Tie Posts
 

We had a new crib dock put in this year and the contractor installed the tie posts and ran them to the bottom of the lake. When I asked they told me to keep them in for the winter, was wondering if anyone else has had experience with them like this.

Our tie posts only go in a foot or so on the cantilevered breakwater dock and last year they were in through the winter. I am told the key is a bubbler and we have one and it kept the area just around the dock free of ice, we had it on a timer so that it would not go crazy impact anyone else.

We are looking at completing our dock to be a U-dock and I was just wondering who you used and if you were happy with the end product? We have 4 companies quoting it now and I should be deciding on who we will have do it in the next week, so if you can share either here or as a PM, that would be great. Everyone we spoke with is recommending that the tie posts go all the way to the bottom, so it must be a general practice.

On a side note, we installed cleats to tie to and we use the tie posts to keep the boat from hitting and going under the dock, do you plan on tying to the tie posts or using cleats? We find cleats to be more secure and easier to tie of than posts.

My crib dock is a 3 finger setup with 2 cribs under each finger and tie posts that go to the lake bottom as well. Mine are driven with a sledge only slightly in though. I am having some issues with the end of my docks dipping a bit, I may have my end tie posts removed and have new ones put in that are driven into the lakebed to help prevent this.

I am not a fan of ones that are not driven down and just bolt to the dock. A few houses down, there is a dock that has them bolted and cut off just below the frame and even with the light usage the dock gets (the dock has been there for years, but it has mostly been a vacant lot) they are all bent and twisted.

We run 2 circulators on timers and thermostats combined and have no issues, granted we are not on the wide open like much of Rattlesnake is. Next season we are thinking of doing 2 pile driven permanent boat lifts, this will help strenghten and take the load off the dock.

Ours were getting to be that way, not extending to the bottom and having the boats tied to it was having a bad impact on them. That is how it was when we bought so we added a few more and straightened the ones that were there. With the cleats we no longer tie to them, it is not an issue and they stay tight and straight.