Docks In and Out $
 

This kills me the cost to put and take out our rather simple dock doubled this year. Not real tough couple guys 3hrs and they bill me as if they’re licensed professionals. “That’s what the market bears” he says. Labor shortage is the common excuse. Frustrating.
Guess I’m looking for another contractor I’m in Wolfeboro Alton area. Recommendations?
Thanks
Happy Holidays

as a reference point...
 

....I pay $325 in the spring to put the dock down, (40' crank up dock), place all the panels, dis-assemble the winch pole and associated cables, and to put in the mooring ball. $325 again in the fall to put it all up and take out the mooring ball. There are usually 2-3 guys involved. I did it once on my own when we first got the crank-up dock and said I would never do it again. I have Azek panels and they are heavy as hell and I don't have anyone to help me. I am happy to pay the money.

I be tickled to pay $325 who do write the check to. $900 no typo $900

Around 5-6 years ago I had a 6x30 aluminum frame crank-up built and installed. I bought that without deck sections. Those I built myself out of cedar, for its natural rot resistance. I considered a few synthetic materials, but the weight I calculated for each of the eight sections would have been a bear to handle by myself. So cedar it was (grade STK - Select Tight Knot). After assembly, I weighed a section, at 57 lb. For moving them, I stand a section on the shorter edge, back up to it, drop down a bit low, grab the long sides, stand, and just walk away with the thing. It takes me two hours by myself or just one with my son to strip and store the deck sections, hang the cable sections, crank it up, and tie off the side guy ropes. I'm a couple weeks short of 79, and too cheap to pay for what I can do myself easily enough.

Go to Home Depot, Lowes, etc. and buy a Panel Carry....$10. Makes the carrying go so much easier. Just slip it under the middle of the panel and lift up. Use one hand to carry and the other to steer/stabilize. Very simple. Contractors use these all the time to carry sheetrock.

Here is another idea we also use to keep the lifting better. Go to Harbor Freight tools and buy a 12 X 18 Hardwood dolly. Cost is $14, but on sale often for $10. On our 40 foot dock (6 foot wide with cedar panels of 2 per section = two 6X5 panels per 10 foot section), we accumulate 135 ft (35+30+25+20 ft, etc)of lifting and traveling work to get the panels to the shore end. Using the dolly lets us just roll the sections along easily. We use it both in the spring to launch as well as fall to remove. These roll so easily. Then the lifting is just a short distance on the shore end. At 75, I need all the mechanical advantage I can garner.

If it’s not “real tough”, do it yourself. Might fit your budget better.


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I use a hand truck (two wheeler) to take the wood off the docks.

After too many years of cranking up a couple of docks I bought a Harbor Freight winch. It bolts to a tree and the cable goes through a pulley about 20 feet up the tree. I have a 12 volt battery that runs the wave runner lift during the summer and just carry it out to the winch and clip the cables on.

I used to dread cranking the docks up and now it is just a push of the button. I just wish I had started doing it with the winch sooner.

I have an aluminum dock. The sections are 6’x12’ and there are 4 of them. The “L” at the end is 8’x12’. $85 per section….$425 in $425 out. I used to do it myself with help from at least 3 other guys. Sometimes my sons…sometimes some friends. Now that I’m in my early 60s, it’s just not possible anymore…

All the old folks post on this thread. Where's the post from the guy/girl who says "I'm 30 and I've been helping Dad/Grandad put the dock in/out for 15 years. My son/daughter is 5 and learning the trade."