# Need some creative redneck engineering



## egomaniac247 (Apr 24, 2013)

This dock has 4 fifty gallon drums under it as floatation devices.

Either 1 or 2 of the 4 have developed either a crack or leak and are flooded over the winter.  The water they're in is about 4 feet deep and I don't have much beach to work with.

Can you think of any creative ways I can inspect & fix these things?

Obviously the best case scenario would be finding a way to beach it, pump them dry, and then seal the leak....but I'm not sure how to get at'em.    Thinking I may have to strip the deck boards


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## NE GA Pappy (Apr 24, 2013)

can you pump them up with air?  when you get the water level to the crack, you should see bubbles right at the waterline.


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## egomaniac247 (Apr 24, 2013)

Well, I'm thinking I need to take the deck boards off to get to them....see how they're attached to the frame....

I think best case scenario is that it's just one of them that has filled with water....because I could detach it from the whole platform and let the 3 good ones keep the platform afloat while I work on the bad one.  But if 2 of them are bad, I'm in trouble.....the whole thing is leaning to one side in the water today.

The temps are supposed to be in the high 60's this weekend here (I'm not in GA) so I'll try to get some better pictures this week.


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## BuckinFish (Apr 24, 2013)

You asked for redneck...attach a line from those trees to the front of the dock and jack that sucker up, then paddle a canoe over there and checkem out...of course while drinking a cold bud


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## gunsaler111 (Apr 24, 2013)

Fill them up with expanding foam....


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## bassboy1 (Apr 25, 2013)

gunsaler111 said:


> Fill them up with expanding foam....



That will work for a time, but even 'closed cell' foam will absorb water, and in a year or so, he'll be back in the same position.

Why can't you simply source a pair of spare drums, and simply replace them, one at a time?  4' of water would be a pain to work in, but is certainly doable.  If one is bad, simply replace it, and let the other three float it.  If two are gone, a simple 'sawhorse' or something that sits on the lake bottom should hold it up while you unfasten and reattach a set of drums.


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## David Parker (Apr 25, 2013)

If the leak is due to aging, I'd consider replacing them all at once.  Piece-meal it and you may have to fix it over and over.  Somebody on the lake have a barge with a crane?  Wouldn't take long to hoist it up, drain, and patch.  See if somebody has one and befriend them.


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## dwhee87 (Apr 25, 2013)

Are the barrels strapped or anchored to the dock itself somehow, or are they just floating loose under the dock and contained by the wood skirt around it?

You could detach/unstrap if necessary, then sink the old drums one at a time to get them out, then replace with new drums or blocks of foam, one at a time.


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## gunnurse (Apr 25, 2013)

Bring a _real _jack if you're going to jack them up. the weight of a full 55 gallon drum calculates out to be a little over 458 pounds- plus the weight of the drum. (I also believe that this is the way you calculate the amount of weight that the drum will hold up. Gallons of water held x 8.33 pounds per gallon = water displacement - drum weight.) I agree with the air solution. Just drill a hole the size that a valve stem will fit into, push the valve stem into the hole, and inflate it like a tire.


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## Doc_5729 (Apr 25, 2013)

Disconnect it from the walkway and tow it to an area where it could be repaired, then bring it back and reconnect it.


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## BCD (Apr 25, 2013)

Every cubic foot of a air will support 62.4 lbs of bouyancy. Removing the old drum may be easy, but putting the new one in will be the problem without jacking or lifting the dock. Pushing a round drum under the water just a few inches is a challenge. For less than $400.00 you could refloat the dock with floats that will last 15 plus years.


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## Just Jeff (Apr 25, 2013)

Let's see if I can describe my solution. Get 2 long post 4x4, 2x4 made into a T, Steel pipe. Run them down beside the dock, Attach a come along to the dock and the top of the post, lift dock remove barrel repair and or replace. I did this on our dock and replaced 8 floats. I would go ahead and put dock floats under it, They're not that expensive.


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## rayjay (Apr 25, 2013)

You could ride around on Lanier and get encapsulated floats for free. See the floating loose all the time.

Messing with steel drums is short sighted imo. Put in floats and be done with it. If you insist in using drums at least replace all of them with good, clean, unrusted new ones.


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## rayjay (Apr 25, 2013)

You stairs look pretty dangerous, also. What's with the timbers sticking up above the steps ?


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## jimbo4116 (Apr 25, 2013)

First do the drums have a bung for filling and one for venting.  Did you check to see if the plugs were tight.

Also the rubbing of the wood deck on the drums will wear holes.  If the plugs are not in place this will allow water in. We put strips of old inner tube rubber between the drums and any wood.

You can have on open bung hole at the bottom but the top hole must be plugged tightly.

It looks as if you have rooms for a couple more drums.  Float a couple into position, fill them with water until you are able to maneuver them under the dock.  Do this by having the bung hole where where you can rotate it to fill the drum.  Once in position under the dock rotate the bung hole to the bottom and run an air hose in the bung turn on the air compressor and force the water out until the drum is at the proper level.

Remove the damage drum and replace with new drum then repeat on other side.

Something to keep in mind a fifty gallon drum full of air will displace about 400 pounds of water there for supporting 400 pounds of weight.


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## dawg2 (Apr 25, 2013)

egomaniac247 said:


> This dock has 4 fifty gallon drums under it as floatation devices.
> 
> Either 1 or 2 of the 4 have developed either a crack or leak and are flooded over the winter.  The water they're in is about 4 feet deep and I don't have much beach to work with.
> 
> ...


It is very easy.  When I had a "barrel dock" we kept extra barrels.  When a barrel goes bad or rusts through, you get rid of it.  Don't even try to fix it.

Push your new barrel in the water and flood it so it sinks.  Then one person puts on a SCUBA tank and takes an extra tank down.  Stick the regulator in the hole on the barrel and start filling it with air.

Once the barrel goes just above neutral buoyancy (In other words it starts to float) then float it into the space.  Finish filling with air and put the cap back in the hole.

If you can not find a certified SCUBA diver, you can let the barrel fill up with water until it is sunk enough to push under the dock.  But you will need someone with a mask, snorkel and a cylinder of compressed gas (i.e.- Nitrogen, NOTHING FLAMMABLE) to fill it back up.


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## joey1919 (Apr 25, 2013)

-cut a 4x4 post a few inches longer than the length from the ground to the bottom of your dock(the height the dock should be).
-get in the water with a friend or two.
-two of you lift , the other stands the post up under the dock to support it
-pull out the old barrell, you may have to cut a hole to sink it out of place
-get new barrels, plactic ones, silicone the two caps in
with two people you should have no problem pushing the new barrell under the dock and in to place
-repeat on other side


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## David Parker (Apr 25, 2013)

Can't believe nobody offered this one up.  If the problem is the lean, just set some cinder blocks on the opposite side to counter weight it back to level.  Problem solved.


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## jimbo4116 (Apr 25, 2013)

joey1919 said:


> -cut a 4x4 post a few inches longer than the length from the ground to the bottom of your dock(the height the dock should be).
> -get in the water with a friend or two.
> -two of you lift , the other stands the post up under the dock to support it
> -pull out the old barrell, you may have to cut a hole to sink it out of place
> ...



Believe me 2 people cannot submerge a 50 gallon drum full of air while standing in 4 feet of water.  Been there and tried that.  Simplest way to submerge drum is to put in the water and let it fill with water until it can be manuevered fill with water and then refill with air. Putting one of the bung holes open vertically below the other one then sealing the top hole once it has filled to a manageable level.  Once the water is forced out by air pressure you can seal the top hole and seal or leave the bottom one open as the air pressure will keep water from re-entering.

You can run one end of a hose into the drum and the other end above the waterline to level. This will allow air to escape and water to enter the drum.


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## fireman32 (Apr 25, 2013)

Cut it loose from the walkway, float it to the shore near a tree.  Use a chain and come along to lift the offending side up. Replace the barrel with another or styrofoam.


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## dawg2 (Apr 25, 2013)

joey1919 said:


> -cut a 4x4 post a few inches longer than the length from the ground to the bottom of your dock(the height the dock should be).
> -get in the water with a friend or two.
> -two of you lift , the other stands the post up under the dock to support it
> -pull out the old barrell, you may have to cut a hole to sink it out of place
> ...


Physically impossible.


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## sinclair1 (Apr 25, 2013)

I have one of these that has never been in the water that you can have if you come and get it. Keep in mind it is not filled with foam, I got it from the mold to use as a water tank before it was foamed. I no longer need it. I think its 4x4.
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/pro...m-10H-x-20-x-6&i=93410&aID=602G1&merchID=4006


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## Gadestroyer74 (Apr 25, 2013)

fireman32 said:


> Cut it loose from the walkway, float it to the shore near a tree.  Use a chain and come along to lift the offending side up. Replace the barrel with another or styrofoam.



This ..


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## egomaniac247 (Apr 26, 2013)

Ya'll are bad to the bone.  Love the ideas, thank you.

I shoulda mentioned the picture isn't in-state....in fact it's on a river where the water temp is curently about 45 degrees haha.

I like the come-along idea.  I'm going to strip a few of the dock boards this weekend to see how the barrells are attached.  I'll snap a few pictures and report back. 

I did look again and it appears that 3 of the 4 are still sealed, the 3rd one just looks like it's underwater b/c it's being dragged down by the bad 4th one, which is full of water.


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## bfriendly (May 1, 2013)

gunsaler111 said:


> Fill them up with expanding foam....



This^^^^^^^^ But just the one thats leaking


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## HMwolfpup (May 1, 2013)

fill the leaking barrel  with ping pong balls.


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## chadf (May 1, 2013)

Sink the whole deck or set it on fire, after consuming beverage of choice.
Then rebuild a new, bigger dock with real floats underneath.

It'll match the new stairs.


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## gtmcwhorter (May 2, 2013)

Just let it sink and sit on the rails. Makes for better fishing anyway.


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## egomaniac247 (May 2, 2013)

The river is way up due to all the snow melt (again, not in Ga) so that's actually helping me.  I was able to move the whole platform up pretty far up on the limited beach I have and tie it off.....so when the water goes back down I should have the flooded barrel on dry ground or atleast in less than a foot of water.


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