemade Dock

Hey guys this summer Im thinking about making a dock of plastic 50 gallon drums and then encasing them in some type of metal frame, and screwing 2X4's over the top to walk on. Should I put 1/3 water in the dums for ballast? Some people I have talked to me about this say if you dont add water they will float to well, and even small waves will greatly throw the dock around. I think I have to agree, just not sure how much water to add.

So anyone ever tried anything like this? or have another idea? Remember my pond already has water, and where I want to put the dock quickly drops rather deep.

I think that if the dock gets "thrown around in the waves" its the person behind the hammer that didnt build the support structures correctly. If its braced properly and tied to the bank in the proper manner it should move only as its designed. Adding water to the barrels would subtract from the available ballast the barrels would provide. Just my 2cents worth, could be wrong. It is an interesting question and i'd like to know if i'm wrong.

I am currently working on my dock with blue barrels. I think I have 4 barrels on each side so 8 total. The dock sits pretty high on the barrels but I didn't like the looks of it with less barrels. Never thought about adding water to the barrels to get them sitting lower.

Does it raise and lower greatly with the wind? or is it stable enough to leave things on it for a few hours and they not go anywhere, like lawn chair, tackle box etc?

I'm going to do the same thing, build a floating dock from 55 gallon barrels for floats.

One thing that I know floating docks need is some sort of post(s) out towards the end so it can slide up and down over the post and stay in place. I'm planning on doing that by sinking some 1 1/2" Galvanized pipe in the bottom of the pond, and have a couple of threaded rods bent in a "U" shape holding a piece of PVC pipe that fits over the galvanized pipe. The plastic pipe will slide up and down along with the pier over the galvanized pipe.

Have you guys run any numbers on how much flotation you will actually need?

Mine came out to 22 55 gallon barrels, with an extra 30 gallon barrel where the gangplank rests on the pier.

I was wondering about dock flotation with plastic barrels on my way to work this morning. What load rating can you get from 30 and 55 G plastic barrels that are all sealed up?

I can get Polypropylene (inert) barrels from 4-6 bucks each, depending on quantity. And all they ever had in them was pop syrup or orange juice concentrate. They rinse out really well.

I am not sure it was esshup that hit Crystal Springs with Cecil last year, but you were only a few miles away.

Flotation of a poly drum is around 8 pounds per gallon, minus the weight of the empty drum.

Since you don't want the drum to be totally submerged, divide the capacity in half. That'll give you about 200 pounds per 55gal drum, with plenty of room for error.

The deck structure is plenty heavy (it can't help but be) enough for stability, assuming it's long and wide enough. Taking away flotation capacity doesn't make a lot of sense to get stability. Just use heavier lumber or add stuff to your deck and I guarantee it will be very heavy. My 8x16' deck weighs ~1000lbs not counting the 20 drums. It could float my Tacoma pickup pretty easily if I ever get the urge.

55 gal drums give A LOT of flotation. My dock is four 12' x 3' sections, with two sections going out end to end, then the other two forming a "T" at the end of the dock making an area for lounging and beer drinking.

I used four barrels per section and its nearly impossible to sink them. My dock is very heavy being made entirely of treated lumber and it still sits pretty high. Three adults on the end of a section is no problem at all. I think some water for ballast is a good idea as my docks float very high and I wish the barrels were not visible from the side. I would add water to mine but it would be too much of a pain at this point. I think 5-10 gallons per barrel would help lower the dock but not kill your floation ability.

Also turning the two end sections into a "T" really helped stabilize the side to side movement of the dock as well as remove any "tippyness"

great info guys, if anyone has some photos I would love to see them, if not thats fine, I have a pretty good idea in my head

Ask that same question next year (or possibly later on this year) and I'll have photos.

I bought my hardware brackets from dockbuilders supply , the bolts came from e-bay. I'm making my own rollers from rod/plastic wheels from McMasterCarr.

The joists will be treated 2x10's with an overlay of 2x12's or 1x12's if I can find them. That will cover a good portion of the barrels and not much will be showing.