Dock advice.

[CASTnBLAST]

Hi all. Was fortunate enough to purchase an old fixer upper cabin last Fall and am need of purchasing a dock. Don't really know the first thing about them except for the fact I love skipping a jig underneath them for bass :). Who in the Ottertail/Perham area are the best to deal with and what advice would you give? Thinking since it will be used for fishing off of a bunch we are looking at about a 50 footer to enable reaching the fishy stuff. Ease of install/removal/durability are main concerns. Thanks in advance.

[gunner55]

The posts on the end of our aluminum roll out dock are only 12' maybe 15' tall at the max. To get much deeper you will need to look into 1 that floats. Ours is 40' & we have 2 more 10' sections but most of the time those are only used when the water is real low. Last year we had 50' out. I love ours as it is very easy to put in & take out. We've had ours for 20+ years. There are a lot of different styles of roll outs now & they aren't cheap but I think the floating ones are even more spendy.  

[CASTnBLAST]

What we have is a slow tapering shoreline that breaks hard with 20+ fow and a nice weedline. Thinking we'll only have to be out to about 4 ft on an average year for younger anglers to reach good water.

[papadarv]

I lived on a lake for 40 years had several docks. Found the best dock for me was made by Vibo Marine out of North Branch. Mine was three 10' sections with an L on the end making it 36'. Had a bench on the L. Deck planking were 3.5' x 3.5' removable sections. Put them on when launching dock and off in fall when pulling dock out. Had a set of wheels at 3rd section break. End and each section break had adjustable poles. I could put in and take out by myself although was nice when my son assisted. link to web site: Site has nice Gallery.

http://www.vibomarine.com/

Not sure what lake you have the cabin on. If its large  you will need to fasten the sections to the dock as 4-5' waves will remove the sections.

[CASTnBLAST]

I will consider this thanks! Our cabin is fairly protected in a bay area and really doesn't see much for rough water.

 

[BTL]

I don't have a recommendation for a dealer but I'll give 2 cents on the type of decking. 

We used to have a wooden dock and that was fine other than the fear of splinters. After that one fell into disrepair we replaced it with an all-aluminum dock, which I've never cared for. It is very sturdy and will last forever, but it's also loud when walking on it and gets very hot on sunny days. Loudness doesn't seem like a big deal but when I'm on the dock casting for walleyes on a calm night I want to be quiet.

Some relatives have a cabin down the shore and their dock has an aluminum frame, but the decking is a slotted plastic composite. On that Vibo marine site they have it listed as "Titan Plastic". It's totally quiet and much softer on the feet. It also doesn't get scorching hot in the Summer. If we ever need to replace our dock that is what we'll get for sure.

[papadarv]

45 minutes ago, BTL said:

decking is a slotted plastic composite. On that Vibo marine site they have it listed as "Titan Plastic". It's totally quiet and much softer on the feet. It also doesn't get scorching hot in the Summer. If we ever need to replace our dock that is what we'll get for sure.

Totally agree, composite is the way to go. If you want to build your own planks, Home Depot sells Veranda in multi colors. Grey or tan might be the coolest on the feet. 16 ft. piece is $26.37 - $34.36 so you can get 4 planks out of each 16 footer. Home Depot will also cut them to desired length at time of purchase.

[gunner55]

I have to agree on the decking. The original 40' has wood decking & it's pretty heavy but it has held up well as we stained / sealed it.. We do tie ours to the frame as we have had it try to float away, The 2 newer 10' sections are a non- slip composite & it is very nice to work with

[gunner55]

One more thing that hasn't been mentioned is to take a look at how the dock is raised & lowered. We've had seasons where we've needed to change the height 3 or 4 times, if not more. I know that in 2014 we had to move our lift 8 times in 7 weeks because the water level changed so much that spring.

[CASTnBLAST]

Definitely not going the wood route. The Home Depot tip is good to know never thought of that. We stopped by a couple dock suppliers yesterday but no one was around at either. I watched a video on a Floe dock that was adjustable using a cordless drill from the top which seemed handy as long as it doesn't seize up after time. I'm handy with a wrench though so if it's going to be ridiculous expensive for such an option I can do without. Just need to stare and compare at different manufacturers. Hopefully Summer hours will kick in soon and can actually talk to someone at one of these places.  

[gunner55]

Floe is 1 brand that a lot of people here like. I didn't like how ours went up & down when we got it so we figured out our own version. We took a short section of a smaller diameter post & drilled 2 holes in it so we could mount a manual winch to it. We then put a strap on the winch which we run under the dock from the end posts. Ours did get a little twist to it at ice out a couple years back so now when it pinches we just move it from 1 side to other. The main part of ours is a Private Island & was sold by a dealer in Grand Rapids which is only 40 miles from our place.

[ChuckN]

CastNBlast - If you look at the fargo craig listy page, search "Docks" and there will be an ad for "custom aluminum docks".  I own 60+ feet of this dock that this guy manufactures.  He's in the Vergas area.  Custom painted (white/off white paint never gets hot in heat of summer).  Highly recommended! 

[BoxMN]

Not sure if you have a "hill" going to your lakeshore or if flat. But if you have a hill, and I do, I used to have a roll in dock that I would winch up the hill, and roll back back into the lake in the spring. Pretty easy.... but... 

I now have a "lift dock" (google lift dock or Remer Iron Works in Remer MN) that hinges at the shoreline and raises like a lift bridge. It is steel with the ploy decking mentioned here, and it is awesome! Dock is 32' long and 4' wide, with an additional 12' x4' "L" making the end of dock "deck" size 8'x12' at the end. I timed it this spring, and it took me 13 minutes to lower the dock (never need to adjust the legs as they hit the same spot) AND place the sections, and go back up the stairs to take an after picture. I wasn't even breathing hard, I did it myself, and my feet never touched the water.  

I thought it was kind of expensive, but when I see the prices of the alum docks of the similar size, with wheels, it actually was cheaper to go the lift dock, but this was about 3 years ago so not sure what they cost now. Mine was under 5k including taxes and installation.

Anyway, another option, and especially if you have any type of hill, big or small, that wold make a roll in dock even a bit of a challenge. If you have flat shore, then roll in definitely the way to go, but you will still need waders

Good luck, enjoy whatever you get, and have a blast with the cabin! 

edit - from this:

...to this in 13 minutes, by myself.

Edited May 17, 2016 by BoxMN

[CASTnBLAST]

Awesome view! I've seen these docks on different lakes and in your situation can see why they would be awfully handy. We are fairly level. So far I've only got as far as eliminating a Floe, although a great unit I can't recover from the dock shock price! Plan on looking into it more this Saturday since the weather sounds like it will interfere with fishing anyways  Thanks!

 

[TrueNorth]

I have a Beach King new dock.  I paid a little over 5K for 40' with the 8 x 12 extra on the end which is welded and strong.  It has great accessories to go along with it.  There is a "C" channel running along both sides with embedded square nuts that can be slid to where ever you want to add something like a ladder or bumper.  Really like it...