[TheForge] Way off topic: boat dock

[Jerry Frost]

Agreed but this isn't 50' long, it's 15' long. There're 
hundreds if not thousands of docks up here made from 
pallets riding on paired 55gl drums, sometimes with 
simple pipe piles anchoring the end. Usually with 
spruce poles, 2" x 6" sometimes wider, stringers 
corraling the drums and providing something to nail the 
pallets to. A good solid anchor on shore will go a long 
way to keeping it laterally stable too.

Your point about water being poor for ballast is a good 
one. Use sand, it'll lower the CG, it won't shift and 
it won't rust out the drum from the inside.

Frosty
-------------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.


From: "Peter Hirst" <saltydog335 at aol.com>


> Beg to differ slightly w/Frosty.  Piles will hold 
> dock in place for sure, and his diagram is right on, 
> but piles are no substitute for buoyancy stability. 
> Also, water ballast is easy to install, but allows 
> center of gravity to shift.  Stability depends on COG 
> remaining inboard of center of buoyancy as far as 
> possible.