We are building a 14' x 14' floating dock for our lake which we want to anchor near the deepest part (around 25'). The bottom is soft sand and mud.

I'm estimating the dock will be1000 pounds, and will be floating on 12 55 gallon plastic barrels.

My goal is to keep it one place so I don't wreck any artificial fish habitats we're putting in with cables dragging across them or have it float into shore.

Ideally I would like to be able to adjust it if we have fluctuations in lake depth that last a while. Not as important but I also want to be able to unclip it from the anchors and maybe putter around a bit with an outboard attached to it.

Anyone had experience with a similar project?

I figure I could attach 2-3 cables to eyebolts and then drop some cinder blocks for anchors but I don't know if that's going to provide enough resistance to the wind to keep it in place. I have no idea how much weight I need to be dropping for the anchor. Thoughts?

I have that exact dock at our ranch. You will need six 5 gallon buckets filled with concrete to anchor it. Mine has been holding for 10 years. I don't think cinder blocks will work.

Wind and water flow velocity will have the biggest effect on what type of mass you need for an anchor. Huge difference between a lake with little to no water flow and say a river or creek that has flows. How much exposure to what type of predominant winds will also play a role.

Remember that something that weighs say 100lbs on dry land doesn't weigh 100lbs underwater as well. It's lighter due to buoyancy, even if it is something like concrete - water still negates some of the weight factor.

Sounds like the poster above has a damn good place to start though.

I have similar parameters. I'm in the Ozarks where there are lots of floating docks. On a similar dock like yours the dock builder had 2' x 3' x 12" Concrete blocks with a large eye bolt in the center that went all the way through the block. They also cast into the blocks 4 ea 3/4" rebar that stuck down out of the blocks for digging into the bottom.
We planned ours in case we wanted to add a roof later.
The roof can catch a lot of wind so needs more anchors.
They recommended three of those for our application. We used stainless cable and rigging on everything.
Don't think I would try with cinder blocks.

CorpsTerd04 said:

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I have that exact dock at our ranch. You will need six 5 gallon buckets filled with concrete to anchor it. Mine has been holding for 10 years. I don't think cinder blocks will work.

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Thanks! Couple more questions:

How many cables did you attach to your dock for the anchors? Is that 3 cables with two buckets on each or what?

Also, assuming you used the same design I am for barrels where the supports/frame rests on the barrels, but the barrels don't come in contact with the decking, what method did you use to better hold the barrels in place? I know gravity will do most of the work but I want to try to limit movement of the barrels as much as possible.

I did not use barrels we used industrial Styrofoam. Dimension's were similar. We tied one anchor each to a separate cable and spread them symmetrically under the dock.

I can tell you that we had special sheet metal parts built so that the foam did not touch the decking. It has been 10 years. Working for a large GC I was able to get custom parts fabricated including galvanized bent plate and sheet metal. I can tell you that the amount of anchor has held though, and our dock is open to the wind.

CorpsTerd04 said:

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I did not use barrels we used industrial Styrofoam. Dimension's were similar. We tied one anchor each to a separate cable and spread them symmetrically under the dock.

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Gotcha, that makes sense. I was thinking 3-4 cables so along the same lines.

You can fill the barrels with low density closed cell 2 part foam and they will be much more sturdy and absolutely unsinkable. It does add cost and slightly reduce bouyancy.

Why can you just drive in some posts or pilings on the shore and tie it to them? Seems easier than anchors.

DTP02 said:

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Not as important but I also want to be able to unclip it from the anchors and maybe putter around a bit with an outboard attached to it.

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Am I reading this right? You want to be able to unclip the 14'x14' floating dock with an outboard attached and cruise around on the lake? This sounds like a Florida man YouTube video. Can you share the video here when you do this?

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Why can you just drive in some posts or pilings on the shore and tie it to them? Seems easier than anchors.

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Because it's a 17 acre lake and I don't want to run cables 150+ yards across my lake in multiple directions.

SanAntoneAg said:

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DTP02 said:

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Not as important but I also want to be able to unclip it from the anchors and maybe putter around a bit with an outboard attached to it.

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Am I reading this right? You want to be able to unclip the 14'x14' floating dock with an outboard attached and cruise around on the lake? This sounds like a a Florida man YouTube video. Can you share the video here when you do this?

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"Putter" around on the lake, and there are multiple videos of people doing exactly that without incident which is where I got the idea from. It's basically a square pontoon boat. We aren't going to be pulling tubers on it, but being able to move it over different holes or pick people up off the shore would be a nice bonus. Essentially the same speed as we're going to be going to put it into position to begin with.

If you think we were planning to wakeboard behind it, think more like trolling motor.

DTP02 said:

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Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Why can you just drive in some posts or pilings on the shore and tie it to them? Seems easier than anchors.

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Because it's a 17 acre lake and I don't want to run cables 150+ yards across my lake in multiple directions.

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So, the dock is going to be stationed in the middle of the lake?

Correct, as stated in the OP.

DTP02 said:

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Correct, as stated in the OP.

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No, the op doesn't state that. It says by the deepest part. Good luck with your dock.

Just a few thoughts.

Foks I know with large floating duck blinds on open water prefer to use a hunk of scrap steel over concrete. It doesn't have to be near the size or weight as concrete. Old engine blocks or transmissions are really common but you probably don't need that much weight.

Another option might be to set drill stem down into the bottom on three sides. Sticking up out of the water so it pins it in. Leave one side open so you can pull in and out. Clip in once in place.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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DTP02 said:

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Correct, as stated in the OP.

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No, the op doesn't state that. It says by the deepest part. Good luck with your dock.

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You're right, I assumed people would get middle from "deepest" but that's not always the case. Sure would make things easier if the deepest spot was right up near the shore. Unfortunately our lake is like an upside down fried egg with the yolk in the middle and gets way too hot in the summer in the shallow areas near the shore.

4 x 5 gallon buckets of concrete with a galvanized eye bolt set in the top of the pour. Run up to 4 bouys or dock floats with some heavy rope or galvanized cable. You can then hook corner or side to a drop line to each bouy to keep it positioned between them as you like. It would be easy to float them out there where you want them then drop them off the dock in an appropriate configuration to hold the dock between the bouys attached to them.

SanAntoneAg said:

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DTP02 said:

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Not as important but I also want to be able to unclip it from the anchors and maybe putter around a bit with an outboard attached to it.

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Am I reading this right? You want to be able to unclip the 14'x14' floating dock with an outboard attached and cruise around on the lake? This sounds like a Florida man YouTube video. Can you share the video here when you do this?

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If you can't water ski behind your motorized dock, what's the point?

SanAntoneAg said:

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DTP02 said:

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Not as important but I also want to be able to unclip it from the anchors and maybe putter around a bit with an outboard attached to it.

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Am I reading this right? You want to be able to unclip the 14'x14' floating dock with an outboard attached and cruise around on the lake? This sounds like a Florida man YouTube video. Can you share the video here when you do this?

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You can rent motorized tiki huts in Destin to putt-putt over to Crab Island and anchor up for a day. Covered, has a bar and seating, etc - next time we go I'm probably going to rent one of those over a pontoon boat because they look fun as hell.

MouthBQ98 said:

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4 x 5 gallon buckets of concrete with a galvanized eye bolt set in the top of the pour. Run up to 4 bouys or dock floats with some heavy rope or galvanized cable. You can then hook corner or side to a drop line to each bouy to keep it positioned between them as you like. It would be easy to float them out there where you want them then drop them off the dock in an appropriate configuration to hold the dock between the bouys attached to them.

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This is a pretty clever idea. Would allow us to have a stationary semi-permanent spot in between the anchors but also make use of the existing anchors to move to any of the four for the short term to see if we get more action.

I'll have to think on this one. I like it at first consideration.

schmellba99 said:

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SanAntoneAg said:

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DTP02 said:

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Not as important but I also want to be able to unclip it from the anchors and maybe putter around a bit with an outboard attached to it.

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Am I reading this right? You want to be able to unclip the 14'x14' floating dock with an outboard attached and cruise around on the lake? This sounds like a Florida man YouTube video. Can you share the video here when you do this?

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You can rent motorized tiki huts in Destin to putt-putt over to Crab Island and anchor up for a day. Covered, has a bar and seating, etc - next time we go I'm probably going to rent one of those over a pontoon boat because they look fun as hell.

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I'd actually forgotten that the genesis of this idea came from seeing all those in Destin a few years back. We were going to rent one but the weather didn't cooperate on the day we had picked.

Sounds like you need to just launch a pontoon boat in there.

Some of those double ended boat fenders would make good bouys. One end to sunken anchors, the other end available for a tag line or tie off.

docb said:

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Sounds like you need to just launch a pontoon boat in there.

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Yes, there are places that sell pontoon docks also

OP's idea is completely feasible and absolutely badass. Anyone trying to talk him out of it is a communist.

Then it would be our dock, comrade.

If you look around it's fairly easy to find a defunct pontoon boat frame with toons. The older ones (like Tracker Party Barges had wood floors that would rot).
The aluminum frames and pontoons are usually good.
You can pick one up usually really on the cheap side….usually a lot less than building a dock….and simply put a new floor on it.
You can move them around with a transom mount troll motor easily.
This one on our little lake was bought for $1800.00

Y'all can stop trying to talk me out of it now. Half the purpose of it is getting the younger generation to put some sweat equity into it, which you don't really get from buying some broken down pontoon boat.

We're about half way there.

Well you would if you made them fix up and rebuild that old broken down pontoon boat for you.

Sure is a beautiful looking lake sir.