8' X 20' Dock

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Summer is coming. "even in Vermont" Attached Images
Reply:I would really like to watch this project.  I have been looking at docks around here.  They just look too easy to build.  Lookin good so far.
Reply:where are you going toget the foam for under the dock?Of all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:Yeah its a pretty fun project so far. I'm building it for a good friend of mine. I just bought my first tig about 8 months ago. So this is my first big project with aluminum, I have had to teach myself how to tig. Jody at welding tips and tricks has been great with his videos. It did however kill my new T/A 185 waiting for it to come back from warranty repair. It should be done next weekend so more pics to come and after its installed I will get installed pics but I live in vermont and still wake up to the occasional snow, so it might be awhile. To answer the foam question this dock will not be a floater. The pic with the holes through the tubing is where the mounts for the poles will go. I guess you can order the square plastic floats that they use in most floating systems though. I think "dock doctors" has them but dont hold me to it.
Reply:the framework seems kind of light duty.   standing by.
Reply:It looks like it's going to need a vertical support about every 12 inches......Miller Syncrowave 350Millermatic 252/ 30A spoolgunMiller Bobcat 225g w/ 3545 spoolgunLincoln PowerArc4000Lincoln 175 Mig  Lincoln 135 Mig Everlast 250EX TigCentury ac/dc 230 amp stickVictor O/AHypertherm 1000 plasma
Reply:Doug not real sure what you mean by vert support every 12 in. please explain. Im pretty green with aluminum any help is appreciated. The Tubing is all 3"x1" 1/8 wall, there is 1"x1" 1/8 angle for the deck inserts to rest on. There will be 2"x1" 1/8 welded up the center long ways of each of the six sections. As soon as I get my welder back. There will be supprt braces bolted to the mounting areas with legs about every 8' on all three of the main sections of tubing. Pretty much we looked at one of his 4'x8' sections of deck that he already has and pretty much just made it like we were sticking six of them together. Believe it or not this one actually has heavier guage tubing than his expensive mass produced sections have not sure on the brand. More pics to come but please the more advise the better for someone with alot to learn.Not sure if this will help either its all 6061 T6 and the wood deck inserts will have wood supports 1' on each side of the center aluminum support.Last edited by KD Welding; 04-07-2012 at 08:13 AM.
Reply:Not to be critical, but I feel this is extremely light for post supports at 8' OC, especially with that wide span. I'd estimate that supports at 8' OC might still be spongy if it was only half that width. Its the double width, unsupported that would concern me.I was under the assumption that this dock was going to be bearing on floating poly tanks or something.Just my 2 centsLast edited by Canoe2fish; 04-07-2012 at 10:55 AM.Thermal Arc Fabricator 2101970 Lincoln RedfaceMiller 150 STLStill need a Syncrowave and a plasma and a milling machine and a lathe and a bigger shop and a....
Reply:I agree that the design leaves something to be desired as far as structural strength.  Hope it's to be installed in a cove or other protected area.Be extremely careful what wood you use for your decking/posts.  The new "treated lumber" will destroy aluminum in short order.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:There will be center supports. On a 4x8 dock section there are 4 posts with a cross support to connect them. Maybe I just did a poor job explaining but there will be the same number of supports per square foot as there would be if your sacked 6 4x8 docks together. I realize I didnt take the best pics. Its no where near done yet but we did put jacks to simulate where the post will be. Two of us stood on just one of the rails so thats almost 500 lbs with all the weight in a small area and it took it fine. I got to believe that with the actual wood inserts in place it will take it just fine. If not it will be a good learning experience. The dock is actually pretty rugged. Canoe2fish I'll try to mock it up better next weekend and if you still think it is to weak we will go from there.
Reply:just about done Attached Images
Reply:The addition of the members spanning across from socket to socket made this look much betterThermal Arc Fabricator 2101970 Lincoln RedfaceMiller 150 STLStill need a Syncrowave and a plasma and a milling machine and a lathe and a bigger shop and a....
Reply:Boards just set in not fully complete panels. Attached Images
Reply:Finally got some pics of it in the water. Its been in since June and works great my friend is very happy. If it were my choice the legs would be mounted different but it wasn't overall i'm pleased. Attached Images
Reply:Question, in the previous post the wood looks like PT. In this post it's hard to tell. If this is PT lumber, you are going to have major issues with the alum and corrosion. The new ACQ rated Pt lumber specifically states not to be used in contact with alum. It will quickly rot the alum..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:looks nice, but the 2nd pic down looks like the center of the dock is bending own from the support poles?...Of all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:DSW that is a good question I don't believe that it is I was at the dock today and pulled up one of the panel and there wasn't any corrosion. I will be sure to ask him tomarrow though. Thanks for bringing that up I had forgot the the new P/T doesn't get along with alum.roadkill I think its just how I took the pic the dock is pretty flat across. I was looking it over for any stress cracks as there was about 30 people on it the other day for a group pic didn't really build it with that kind of weight in mind. My buddy didn't either he drove by and a family helped themselves to his dock for a pic. Glad to report no cracks still very sturdy. I will change some stuff for the next one though he wants me to build one more next spring.
Reply:I'm not sure if I have ever seen a dock that rides up and down on pipe before (not saying its right or wrong).  Where I live people seem to build them a couple of ways.  One way is to anchor it or drive poles deep into the water and if it floods then well it's just going to be under water.  The second way I have seen is to have the dock anchored to the stairs or a pivot point on the bank, and the dock floats.  There is a lot of barge traffic in the area and that may be the reason they are built that way.Last edited by SeanMurphy265; 08-06-2012 at 09:33 AM.Reason: left out a word
Reply:Code: If it were my choice the legs would be mounted different but it wasn't overall i'm pleased.are you referring to the skinny white legs with white socks in pic 1?
Reply:Originally Posted by SeanMurphy265I'm not sure if I have ever seen a dock that rides up and down on pipe before (not saying its right or wrong).  Where I live people seem to build them a couple of ways.  One way is to anchor it or drive poles deep into the water and if it floods then well it's just going to be under water.  The second way I have seen is to have the dock anchored to the stairs or a pivot point on the bank, and the dock floats.  There is a lot of barge traffic in the area and that may be the reason they are built that way.
Reply:Originally Posted by rusty rippleCode: If it were my choice the legs would be mounted different but it wasn't overall i'm pleased.are you referring to the skinny white legs with white socks in pic 1?
Reply:FYI, what you have constructed would more properly by definition be called a PIER, the DOCK is the area next to the pier. Hence the term Dry Dock where a ship is placed for maintenance/repair/painting of the hull.The dock is made dry for this work. Don't feel bad though as most landlubbers get these two terms confused.The pier is the structure that the boats sits next to at the dock. But the US Navy drums it into your head what the difference between the two is fer sure, if you have never been in that branch of service.  If you know someone that is or has been in the Navy ask them about these terms. I guess those 30 people gave it an unexpected load test and it passed ok if it did not collapse. So maybe the design you used must be all right to use for the next pier you build to go with this one.
Reply:Good stuff everyone. Proud to report those pale white legs on the "pier" arn't mine. Yes those legs do need some tanning probably shorter socks would help also. The reason for them being on the poles is for ease of leveling. See every fall the piers have to be removed from the lake as it usually has about 3 ft of ice on it. When the ice breaks up in the spring it has incredible destrucktive force. These piers would be reduced to aluminum foil. So alot of piers are designed this way in the NE and as you can imagine in the spring they don't back exactly where they were plus the lake bottom changes a little so the have to be releveled. Never fails always the coldest day of spring when they go in and usually friggin snowing when they come out. You would think after years of this we would put them in later and pull them out sooner but like I said the big one didn't go in till june so aleast it was high 60s low 70s. Lakes up here dont really change that much in water height maybe be on a wet summer 10 in but that would be huge.
Reply:Originally Posted by sbchp355Good stuff everyone. Proud to report those pale white legs on the "pier" arn't mine. Yes those legs do need some tanning probably shorter socks would help also. The reason for them being on the poles is for ease of leveling. See every fall the piers have to be removed from the lake as it usually has about 3 ft of ice on it. When the ice breaks up in the spring it has incredible destrucktive force. These piers would be reduced to aluminum foil. So alot of piers are designed this way in the NE and as you can imagine in the spring they don't back exactly where they were plus the lake bottom changes a little so the have to be releveled. Never fails always the coldest day of spring when they go in and usually friggin snowing when they come out. You would think after years of this we would put them in later and pull them out sooner but like I said the big one didn't go in till june so aleast it was high 60s low 70s. Lakes up here dont really change that much in water height maybe be on a wet summer 10 in but that would be huge.
Reply:If you were to make these where they are floating it would make things alot easier when it comes time to remove them or put them back in the lake. All you would need then is a pole to go on each end to hold them in place while they ride up and down on the surface. Then just disconnect from the poles and drag them up on the bank till spring, then push them back in the water, drive the poles back in and reconnect. No need to worry about releveling everytime as the floats do this automatically on their own. If I lived at a lake that froze 3' deep every winter I would be moving SOUTH. Heck if the lake froze 3" deep it would be too much for me. The lake I live on doesn't freeze up in the winter. Good thing, cause from here I can't move much further south. My pier is on pilings and has had more than 3' of water over it though, but that goes down after awhile(faster than waiting for it to thaw). I'm collecting 55gal. plastic barrels to make a floating one.I agree I also like the idea of floating system but most shallow water piers in this area have pretty much this design in one way or another. As far as the legs go they pull right out. They have a adjustable platform base that the pole goes through usually they are around a foot in the lake bottom. Really it only takes a few minutes at best to level them. In the pic below think of the pole going strait through the pad. Alot of people do you floating systems but it is normally where the depth drops off fast. That one I made is only in about 41/2 to 5 ft of water. I was thinking about making a univeral float out system so you could float the dock out to where you want it and then just drop the legs. I guess its really a thing on what you want my friend wanted it this way. If it were mine I would do it different but none the less still very functional and sound. Thanks so much for the input. Attached Images