[LIforrelaxin]

I have seen all types of ideas and priced out many of them... A few years back when I thought my dock might be doomed..... Fortunately my dock was not doomed and is still working fine.....

What I have learned is the following.... You can put down a bunch of cash and get a very Rigid Aluminum frame articulating dock, like some here have described and pictured here. And certainly for some this is the best solution for a variety of reasons.

You can do what I have done for years, I have a 24 ish foot section that I winch up... that was built incredibly strong with 4 x 8 x 24' wood beams by the previous owners, and then add a couple of sections to the end.... this gets me out to 36 feet for good water depth....

You can go with aluminum section docks... less costly but still damaging to the pocket.....

What my research showed me was I could build section out of wood and make them light enough so as to not feel like the Aluminum section dock was giving me any advantage.... yep I would need more sections.... but I can build them light by cutting them to 6' vs 8'..... and using steel pipe legs, or removable 4x4 posts....as well as removable floor boards

I also realized I could rebuild my 24' section reasonably with minimal cost as well re-using the decking and posts....

Bottom line, don't think Aluminum is the best option.... Also don't think the entire dock needs to be articulating.... with my 24' section I can put my boat in, at ice out if I want and add my additional 2 sections as time allows and weather allows.....(note I have on 8' section, and one 6' section)...... some day I will shorten the 8 footer, and build an additional 6' section so that I am out my full 40 allowed feet.