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Rory
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2019 05:31pm
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Hey everyone I’m hoping to get some ideas from anyone who may have come across the same issue when looking to build a dock out at their property. The problem is the ground at the edge of the water where my cabin is happens to be all rock and there for I’m unable to really drive any posts into the ground to secure It to the land. Ideally the rest of the dock can be a floating dock since the ground turns from sharper rocks right to deep muck in the first few feet of water and I would like to avoid unnecessary dings to my boat given it’s my only viable access to the cabin. The i Lynch issue i could see with the floating dock is that I’m on a river and there is a fair bit of current the further out you go. If anyone has any ideas on A) how to mount the dock to the land or B) ideas for a good floating dock that won’t struggle with the current I’d appreciate any help thanks.
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Rory
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2019 05:35pm
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This is basically the land I’m working with
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Princelake
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2019 05:45pm
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Same issue as you. I plan to drill with a sds rotary hammer into the rock with anchor bolts and attach the hinged connector so in the fall I can pull the pins and float the floating docks in for winter. So the first section that's stationary can be a semi float able ramp with only only float on the front to pull it in.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2019 06:33pm - Edited by: FishHog
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Agree with the above or build a crib and run the dock to shore just resting on top of the rock. I have a crib and short dock then a floating dock attached to that
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Rory
Member
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2019 09:41pm
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That sounds like a great idea I’d be interested to see how that works out. I was thinking about possibly anchoring the first section of the dock to the ground using quickcrete cement and then attaching a couple floating sections out from there that can be pulled back for winter. I just don’t know If that would be heavy enough/secure enough to stay in place.
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KelVarnsen
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2019 08:02am - Edited by: KelVarnsen
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I don't know if it helps you but I've attached a picture of my setup. I'm on a river where the water level fluctuates by about 4 feet or so. So I've got a floating part attached to a gangplank then attached to a stationary part on shore. The deck part has brackets drilled and epoxied into the bedrock. The picture has the dock in the winter configuration with the floating part detached and chained to the shore to move with the ice breakup.
Another thing, if you have a floating part don't use blue Styrofoam (or other types I'd guess) for flotation. I've had otters tear my floats apart and it's sinking in one corner and sent a mess of chips floating down the river.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2019 08:32am
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I grew up on a lake, we had a big cement pad to hold the base, then a hinged mid section, long enough to accomodate the water level change (how much does water level change) and we have 2 parge chunks of angle iron (galvanized) drove into the ground, then large pad over it. They stuck out enough for the holes for the hinge. Are you rocky, or solid rock? You may have to hammer. Get one of those electric jackhammers from Dewalt or other brand from Amazon, make short work out of it, then drive in pins, add hinges etc, then the large pad. The pad need to be big and heavy. It can conform to the rocks and help to hold position in addition to being pinned. Shore it all up with rebar.
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Rory
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2019 12:52pm
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Kel I like your set up. I’d like mine to be similar to that. The thing I forgot to mention is there’s no power out there which makes drilling very difficult. Do you think the footings for your deck would hold in a lace If they were surrounded by rocks and cement instead of inside the rock?
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KelVarnsen
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2019 01:06pm - Edited by: KelVarnsen
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If it was me, I'd drill into the rock. I'm sure some of the other guys here could advise you better. You could use a hammer drill connected to a generator or rent a rock drill. My dock came the way it is with the property so I didn't install it. I found another picture (a bit blurry) with the floating section connected.
Ontario Lakeside is on this forum. There is a video of him drilling into Canadian Shield granite (minute 1:56).
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Just
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2019 02:41pm
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I use a length of half in chain and a 10 in. Concrete block to stop the end of the dock from heading down stream. I also have a clay bottom, the block never moves all summer but lifts out easily at dock out day.
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Absolutely
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2019 05:21pm - Edited by: Absolutely
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My dock goes out 20', in two 10' x 8' sections. It rests on feet in the mud and it's about 7' deep at the end.
When we bought our island we poured a concrete pad on shore and stuck a couple of bolts out of the wet concrete. We attached pressure treated boards to these bolts using nuts and washers. Originally we used hinges to attach the first section of fixed dock to shore but a couple of years ago we upgraded to the aluminum dock shown below.
In your situation I would drill into the rock and pin the dock. Alternatively you could form a concrete pad up, held in place with pins drilled into the rock.
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Rory
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jun 2019 12:57pm
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Lots of great ideas here. Looks like I’ll definitely have to drill regardless of what way I want to build It. Thanks for all the great advice.
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