I appreciate the kind words. First to answer some questions;
1. At full pool, there will be another 2 -2.5’ of water in the pond and the water level will reach the overflow pipe and the gangway should be about level.
2. I considered putting flotation under the gangway but decided against it just for aesthetics.
3. I could (in theory) remove some decking and put water in the barrels, but I nailed them suckers down “for life”. Ideally, I would like for the dock (unloaded) to float with the bottom of the rim frame about 1 inch above the waterline. I really don’t want to see any barrels at all, that’s why I chose the white ones, they seem less visible to me. By adding external weight, I can adjust it accordingly as I add things like benches, feeder, shade, etc.
On the subject of adding counter-weights, I stood on the outside edge of rthe dock and my wife reported “it looks level now”. My plan was to suspend the same amount of weight off each corner, I’m not going to tell how much I weight, but each corner will get 120#’s. I have closely watched DonoBBD’s dock build and greatly admire what he has done. He devised a bit more elaborate system using a second weight and pulleys to counter-weight and stabilize his dock. His initial plan appears in another thread her, but her is his diagram;
He deployed a modified version of this using two buckets of concrete as an anchor in lieu of the single pip depicted here. My question is…..is this necessary? My understanding of pulley systems (a.k.a block & tackle) is that the first pulley will redirect the direction of force and it is not a force multiplier. That being said, this pulley system will accomplish the same thing as suspending weight directly underneath the dock. Am I correct on this or am I out in left field?????
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http://public.fotki.com/jsing/hambrick-rd-1/dock-build/block-tackle.html[/img]
