Suggestions anyone?

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

fowlmood77

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 14, 2008
Messages
201
Reaction score
0
Location
Williamston, SC
Had to move our dock out off the 4 foot wall a few weeks ago due to the drought. Now the water has dropped again and we have to move the catwalk out even more. We had to get a skid steer and chain the bucket to the end to lift it off the wall and down to the shore (i.e. its a heavy 60 ft walk). Anyone got any tips on how to make this move easier? Can't get the skid steer down on the shore. So it looks like brute strength might be my only choice. I have seen some docks with wheels on the walks, but I haven't the time to find a set. It has got to get out this weekend.
 
Is it muddy, or dry? If muddy, could you anchor a pulley out in (but above) the water, run a rope back to the bobcat & pull it out. If it's dry, find some sections of utility pole (or something similar), place a couple/few under it & roll it out as someone is constantly moving the rolers from behind to the front.

Another option......a strong boat & a rope :mrgreen:

ST
 
Hartwell is terribly low, the drought has been rough on everything. Depending on the terrain maybe you can you use some lengths of pipe and roll the walk on it, egyptian pyramid building style. PVC pipe would be easy to get and cut to length, and you could keep the pipe handy for hauling everything back up if the rain comes back. I take it you're worried more about the army corps rules than getting the skid steer stuck.
 
Rules or no rules, I couldn't get the skid steer down to the bank unless I had a barge to bring it in on. There is no access to drive it down :( Thought about moving it egyptian style as both of you suggested and really like the PVC idea. Do you think schedule 40, 4 or 6 inch would be strong enough?
 
The dock is 60' long!? Is it one piece, or can it be divided into shorter sections? If you try the rolling method, I'd try the 6" pvc (or bigger) for ease of rolling on the dirt. 4" may embed itself in the dirt quicker due to smaller diameter. Just a thought.
 
Is the dock on the ground now, or still floating slightly? Do you need to use it through the winter? If not, I would swim down under it, and block the structure of it. Then, let the water go down, and it will be resting on blocks, under the strong points, rather than allowing the floats to get damaged with the weight pressing them onto rocks. Of course, the favored method down here, including by the corps. is to let them rest on the shore, and chain off the gangway, so the extra weight of people isn't on them.
 
The end of the cat walk is the only thing on the ground for now. There is about 6" of water under the other end. We hope to leave it in the water so we don't have to take the pontoon out. It is alot easier taking care of it under the dock than having to deal with rain, sleet, and snow on the cover. Just spoke with my father who reminded me of a stack of wooden fence posts we have yet to use that we are going to try. I may go buy a lenght of 6" PVC just in case and take it back if we don't use it. It would be a whole lot less agrivation if it would rain around here and the lake would come back up. The only two good things about the lake being 16' low are the vegetation that may one day be under water and all the structure that I did not know existed.
 
It's really sad to see the lake drying up.I used to go there on vaca over 20 years ago.I don't have much to offer but if you need an extra set of hands let me know.If I am able to, I will come down and lend a hand.
 
Allatoona gets drawn down to 17 feet below full pool every winter. Last winter, due to the drought, it actually got down to 22 feet low, which left one lane of one of the 15 or more (probably upwards of 20 or more) open, as the lake was never designed to go 18 feet low. Real dreary site.
 

Latest posts

Top