Dock Install Question-Timing

[SeaDooSam]

I just had thought. Do I have to wait for the ice to melt to put the docks back in? It would be much easier walking on ice to arrange and install the docks than wading through water. I have a floating dock.
So my question is why can't I hook up the dock when the water is frozen (putting the dock on top of the ice) and then wait for ice out and then the dock should just be floating there in the spring?
Is there some major flaw or drawback to this idea? I am really considering doing this unless there are some huge problems that I am overlooking.
I couldn't be the first one to ponder this?

 

[wrench 3]

The problem is,if you're on a lake the ice usually doesn't leave gracefully. Once the ice brakes loose of the shore it's at the mercy of the wind. The ice pack will move in and out from the shore as well as along the shore. Even if the bock slides along the ice, if the ice was to move far enough to put the dock in the water it would get crushed if the ice moved back in.

 

[BigDfromTN]

I am not an ice person being down south... I would have like you been thinking this could be a good idea. After reading what Wrench said, Nope would not do it. Also the dock floats would likely warm faster and might melt into the ice and it surround the floats. IF that happen, I can see the ice really pulling hard on the mounting points and float attachments.

 

[shrew]

If it starts to rain or melt and water begins to form around the dock, if it freezes again it will beat up the dock pretty good.

 

[GA_Boater]

If the lake ice melted evenly and there was no possibility of refreezing, the early launch could work.

But what happens when part of the dock is in the water and the rest is still supported by an ice floe? Chances are good the floe moving around in wind and wave action could tear the dock apart.

Wanna take the chance?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Just search ice flow on you tube........ You will find hours of ice-out carnage.

I have witnessed ice taking out boat houses, the main cottage, and all the trees within 20' of shore on a 960 acre lake. I vave have been there when permenant docs on river homes were replaced in spring because 10' diameter steel pipes were bent when the ice came down river

I wouldn't ever consider it unless the dock was on a pond under 3 acres in size

 

[Blind Date]

I didn't see where the OP stated he was on a river so I'm not sure why people are concerned about that scenario. You can leave a floating dock in the lake all winter and the freeze won't bother it a bit. My old neighbor on lake Minnetonka in MN leaves his floating dock in all year. Where you can run into problems is during spring when the ice breaks up and the wind starts to blow. If the wind blows the right way your fine, but if it blows back into your shoreline you can run into problems. Exposure and the lake size also play into that.

If it's a floating dock why do you need to get wet to put it in? I thought that was one of the benefits of a floating dock. Maybe I'm wrong about that. Guys around here put in and remove post docks without ever getting in the water.

 

[SeaDooSam]

I didn't see where the OP stated he was on a river so I'm not sure why people are concerned about that scenario. You can leave a floating dock in the lake all winter and the freeze won't bother it a bit. My old neighbor on lake Minnetonka in MN leaves his floating dock in all year. Where you can run into problems is during spring when the ice breaks up and the wind starts to blow. If the wind blows the right way your fine, but if it blows back into your shoreline you can run into problems. Exposure and the lake size also play into that.

If it's a floating dock why do you need to get wet to put it in? I thought that was one of the benefits of a floating dock. Maybe I'm wrong about that. Guys around here put in and remove post docks without ever getting in the water.

Valid points- I am not really on a river. I am sort of near a channel that goes towards a dam but other than that I am in a very protected cove, in the basin, of a big lake.
Also, It is not that it is hard to put the dock in-it is more that it would just be nice to just have the dock floating and done with so when the ice thaws we can return to boating and things. And yes, it can be done without getting wet it is just easier to get wet IMO

I just had the thought come to me the other day so I figured I would put it out there.

 

[SeaDooSam]

Thanks for all the other replies as well!

 

[Silvertip]

If you've ever made a trip to northern Minnesota and fished or even boated on Lake Mil Lacs (or any of the large lakes in the state) you'd get a feeling for what "ice-out" with a west wind can do. There have been instances where as was mentioned, docks, boat houses and cabins have been wiped out and ice piled up many feet deep on the road. Yes -- docks can and often are left in over winter but there is always the risk of freeze-thaw damage as well as ice-shift damage. If you are trying to save yourself a little work, then wait until ice out and you only have that one task to do.

 

[frantically relaxing]

If you have some sort of dike or breakwater to prevent moving ice from reaching your dock, then go for it..

But if you don't---- you probably shouldn't!

Watch this video, it's one of the coolest video's you'll ever see. It's clips of ice moving on my lake, Utah Lake. In many of the shots, it's likely our SkipperLiner was parked in the ice right behind the camera- safe on the other side of the dike

https://youtu.be/1AlDQrXnYeA

 

[wrench 3]

Valid points- I am not really on a river. I am sort of near a channel that goes towards a dam but other than that I am in a very protected cove, in the basin, of a big lake.

We're in a bay off of a bay and pretty well sheltered. We get very little shore line damage from ice. But we get new neighbors who think they can leave a dock in and it's fine for a couple of years. Then the next spring it tears loose and disappears.