Harbour docks

[bobrussell1957Participant @bobrussell1957]

Hi from Canada….I am looking for ideas on the construction of removable docks for a pondside harbour. What materials to use, attachment of dock assemblys to each other, anchoring, detailling, etc. Thanks…..

[bobrussell1957Participant @bobrussell1957]

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Bob

Before plunging in and proposing a shed load of different materials it would help us fine tune our recommendations if you could you tell us what scale you will be working to and roughly what overall size the finished dock is expected to be.

All the best

Paul

[bobrussell1957Participant @bobrussell1957]

Hi Paul….thanks for the reply.

Scale is not that important…..everything from 1.96 scale to 1/16 scale in our club…..we have a pond with concrete sides and gravel bottom. I suppose to keep things easy for construction and managable for installationa and removal, docks could be 48" long but attachable to each other. What I am mainly looking at is materials? Foam? Wood? Other? I tried a block of styrofoam covered with plexiglass but was not entirely happy with that. The foam tends to crumble with use.

Not sure if this helps…..

[bobrussell1957Participant @bobrussell1957]

The youtube vid gives an idea of our water…

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Bob

I would opt for hollow plywood boxes as the basis for the docks , robust enough to survive knocks and easy to build.

Paul

[bobrussell1957Participant @bobrussell1957]

Thanks Paul….I wasn't thinking hollow but that is certainly a do-able solution.

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

Use "planks" of 50mm expanded polystyrene as a floating base. Skin the topside with ply slightly wider than the styrene to give an overhang. Protect the edges of this with some of the plastic angle edging strip as found in most DIY stores.

Done wide enough (say about 6&quot it will be stable. Hooking them togeter is a matter of fixing hooks at the corners so that they can be linked with elastic bands, Not overly pretty, but it forms a usable dock and is tough enough to stand a lot of mishandling and weighs very little.

[bobrussell1957Participant @bobrussell1957]

Thanks Malcom…..

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Hi Bob,

We have a small harbour set up at our club pond in Goole. Its built from rough timber with plastic containers as the flotation device. I cant remember the size of the containers but they are probably 10 litres or thereabouts. You can see the construction in the photo below.

Our pond has a clay bottom and we were not keen on locating the sections on steel rods pushed into the floor of the pond as we were concerned about long term leakage. Each of the sections is attached to the pond side with a hinge and a locking hook. You can see the hinge on the right hand end of the above picture and the hook on the left. Each of the sections can be swung out into the pond as required, or pulled back and tied to the edges so that they take up minimal space.

[bobrussell1957Participant @bobrussell1957]

Thanks for the info Gareth….do you folks store these nearby or trasnsport them to the pond each time?

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Hi Bob,

In the summer they are generally left in the pond, usually deployed out as in the picture above. If people want to race around in the maximum space because they can't steer their boats well enough to avoid them, they get folded back against the pond side. Over winter they are lifted out of the pond and stored on dry land, out of the way, adjacent to the coal hoist in the background.

The timber used in their construction was nothing special, generally what we had available or could scrounge from the docks. It was just given a few coats of paint for protection. Occasionally the sections are lifted out for pressure washing and repainting.

Gareth

Edited By Gareth Jones on 16/08/2013 20:17:58

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Bob

Here`s another example of a model docks scene

Courtesy of The Long Build…

Ellesmere Model Boat Show 2013

Bob

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Bob,

That makes our attempt at a dock look pretty feeble. I wonder how they locate the sections in position as the water must be pretty deep in the lock

Gareth

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi Gareth

I think Dave Wooley would know?

Bob

[bobrussell1957Participant @bobrussell1957]

That is amazing….

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