# Floating Barrel Dock



## bruno

Looking to build a small dock/fishing platform for my small pond. Have access to plastic 55gal drums. Has anybody built such a thing?

Thanks


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## Teetorbilt

I don't have time to reply tonight, it's really late. You're on the A list tomorrow.


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## bruno

Thanks, looking forward to a little advice.


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## Teetorbilt

bruno, How small were you thinking? A min of 8ft in any direction is about it for drums, anything smaller will be tippy. You are going to have to determine how much weight that you want it to support, a 55 gal drum displaces about 450 lbs of water which is what it takes to sink one. Ideally you would want the drums at about 1/3 of capacity unloaded.
Construction is basically the same as framing a wall. Depending on the size, I use 2X10 or 2X12 for the perimeter and through bolt them to a 4X4 in each corner. Most of what I build are work floats and I leave about a foot of the 4by standing in each corner for something to tie up with. Frame inside of the box with 2X4's just like you would a wal. The 2 on the outsides, where the drums will go should be on 24" cents., then you can fill in the field on 16's or 24's.
Next cut some saddles to fit the drums, use the same material as the frame. Cut length is to fit between the frame and the 2X's on 24's. You can calculate the radius or make a template out of cardboard and keep trimming it until it fits the drum. There will be ribs on the drum, cut to fit on one side or the other of these ribs. Fasten the saddles to the frame, install the drums and retain them with plastic strapping (I use a banding machine that I borrow). Flip it over and install your decking. Voila! Floating dock/platform.


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## housedocs

Teetor sounds like you might have built more than a few docks. Not much call for it here in the midwest except for the occassional lake home.


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## Teetorbilt

hd, This is true. If I remember correctly, there a few lakes in MO.
Do any hunting? I'm always reading about the deer there, just never had the opportunity.


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## housedocs

Actually I don't hunt any more, used to go deer hunting every yr, but any more there's just way too many idiots in the woods with guns durng deer season. I still take my boys rabbit & squirrel hunting, but they've all gotten about big enough to go by themselves. We do a bit of fishing when time affords, unfortunately fishing season is also the busy season & I don't get to go near as often as when I was younger and worked for someone else.


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## potato chip

I am an old engineer but have built several floating barrel docks. The largest one has now lasted over 15 years with essentially no maintainence. The key, form my standpoint is sealing the barrels and supporting them. I use GE silicone rubber clear and cover the bung completely as well as sealing the threads etc. I also remove the rubber gasket before sealing. I support the barrels in a steel frame either pipe or angle iron but wood will do well also as long as it does not deteriorate or move. The key is to keep the barrels secured and not moving. As far as bearing capacity, pure water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon and the carring capacity of a barrel is this multiplied by the gallonage of the barrel. I am neglecting some very fine points such as barrel weight, water solid content etc. I try to limit my dock weight to 1/2 the barrel carrying capacity and find this works well. Good luck

Potato Chip


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## stevan20

*floating dock*

I am building s floating donk on 55 gal plastic drums. It will be 8'6" wide by 16'long. Using 3 drums per each side, my question is should there be any drums in the center going lengthwise for better support.


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## rbgraham

*Barrel Mounting*

Are therse barrels mounted vertically or horizontal ?



Teetorbilt said:


> bruno, How small were you thinking? A min of 8ft in any direction is about it for drums, anything smaller will be tippy. You are going to have to determine how much weight that you want it to support, a 55 gal drum displaces about 450 lbs of water which is what it takes to sink one. Ideally you would want the drums at about 1/3 of capacity unloaded.
> Construction is basically the same as framing a wall. Depending on the size, I use 2X10 or 2X12 for the perimeter and through bolt them to a 4X4 in each corner. Most of what I build are work floats and I leave about a foot of the 4by standing in each corner for something to tie up with. Frame inside of the box with 2X4's just like you would a wal. The 2 on the outsides, where the drums will go should be on 24" cents., then you can fill in the field on 16's or 24's.
> Next cut some saddles to fit the drums, use the same material as the frame. Cut length is to fit between the frame and the 2X's on 24's. You can calculate the radius or make a template out of cardboard and keep trimming it until it fits the drum. There will be ribs on the drum, cut to fit on one side or the other of these ribs. Fasten the saddles to the frame, install the drums and retain them with plastic strapping (I use a banding machine that I borrow). Flip it over and install your decking. Voila! Floating dock/platform.


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## so-elitecrete

*built 1 of these for the kids,,,*

it was about 16x16 w/p/t 2x10 skirts & stringers 16" o/c w/X-bridging,,, hot-dipp'd galv lag & carriage bolts,,, 8 60gal apple juice pvc barrels allow'd it to float w/the deck elevation 14" above water,,, that's 12 yrs ago & its still out in front of the dock,,, never did 'tie' the barrels to the float as we left 'pockets' for them,,, did drag it onto shore prior to the lake freezing annually.

come to think of it, it was just pure guess if it'd work right or not,,, if it didn't, could've added more barrels along the ctr-line.


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## Eric Chalfont

*Taking it to a new Level*

I read with a lot of interest the floating dock posts. Now I want to float a Gazebo. Can I assume I have to add the equivalent buoancy of the wieght two Gazebos? Does anyone know how I could calculate the weight? I would probably need to make the decking wider to make it more stable?

Eric


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## Bondo

Ayuh,......

You can float Anything you want Eric,......
In many places, Portland, Ore. comes to mind, there are Floating communities of Houses........
50 or 100 in a harbor......

Whatever you want to Float,.......Is covered by the basic rule, that every Gallon weighs 8.33lbs.(thanks potato chip)......
Every Gallon you displace will float that much weight.....

For a Gazebo I'd probably go with Steel Tubes, capped on the ends,.....
They'll give you some rigidity in 1 direction,+ your framing will carry the other.....


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## fhill5

*What type of treated wood?*

What type of wood could be used to deter rotting without endangering environment? 



Teetorbilt said:


> bruno, How small were you thinking? A min of 8ft in any direction is about it for drums, anything smaller will be tippy. You are going to have to determine how much weight that you want it to support, a 55 gal drum displaces about 450 lbs of water which is what it takes to sink one. Ideally you would want the drums at about 1/3 of capacity unloaded.
> Construction is basically the same as framing a wall. Depending on the size, I use 2X10 or 2X12 for the perimeter and through bolt them to a 4X4 in each corner. Most of what I build are work floats and I leave about a foot of the 4by standing in each corner for something to tie up with. Frame inside of the box with 2X4's just like you would a wal. The 2 on the outsides, where the drums will go should be on 24" cents., then you can fill in the field on 16's or 24's.
> Next cut some saddles to fit the drums, use the same material as the frame. Cut length is to fit between the frame and the 2X's on 24's. You can calculate the radius or make a template out of cardboard and keep trimming it until it fits the drum. There will be ribs on the drum, cut to fit on one side or the other of these ribs. Fasten the saddles to the frame, install the drums and retain them with plastic strapping (I use a banding machine that I borrow). Flip it over and install your decking. Voila! Floating dock/platform.


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## fhill5

*I Can Do This!*

This sounds like an excellent idea! What can I use nowawdays for wood that will last?


potato chip said:


> I am an old engineer but have built several floating barrel docks. The largest one has now lasted over 15 years with essentially no maintainence. The key, form my standpoint is sealing the barrels and supporting them. I use GE silicone rubber clear and cover the bung completely as well as sealing the threads etc. I also remove the rubber gasket before sealing. I support the barrels in a steel frame either pipe or angle iron but wood will do well also as long as it does not deteriorate or move. The key is to keep the barrels secured and not moving. As far as bearing capacity, pure water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon and the carring capacity of a barrel is this multiplied by the gallonage of the barrel. I am neglecting some very fine points such as barrel weight, water solid content etc. I try to limit my dock weight to 1/2 the barrel carrying capacity and find this works well. Good luck
> 
> Potato Chip


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## Mike Swearingen

Properly treated pressure-treated wood has a limited warranty of 50 years, and is what we use here in the water in northeastern NC.
Mike


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## skymaster

Agree Mike PT with a minimum level of .40, they do make a higher grade for docks which I think is closer to .06 or so


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## Dyn'R

I was hoping for some pictures of creations on how to actually join the wood-to-plastic barrel containers..


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## pascalle

*pressure treated*

not sure where you're looking for pressure treated, but there's a nice trick for buying deeply discounted lumber. --Jan-March check any of the northern home improvement stores that have stored their lumber indoors --the winter heat warps anything that wasn't stacked and banded. they'll sell it usually for 10cents on the dollar. 
buy it as soon as they start clearing it out, --anything that's not twisted [can easily straighten warp, but can't do much with twist]. stack it onsite on level pallets, --uncovered so that it soaks under spring rains. use adjustable straps every 2' along length to pull in the bends, eventually locking each straight section with metal banding. 
no guarantee that some won't remember their bends, but I did a deck with this 2yrs ago in Chicago (buying the wood in February, building in June) and it's still true. --trick is that once it's tied into the structure and living outdoor, it stays wet enough to hold its shape.
so about the floating dock? --anyone have photos to post showing underside barrel details. shopping for the prettiest solution.


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## jbfan

Dyn'R said:


> I was hoping for some pictures of creations on how to actually join the wood-to-plastic barrel containers..


I have a floating dock on my pond. The previous owner built it.
Looks like he laid out the barrels, then built a frame with 2x6.
He allowed about 6" of play, then ran a 2x6 between the frame. 
He did this for 5 barrels down each side. He then put 5/4 boards on top for the floor. The wood and barrels are not attached to each other.
Next time I get down there I wiil take some pics. Make sure you get it right, and built on land. You will never be able to submerge the barrel and slide it under the floor in the water!


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## Dyn'R

Appreciate that Jbfan!
still wonder though,you say the 'wood&barrels' are not attached..i guess the awaited pictures will be worth 2thousands words in this case!


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## jbfan

If I could lift off the deck, all my barrels would float away.
The deck sits on top of the barrels
In fact, that is what happens. The floating dock was tied to the fixed doc. Since we are in a drought, the water level dropped, the tied portion of the floating dock stayed tied up, the back side followed the water, and half of the barrels floated away.
I spent 2 hours chasing my barrels around the pond.


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## Dyn'R

JbfanWrote:"..the back side followed the water, and half of the barrels floated away,I spent 2 hours chasing my barrels around the pond.
-------------------------------------------------------------
HAhaha!!!Thats good LOL'n right there!
It actually makes Much more sense the visualization you gave me on just building a frame around it now THX! ..should one come floating by me over here,my i keep it/them ??

Happy barrel hunting!


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## jbfan

Here are some pics I took today.
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh33/jbfan74/dock3.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh33/jbfan74/dock2.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh33/jbfan74/dock1.jpg


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## pascalle

nice method. --thanks. but so you don't have a picture of trying to tuck the barrels back under the raft, do you? or can you post that one of you and pooch chasing them around the lake? way funny.


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## Dyn'R

HEY right on with the speedy delivery on the pictures Jbfan ! !
Please also put up the "edited out" pics as Pascalle says! Don't be shy were all family here that merely want to break out in song of howling laughter is all!!


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## jbfan

No pics of that day. You have to use your imagination for that.


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## mucco99

i have 80 55 gal barrels to build a floating dock as a foundation for a house. Does anyone have drawings, plans, suggestion, links for building this float


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## txbizman

*Floating Docks*

Try these links.
http://www.simplicityboats.com/shantyrafters.html

http://canadianfishing.com/dock/

Lots of step by step and pictures.:thumbsup:


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## Ashley W

*New to the site*

Good morning everyone. I just happened to stumble across this forum and thought maybe somebody here could help me. Last week we built this floating dock:

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk83/amwarre/Deck-5-3-08014.jpg

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk83/amwarre/Deck-5-3-08030.jpg

We had no plans and no engineering skills, but it actually worked out pretty good. Here is our dilemma. The deck is made out of 2x6s and it is 8ft by 16 ft. We currently have 4-55 gallon plastic barrels under it. We want to be able to pull it behind a boat, up-river, and right now the dock sits too low in the water do so. We obviously know we need to add more barrels, but we aren't sure on how many and the spacing of them. As you can see we have a 7 ft by 2 ft box on the back made out of 2x6s as well so that end is a little heavier. Also, we aren't sure of which way the barrels should run. We placed them with the rounded edge forward (we thought it would be easier to pull that way), but we aren't sure this is the best way. Does anybody have any suggestions?...we have absolutely NO experience in this.


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## d1bvt

*Attaching drums to dock.*

Ashley, how did you connect the drums to the dock. Is that just a steel
strap?


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## Ashley W

*Floating Dock*



d1bvt said:


> Ashley, how did you connect the drums to the dock. Is that just a steel
> strap?


That is metal banding. We placed a 2x6 behind each barrel to screw the banding into.


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## dafly

i built 2 docks one that is 6f x 16f and the other is 12f x 16f. under the 6f i used 6 barrels 55g and the 12f i used 9 barrel. you have to put water in the barrels........this really helps the ballast. the 6f can get a little tippy in really bad weather..but in general i do find it safe. i am hearing everyone say a minimum of 8 f, has anyone else had good results with a 6f width. another thing when you build make sure you use corner brackets......very, very important.
thx


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## Ashley W

dafly said:


> i built 2 docks one that is 6f x 16f and the other is 12f x 16f. under the 6f i used 6 barrels 55g and the 12f i used 9 barrel. you have to put water in the barrels........this really helps the ballast. the 6f can get a little tippy in really bad weather..but in general i do find it safe. i am hearing everyone say a minimum of 8 f, has anyone else had good results with a 6f width. another thing when you build make sure you use corner brackets......very, very important.
> thx


On our 8ft x 16ft dock we have now added more barrels for a total of 10. We didn't put any water in the barrels and it floats really well and is really stable. It is a little easier to pull behind a boat now that it is out of the water more, but it is still a slow process. Do you use yours just as a stationary floating dock?


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## dafly

*dock*

ashley 
yes mine is a foater, i have brackets on the outer corners that 1 1/2 pipe goes thru to secure; the pipe just drops to the bottom; in the fall i just lift the pipes out and pull the dock in to shore. do you pull yours right out of the water in the fall.........do you have to worry about ice??...
does anyone else have a 6 x 16 floater on barrels, i am just curious what amount of water used to make it as stable as possible, if any at all
thx


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## Ashley W

dafly said:


> ashley
> yes mine is a foater, i have brackets on the outer corners that 1 1/2 pipe goes thru to secure; the pipe just drops to the bottom; in the fall i just lift the pipes out and pull the dock in to shore. do you pull yours right out of the water in the fall.........do you have to worry about ice??...
> does anyone else have a 6 x 16 floater on barrels, i am just curious what amount of water used to make it as stable as possible, if any at all
> thx


We do not secure ours. We pull it up the river (with a boat) and float it back in the evening. We take it out of the water by putting it on a trailer after each use. We do not live on the river so we have to haul it back and forth each time. We definitely don't have to worry about any ice in Houston, TX.


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## JustCoastn

*Deck to dock*

I have an existing 8x8 deck that I would like to convert to a floating dock. Does anyone know how many barrels I will need? Also the dock will be in a salt water canal. I am not sure that metal straps will be feasible due to the corresive nature of the coast. Does anyone have any experience with metal straps at the coast? Is there some other fairly inexpensive way to attach the barrels?


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## Bondo

> Does anyone know how many barrels I will need?


Ayuh,...As many as will fit under it... You Can't have to many...



> Is there some other fairly inexpensive way to attach the barrels?


Sure,... Use Rope... Poly-pro maybe...Or whatever you've had good luck with...


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## 4just1don

Hey way cool thread I happened on.

Back in 70 or so I had the brain storm of making a 'cheap' boat,,,cause I was broke teenager(money was spent on beer and girls instead). Made a floor of old pine flooring on 1 bye 6's about 6 by10 foot i am guessing. I cut the circle into the bottom of the 1 bye 6 floor joists if you will. Then I took seat belts out of junk cars for nuttin,,,and bolted each side to the top part. used 4 -55 gallon barrels that fit inside my 4 X 6 trailer when off and the floor got tied down on top of them to go down the road. light enough 3 of us could lift and load and unload after the barrels got unlocked from seat belts,,,bolted a 2X4 on the back to mount gas motor. NOW,,,we got half way across this HUGE lake and our motor quit never to run again,,,got a tow back,,but for three teenage kids we had a ball,,,,supported us big stiffs very well and was real stable.(plus we had about 500 pounds of gear along) Dont know WHAT we would have done IF a big storm came up while in middle of 2 mile across lake,,,probably drowned,,,it gets VERY rough there and our 3 hp motor wasnt going to go TOO fast even on a good day!!

Then later in the 70's moved to a gravel pit lake home and wanted something to tie up my boat( a real fiberglass ski boat by this time) to 24/7, made it about 16 foot long3 1/2-4' wide and put 2 plastic barrels under the end. water went up and down alot thru the seasons so always had to move the land end up and down with it. Neighbors thought i was crazy for a floating dock,,,said it will never work. Kids used it for a diving board more than anything. I used 16' posts on the end of it,,it was that deep out there sunk in sand bottom as far as I could pipe wash the posts,,,while pounding them down with a homemade 120 pound post driver made for big wood posts. Sides were 2X 12's I think(been 20 years since) with 2x 6's across the top,,,and the barrels werent tied under it either. posts slid up and down inside the box right behind the barrels. lasted 14 years just fine,,,and I moved away. the posts floated up and had to be pounded down regularly tho.

THEN the best deal was I bought the diving board from he local YMCA when they built a new one. Wanted the front legs to be rock solid and not FLOAT like my posts were doing,,,so I bought salvage railroad "RAILS" each 12 or 14 foot long,,,heavy suckers they were,,,I washed and drove them for days and days getting them as low as I could,,,but they NEVER rusted thru or got weak...and I bolted the front of the diving board with the board 6' above the water,,,the kids loved it!!


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## Brutus

Hi guiys,
I noticed that one other responder was an old engineer, as I am. 
I scanned the articles that you all wrote with great interest!! I built a float many years ago, not very big (7ft X 14ft) but still useable after 25 years (is at the end of it's natural life very soon now though).
The best thing that I did was fill the used wine barrels half full with salted water. This has the effect of neutralizing the bouyancy so that the dock is not naturally tippy, as an empty barrel has tremendous reserve bouyancy when lightly loaded, but will take quite a bit of loading to get to minimum inches-per-pound of loading. Consider using an inverted pyramid float, the first few inch sink really fast, but fully loaded and semi-submerged, is quite stable. Same with a round drum.
Also, the added weight of the water makes the dock a 'breakwater' as any wave has to move about 300 lbs of water (in a half-filled 45-gallon barrel) to set it in motion, a lot more than the weight of an empty 10 lb pastic drum.
I didn't do the saddle thing and I just used some poly rope to hold the drums in place, and like I say 25 years later it's still useable (in a relatively warm lake, and built out of western red cedar and untreated plywood).
Great website this DIY!!
Cheers,
Brutus


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## leeshaw

*Google Sketchup*

Hi guys, I'm interested in doing the same thing you're all talking about, I'm going to design something up on google sketchup, I'll include a youtube video and some 3d photo's for reference, It'd be cool for some of the engineers here to have a look at it and recommend anything they think necessary.

I'm basing my design on an engineering aspect, with a steel frame, welding, and (depending on material weight) wood or steel "dock".
Essentially I'm trying to build a 1-4 person floating Dock, that will at some point (possibly) be motorised. the movement design being added when I actually build something that floats!
tell me what you think?


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## leeshaw

well here's my first sketch 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/3973034131/
hope you like.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/3973034131/


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## Bondo

leeshaw said:


> well here's my first sketch
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/3973034131/
> hope you like.


 
Ayuh,... That'll Work....


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## leeshaw

Well here's a more advanced plan, i made a few mistakes, couldn't find a good outboard so I used something slightly different, tell me what you think?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/3975555972/

(Video)


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## rollingbarge

*Floating Dock Construction*

Hi, if you'd like some insight on building a floating dock with plastic barrels check out this site on http://rollingbarge.com/floating-dock-construction.htm


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