Thread: Need to Build Boat Dock - Suggestions

Doug,
You have a pm
Mike

Originally Posted by Slipcork

Titleman,

The man at Little Maumelle Marina just built a dock for a buddy of mine. It's nice. Will custom built the way you want. Also, have some prices for you on that Humminbird. Don't know how good. But no shipping or tax.

titleman,

You are the smart one to have someone else build it for you. I built mine myself, and wound up hurting my back, having surgery, & spending more money on the surgery than the dock!! 3 feet is a significant variance, & during the low water period, may be sort of uncomfortable if you fish a lot year round. Mine is a hybrid dock, 1/2 fixed, w/ a floating 12 x 16 platform. I used 30 gallon blue barrels to float them. I put 12 floats under the floating part of my dock. Some advice I would give is spend the extra money if you do fixed & get 6x6 posts. You can buy dock hardware, and "certified" floats that are endorsed by the coast guard at www.mercomarine.com . they are eeeexxxxpensivvee. $100-$150 per float. You can spend a crapload of money on these things. Other advice I'll give you is if you use wood, do the 5/4 deck boards, and if you space 8' between posts, use 2x6 outside bands (runners). If you do a float & space your gangway more than 8', you will need 2x8 runners. I contacted some folks about doing an aluminum frame dock for me & they wanted almost 5k to do the job. I spent a little over $1100 to do it myself, but had the floating part given to me from a buddy that didn't want it anymore. I have 48' of walkway & the 12x16 float. The biggest thing that I can tell you is anticipate the high water mark on the body of water you're building on. Several folks here on mound lake built low last year during the drought, & they paid for it in january when we got 5" rain. Their docks are still underwater. If you get someone to build it, & they say they built docks on mound lake, don't use them. These guys told everyone that we (who have lived here for a while) didn't know what we were talking about, & every dock they built has been underwater since january. Use someone else's dock for a reference if you haven't lived there very long, or at minimum use high water marks on trees if there are any. I can give you a lot of other things to consider if you need, so just let me know. Once you get it built, it's the best room at my house. I love to be out there. It's better than the couch with tv, especially when I can sit out there & fish.

Here is a link to my dock photos.

http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=31657

Thanks Randy. I think you properly showed why I don't need to be building my own dock!!! Ask me a title question, but leave out the spacing and hardware part!

I'm understand the cost issues with sttel/aluminum. I may be better off with a treated wood "water palace".

Titleman

P.S. I'm still looking for any recomendations on a good dock builder.

b

Regardless of who or how its built, I would recomend some sort of lift to get the boat out of the water and keep it from getting beat up by the waves. Show us some pics after you get it done......good luck with your project.

b

Hey titleman, you ever find anyone to build your dock? Might ask around Conway...with the draw down, I'm sure somebody used dock people to fix their dock.

If nothing else...we can get a group of us together and try to build one. Doubt if I'd trust it in the cold water months tho...:D