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Swim Dock overhaul..

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chucktuna

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This is only partially Bennington related so if this is of no interest or disallowed, just let me know.


This was my old dock when I made due with just a john boat.


Its been relegated to "farm swim pond duty" for the past 12 plus years and has dissolved into this state:


This was removal day Saturday:





Got it home on a makeshift trailer:





Had to drill out all the deck bolts:








Got it all off after a bit of trial and error:





Lots of critters in hibernation:





So far just much pressure washing has improved things already:


 
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Very much interested. In-laws have a pond and I would like to do something similar.
 
Had to drill out all the deck bolts... This step was the slowest.





Once the wood was removed, it was much easier to move onto a smaller movable improvised dolly:





I ground off some surface rust on the galvanized cross beams and spray bombed them with a can of "cold galvanized" paint from Rustoleum.





I also tested a spot with some "Toon Brite". My goal is to just make it look OK above the water line:








Also located some "marine grade plywood" locally so that will save on shipping..





More updates tomorrow
 
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We rented a lake house a couple years ago, and they had a swim platform like this anchored just off the shore in about 8 feet of water.  Our kids must have jumped off that thing about 1000 times that week.  They spent hours playing on it every day we were there.  We're going back there this summer, mostly because of that stupid swim platform.  Who'd of thought?  Your kids or grandkids will love this thing when you get it all done!  Maybe you can find some kind of plastic non-skid surface to put over the wood...


Keep posting the photos!   Looks great!


By the way, they just had a concrete block tied to a rope, and the rope tied to the center of the underside.  Easy to pull back to shore when needed, or at the end of the season.  It stayed in place just fine, but there wasn't much for wind or storms when we were there.


Put a GOOD ladder on it.  And a Bennington sticker.  Kids will love it.
 
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Battery, trolling motor, couple Wally World chairs and you got a fishing toon!  I LOVE seeing stuff like this fixed/renewed vs. going to the landfill. Keep posting!!
 
Interesting!  Keep the story and pictures coming!
 
I grew up on a lake. My Dad built us raft like this. You talk about fun! There were 22 kids on our lake road and only 5 families. One family had 10 kids and everyone lived on that raft!
 
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Thanks for the encouragement!


Here's a pic from 2004 that shows how we used it.


I plan on rebuilding a small access plank again, so that's the second part of this build. Amazingly, we still have the ladder and it'll be reattached.


Good idea on the Bennington decal!


To think, most of these kids are all 23 to 25 years old now...








 
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Cool project and a good reminder at how fast time goes by. Get out there and make memories!
 
Time to add a slide too!
 
Today I focused on cleaning the pontoons.


This is as good as it gets:


Before





During:





After:





90% of the work was done by the cleaner:





10% was done with a scotchbrite pad...





Plan on a final wipe down and sharkhide to keep the raw aluminum from staining too soon.. no polish for this one:





As it sits now:


 
Wow! Looks good!
 
Rockie69 said:
Wow! Looks good!
Click to expand...

+1       Dave approves ......


david-hasselhoff-as-michael-knight-in-knightrider-thumbs-up-263w_350h.jpg
 
THE HOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Good work.  I have the plastic barrels and am planning a swim dock for our pond this spring.  Shop looks nice too, glad I'm not the only one with way too much sh.. uh, stuff.
 
Another small update:


Brought home the carpet and "marine grade" plywood and made the one cut (in half) to make the 10 X 8 foot platform.


Laid it out and should work fine...


BTW.. photobucket sux ... site is down so I'll edit this later for pictures
 
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If the kids are all in the 20's consider a Tiki Bar on it :p
 
It looks great.  You are certainly doing a great job restoring it.  I am looking forward to seeing the finished product. 
 
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