Homemade Dock

big shooter

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I am not sure if this goes here, but you all have helped me so much with my Bennington purchase I want to offer what I can. Last year I built a dock for our lake house, this year I will add on to it. Maybe somebody could use this idea.

I wanted a stationary dock, rather than floating. More secure under foot. I also wanted a dock I could remove by myself, so I made the decking removable.

I built the frame in 4x10foot sections out of pressure treated 2x6's. I used corner brackets but also added triangle pressure treated pieces in the corners on the bottom just to make it more secure.

I used 4x4's for the legs and added 2x6 cross pieces all bolted together. The frame is also bolted to the legs so I could lower it if the lake water drops too much.

For the top I used cedar decking. But I screwed them to cedar runners underneath with stainless screws. This way the decking is lifted off in 4x5foot sections, easy to manage and that just leaves the frame to move, not as heavy. Originally I didn't fasten the decking panels to the frames, but last year a tropical storm came by so in preparation I screwed each panel down with four screws.

I also made a cement block that I put on the lake bottom under the dock and criss crossed cables to each side of the dock. This year, with the new pontoon, I think I will make a heavier block to keep the dock from moving. The legs are not in the mud at all, just resting on the bottom.

On the posts I put solar LED lights. these looked fantastic from the water but they came off every time someone grabbed them getting out of the boat. Also when you want to watch for shooting stars, they don't turn off. So I hope to add low voltage lights with an on/off switch this year.

All told I think each 4x10 foot section of dock cost me about $325, the cedar decking being the expensive part. Originally I was going to use PT but this was last year and 4 lumber yards were completely out of the decking. Cedar is much nicer anyway.

This year I am going to add at least one more section long ways and 2 sections at the end, going the opposite direction, making a 30foot by 4 foot dock leading to an 8x10 foot section. Although that last section may need to be floating, I have to see how deep it is out that far.
 

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I had a similar setup in Michigan. Worked good. My decking was a composite and I had aluminum uprights with pads at the bottom for the lake bed. The modular design made it an easy one man job to put in and out.
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Lakeliving, aren’t you glad you no longer have to pull you dock every winter!!!

Big Shooter... that’s a really nice dock! Enjoy!
 
Big Shooter, thanks for sharing! Maybe some day I'll be needing to do something like that. Lakeliving, you had quite the set-up there in Howell. Funny how things work out, huh?
 
Lakeliving, aren’t you glad you no longer have to pull you dock every winter!!!

Big Shooter... that’s a really nice dock! Enjoy!
Danny, I do miss the seasons and natural hills vs only seeing elevation changes driving over a bridge.

Taking the dock in and out was less stressful than preparing the house and boat for tropical storms and hurricanes.

Steve, yeah we had a nice setup. There is a lot I miss about it for sure.
 
Before my new Benny arrived I added the double section out front. I also secured that with a 230lb manhole cover chained to all four corners. We had 20mph winds yesterday, the boat tied to the dock and it didn't appear to move at all. Although one of my cleats on the dock pulled loose.
 

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Well done! Where did you buy manhole covers?
 
Well done! Where did you buy manhole covers?
That's the beauty of this set up, I found the manhole covers just laying in the middle of the street for free!

No, I bought them from a landscaping contractor, he said he pulled them from a parking lot job they redid. Who knows?

I bought 2 for $100. I was going to use one for my mooring but decided against it, if it landed on a rock it wouldn't really sink in the mud but just teeter.
 
I am not sure if this goes here, but you all have helped me so much with my Bennington purchase I want to offer what I can. Last year I built a dock for our lake house, this year I will add on to it. Maybe somebody could use this idea.

I wanted a stationary dock, rather than floating. More secure under foot. I also wanted a dock I could remove by myself, so I made the decking removable.
We bought a camp on the St Lawrence in October 2020.
The first thing that amazed me is that 90% of the docks, including mine, are permanent.
They build these huge cribs with RR sized ties, fill them with rocks and then build the deck.
Not sure of the exact date, but I believe that mine is at least 12+ years old?
It is real solid, but looks like it will need TLD each spring -things like replacing some of the vertical boards that get popped off.

CCSWLiftDocktoShore.jpgCCSW dockandLift.jpgCCSW dockandLift2.jpg
 
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That is really neat, and very surprising with them staying in all year Glava. I am so set in my mind that the vast majority of docks get taken out in the winter in the north due to ice, ice flow, etc.

They way you describe them being made seems very heavy duty, as one would expect for winter. Looks like a really neat set up - your own personal pier. So cool!

Hope you are having an amazing summer with the newer Benny and lake house on the St. Lawerence.
 
Our winters prevent anything being left in water. Ice and wind could destroy anything!
 
Our winters prevent anything being left in water. Ice and wind could destroy anything!
Us too! Not legally allowed at all, and even if it was, it would be tore out by the 1.5-2+ feet thick ice that moves slowly throughout the winter.

And when our lake ice breaks up at the end of winter, if timed up with a wind storms - look out! Especially if on the East and south shore. It can pile up 1-2 stories high, and push 10-20’ onto shore, in randomly limited spots

See pics below for a few instances back in spring of 2017 and again in the spring of 2019 when these type of events happened:

DD58E103-900C-4CB5-992C-B8CDAE1D939F.jpeg F1C89111-6A72-47F2-A867-3D0E67DB9DAA.jpeg135C42C6-46DD-4CC4-B69C-EDFC4CBAB95C.jpeg9F282D64-E7BF-4C0A-8AE9-F3DFF05C0680.jpeg0D725376-99C1-46C6-9C91-F75110E19F5D.jpegA2D19A95-4A25-4EA7-8005-9A9248A45296.jpegA0A8F284-B2D4-4A5B-8AC3-C58B274E5D72.jpeg13D656E2-FAD3-4B97-8252-BBB003FD0A82.jpeg000CC284-1AA9-45AA-AB8B-74E1F019CAC5.jpegD556CCC8-B9DE-4B2B-AE3B-623E888717EB.jpeg327A5903-533C-4786-8197-E237F94475AE.jpeg
 
Us too! Not legally allowed at all, and even if it was, it would be tore out by the 1.5-2+ feet thick ice that moves slowly throughout the winter.

And when our lake ice breaks up at the end of winter, if timed up with a wind storms - look out! Especially if on the East and south shore. It can pile up 1-2 stories high, and push 10-20’ onto shore, in randomly limited spots

See pics below for a few instances back in spring of 2017 and again in the spring of 2019 when these type of events happened:

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Damn!!! Seen this on TV where it took out a house and vehicles. Very powerful!
 
Holy moly, is that your cottage?
No, thank goodness. We are located on the west shore of our lake, and things generally push in a south-eastern direction. One of the reasons we wanted to be either on a west shore or north shore when we were looking.

Thankfully it doesn’t happen often, but when it does it can be pretty massive for those impacted.
 
We are on a large lake, actually a reservoir created to prevent flooding. We have a community dock for 18 of us. They lower the water in the fall to prepare for the spring thaw. Our docks are floating docks, we prep them and tie them and when the water recedes they are on land. Come spring they float and we reset them
 
We are on a large lake, actually a reservoir created to prevent flooding. We have a community dock for 18 of us. They lower the water in the fall to prepare for the spring thaw. Our docks are floating docks, we prep them and tie them and when the water recedes they are on land. Come spring they float and we reset them
Nice situation. Saves you lots of work.
 
Agree with Bill. That is slick setup/situation. Never heard of something like that.
 
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