Basic Main Frame (Sub-Frame) Just welded frame ready for deburring, wire brush and chemical wipe down before prime paint or galvanizing process. Note precision pre-punched holes for bolting sections together.
Primed Sections Sub-frames in primer curing yard. Eventually moved to paint area, then cured and ready for float attachments.
Sub Frame – Paint Curing After curing commercial bolt-on flotation will be added and #1 grade treated decking will be screwed into the angle cross-members. Note angle iron uprights for bolting on upright roof support.
Anchor Sleeve Bracket The anchor sleeve fits over the anchor poles and rides up and down when water fluctuates. They bolt on so that during severe radical water fluctuations it is engineered to shear off rather than bending the subframe of the dock. To date, this has never happened to one of our docks.
Anchor Sleeve Bracket The longer the sleeve, the straighter it holds the anchor pipe. We never weld these directly to the subframe. They are bolted on so as not to bend the frame during severe stress. Designed to shear off under EXTREME stress this protects the integrity of the mainframe. It is easier to replace the anchor sleeve and pole than to rebuild the entire dock section.
Bolt-on Anchor Sleeve Here we see a closer view of the anchor sleeve bracket in action. This is the best technique to anchor your floating dock securely yet give it the freedom to rise and fall with the lake levels.
Anchor Sleeve Bracket In Use This shows how the sleeve works with the pole inside. The longer the sleeve the straighter it holds the pole and less chance for hang up or binding when water levels fluctuate.
Pivoting Stiff Arm Anchor
The stiff arm anchoring system is used on occasions when the anchor pole and anchor sleeve brackets are not suitable. Applications where the water is too deep, the lake bed solid rock and poles will not penetrate properly, or where there may be too great a slope.
Stiff Arm Anchors The stiff arm is fabricated and designed specifically for each dock’s special requirements. As you can see they can be quite long or in some instances fairly short dependent on the span they must make.
Pivoting Stiff Arm Brackets Each stiff arm has a hinge on either end that pivots up and down to assure constant security to the dock as the lake levels rise and fall which provide smooth adjustment to water fluctuations.
Double Cross Angle
We double up the angle so that the end of the board does not have a screw at the very end. This causes splitting and poor penetration.
Vertical Stagger Technique
We put in a double angle which allows us to offset the screw from the edge of the decking board. Offsetting or staggering the decking lets the joints fall so that they are not all lined up on the same joint.
Here you can see how the double angle works. It’s not so much for strength as the ability to come away from the edge of the board and center the angle off of the edge of the decking. Note how we are able to run our screws through the deck and into the metal with ease with this method.
Float Clip Attachment hardware for attaching flotation to the mainframe. On the bottom, we use a triple-thick flat washer against the bottom of the float with a Teflon self-locking nut.
Float Comparison Our float is the one on the right manufactured by Shoremaster. Commercial grade bolt-on floats so no screws to penetrate the thick encasement. For a detailed description of our flotation see the Shoremaster section of this website.
Teflon Nut Hardware When connecting the components of our dock we do not use lock washers. We use a flat washer with a self-locking Teflon nut. We have found that the movement of the dock will eventually work apart a lock washer. The self-locking nut will never back off or come loose.
Float Bolted On No screws in our Shoremaster Floats to strip and work loose allowing water to penetrate into the foam core. Thru-bolts are used in the factory pre-molded bolt tabs. The float is one of the most important components of the dock building process and here we spare no expense.
Decking Seams This is where the decking staggers where the angle under it is doubled. Each deck board is screwed down assuring that when the dock twists and moves they do not pull loose.
Number One Grade Decking All of our docks are built with number one grade pressure-treated Arkansas lumber. We are the only dock builder in the area that consistently uses number one grade pressure-treated lumber. Each deck board is handpicked and must meet our standards or it is returned to the lumber yard.
Decking Features This particular slip is 26′ long and our lumber comes in 20′ lengths. We use 12′ and 14′ lengths and stagger them from opposite ends to get that look of a hardwood floor. Our customers love it.
Ramp (Primer Stage) Spans from the shoreline to dock to get the dock into deep enough water so that water fluctuations will not push the dock in and out. Ramp length depends on the depth of your angle but the standard length is 20 feet.
Ramp Clip Where the ramp attaches to the dock. Notice how big the bolts are at this pivot point. They are 3/4″ with self-locking Teflon nuts.
Ramp Pivot Attachment Clips This is where the ramp attaches to the floating dock section. There is also an angle iron clip with a hole punched on the ramp where a 3/4″ bolt with a Teflon nut goes through. This allows the ramp to pivot freely from the dock.
Galvanized Finish Not only do we offer painted docks, but galvanized docks are available. Painted dock finishes are available in any custom color you want to compliment the beauty of your lake home.