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I am gathering infomation to figure out the best way to build a boat dock/house.
I think I want a covered 1-2 slip dock with a small fishing/social platform.
Undecided about floating or fixed. Water usually doesn't vary more than 3 feet.
Does anybody have any recommendations about a builder or supplier?? It would be for the Central Arkansas area.
Titleman
I probably should have clarified that I am not doing the building!! I'm writing the check!
In my hands a hammer is only a demolition tool.
Titleman
I can't suggest anyone to use but I would like to see you have some underwater lights installed on the dock. It would make a fine location to host a nightstalk on a cold winter night.
Titleman, I know someone that builds boatdocks and will design and build whatever you tell him you want. He generally does good work and is very reasonable on his prices. He has built and installed a lot of docks on the Little Red. PM me and I will give you some more details if you want to call him.
Mike
I know about as much on this topic as Gooch knows about internal medicine.:D But, I do know that Randy Benham (he was at the Conway nightstalk) recently built a floating dock. He may have some good insight as well.
Gooch,Quote:
Originally Posted by gooch
You mean for my friends???? The ones who always let me in on THEIR nightstalk/dinner parties??
What a great idea! LOLOLOLOLOL
Titleman
Helmslaw - You have a pm.
Ceb- I remember Randy's pic's of his dock.
Titleman
Someone at the Sow Bug Roundup told me they had installed somekind of light on their dock that not only attracted bugs, but also knocked them in the water. They said the bluegill fishing was fantastic at night on that dock.
Titleman,
I'll get you a phone number this weekend. I need to get the number from my dad. This guy that builds them has put them all around the central arkansas area. He built one for my dad on East Lake (near Clarendon) and I think he's recently put one in around Pine Bluff and some more around the Little Red.
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.
Clarendon River Rat,
Thanks for the help. I will look forward to the info.
Titleman
Doug,
You have a pm
Mike
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slipcork
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
Ceb,
The conway thing is a good idea, but I suspect building during a drawdown is a piece of cake!!
A hammer in my hands is a weapon, so I'm not real confident in my abilities, but I'm about to decide to go "floating". If I could figure out how to get all the floatation to stay together long enough to get a platform built, it would seem to be less than rocket science.
But then there is the question of anchoring it to the shore....
To further complicate matters, I want a roof.
But what the heck, CEB you've got a great idea. Everyone just gives up their fishing for a week-end to help Titleman build a dock!! I bet the volunteers are lining up!!!! LOLOLOL.
Sombody will come along with a need for some extra cash. Then we'll make a trade!!!
Titleman
Goto our web site for a complete price list of all of our floats including all the techinical specs such as float buoyancy, size, weight, cubic feet and more.Quote:
Originally Posted by randybenham
We have several sizes under $100. Float drums are in fact highly regulated by the Corps of Engineers. ("blue barrels" are not allowed to be use by this regulation)
Another thing to note about using float drums and with the correct psf of flotation is that they will create a very very stable dock system.
If anyone has more questions about docks or how to build docks or things that people ask us every day, Go to our Frequently Asked Questions page on our site.
I think fixed docks hold more fish, but everywhere I would want to put them has too much change in water levels in the course of a year.
I'm not sure what you mean by "will hold more fish". If you mean flotation, the average floating commercial dock should have about 35# per square foot. That's plenty of float to put a few fish on. As far as water level fluctuation, we have docks here on the Ohio river that fluctuate with the river level sometimes +/- 20 feet, with 40' of total travel up or down. Stationary dock would be flooded and unusable with more than a couple feet of rise. With our floating dock systems you could potentially be using your dock when everyone else in your area may be under water.Quote:
Originally Posted by blairarnold
What I meant was more fish stay around the dock and you catch more on fixed docks as opposed to floating docks, or at least I do. I do know what you mean on water level changes as all of our rivers, all of our corps reservoirs, and nearly all of our oxbow lakes here have way too much variance in water levels to be able to use a fixed dock and must have floating docks.Quote:
Originally Posted by MercoMarine
title man
I have built several docks slips and floating marinas in arkansas as well as oklahoma i would be more than happy to see what you have in mind and give you a quote my company is barrs steel erection i also do steel buildigs statewide as well as oklahoma my number is 479-849-6101