Quote:
Originally Posted by RUGMAN
Dammed if i do and dammed if I Don't. As a recent permanent dock owner on Meredith Bay I read that having a bubbler will help protect my dock from the ice, however I also read that it is the spring Ice out that causes all the damage. My sense is that if i let the ice form around my
Crib dock. it will be protected from the ice flow . Whats a new homeowner with a crib dock to do? looking for your years of experience to give me some advice.
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Even though there are vertical steel "pins" connecting the corners, most of the damaged crib docks I see have the outermost corners knocked out. Most of the steel gets twisted out, and left hanging—a hazard to swimming. The owners don't usually fix them, and deal with "a list to port".
This U-shaped crib dock below, had a bubbler running into June until about ten years ago.
If I had a crib dock, I'd reinforce the corners, add galvanized steel sign posts as supports and, if needed, use 5/16ths-inch lag bolts to level the dock each spring.
Temporarily hammering one into the lake's bottom and nailing it to the end of the dock would provide a "witness" to the direction of ice stress—and could "fend-off" icebergs. (If torn away, they'd still be recoverable in Spring.).
Galvanized steel sign posts are
expensive from the manufacturer, but they are bountiful and cheap at metal recyclers.
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