Mooring Help Needed...
 

A friend needs a 2250# mooring block taken off his truck and transported to about 60 feet offshore off Wolfeboro Neck.

Firms he's successfully contacted when in Wolfeboro, are not answering their telephones.

Any connections to construction barges or enterprising individuals?

ETA:
This spring, I saw a "working" pontoon boat with a long boom attached. Maybe they can help?

All the companies that do this type of work have been very busy for several years. I know that Watermark declined to quote on several hundred jobs this year and they have been over 20 employees short all season. That leaves equipment parked at their dock because of a lack of people to operate it.

I know that is not helpful but I would try calling them and some of the large companies around the lake to see if they can give you a name of someone who may be interested in doing it.

Since what you need is using 2 different pieces of equipment maybe you can separate the jobs. Keep an eye around the neighborhood for anyone doing work. If there is a backhoe there maybe they can move it to the shore for a little cash. Try a local towing company with a "boom" type tow truck. If they can lift it and get it down to the waterfront you will be half way there.

Good luck

I would have a backhoe unload it and place it on skids by the shore. Wait till the lake freezes and drag it out. Spring thaw will do the rest.

You can try John Baxter, d/b/a JB Dive Services. He put in my mooring and maintains it and the crank up dock each season. Note, however, he now has a lot of regular, standing customers and this is the start of the 2nd busy season, so not sure he could squeeze it in, but it's worth a shot.

ETA:
This spring, I saw a "working" pontoon boat with a long boom attached. Maybe they can help?
That's our barge to install and remove boatlifts , sorry it can only handle about a thousand pds. I cant make any suggestions other than call around , all of us that work on the water are swamped with work and short of help. Good luck !

That's a lot of weight to push around. Also, what happens if the ice moves away during the thaw?

My neighbors moved theirs onto the the ice and used chain saws to cut the ice and drop the weight. Unfortunately they now have bought a larger boat and it hangs over my line about 4'. Gonna be hard for them to correct this.

Tarbell’s marine services out of Minge cove in Alton Bay might be able to help.

Seems like an incredibly heavy anchor. Is he mooring the Mount?

Center Harbor Dock has a pontoon boat with crane they use to lift out various boat lifts, etc. Not sure how much weight they can handle. Might be worth a call, but if it is needed in Wolfeboro, better cash in your IRA !

Wow...You have an IRA that still has value?

You can’t do that….leaving a large block of concrete on the ice? Can you just imagine if a sledder hit it going fast at night?

What about dragging it out and then sawing the ice around it so it falls through?

If your friend can wait until 2023 he may have better luck. Maybe a lot of these trades will begin to answer their phones once the stock market sinks and work begins to dry up.......

Float-Chasing Gets Old...
 

It's the weight suggested by a local float lessor.

Based on the number of rented floats drifting past here in strong winds, he should have the correct point of view as to weight. ;)

great idea!

No….it’s a horrible idea….a huge block of concrete on the ice could pose a hazard for sleds at night…think about hitting it in the dark.

Operate Sleds at a Prudent Distance...
 

A heavy mooring block, warmed by the sun, would slowly sink through the ice. Freshly skidded to its permitted location, it would initially present a nasty, but shrinking, hazard--starting at about 14-inches.

Within the past several days, shoreline erosion here has allowed a four-foot boulder to roll right to the edge of today's water level. Had the ice been "in", the boulder would've had the inertia to skid further out--beyond where authorities could allow a legal mooring permit! Given certain wind conditions, a boulder could arrive many feet out!

My neighbor has a six-foot boulder resting under water about forty feet from shore. Who knows where it would have come to rest under "ice-in" conditions?

Like PWCs, it would be prudent for operators of "sleds" to stay 150-feet away from shore--especially at night!

Good idea, but help may be on the way shortly. :)

Using the ice as an easy solution to placement of the mooring block makes a lot of sense. As to the safety issue, I would think that a suitable flag or similar very visible indicator could be placed atop the block to warn sledders of a hazard. The flag could be mounted on a heavy wood block, such as a piece of 4x8 or LVL, and attached to either the mooring block or shore by a light cord, to remain afloat after the block sinks to enable retrieval. Hazards such as rocks poking up through the ice in shallow areas (and shorelines as well) are out there anyway, and sledders always have to be aware of what appears in their headlights. There is no absolute protection against harm from lack of caution or recklessness.

So we have rules requiring reflectors on bob houses, lights on boats, white lights on canoes at night, no overnight anchoring and sleeping on your boat all designed around safety but we think it’s OK to to put a 2,000 lb concrete block on the ice for a sled hit…..geeze

I live on a good sized pond. Town put a spider (good sized floating solar aerateor/circulator in it several years ago and left it in over the winter. Guy hit it with his sled one night (supposedly doing in excess of 50 mph) and successfully sued the town for damages in excess of $1,000,000. If you’re thinking of leaving a mooring block on the ice you better be well insured.


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Depending on the access, maybe you handle the whole thing from land?

We have a Genie telehandler on my jobsite right now that has the capacity. This is the one, but there are others out there.

https://www.readyeq.com/product/geni...lehandler/5139

This could pick it up, get it to the water and possibly even extend it out a ways and drop it in. You may still need a diver to float it with airbags to where you want it to go, but thats easier than getting a marine construction company right now.

My other thought would be to call Moore's Crane in Dover. They could easily rig and lift it, swing it out and drop it in. They have lifted the Dive, MB Tractor guys big boats, and even lifted hot tubs over my house a few times.:laugh:

That's a "Very Concentrated" 2000#...
 

Within 50-feet of a dock with "Ice-Eaters", a 2,000# block might just fall through that thinner ice in minutes!

Certainly safer than sledding--in darkness--near pressure-ridges that Lake Winnipesaukee is famous for. :rolleye1:

I agree
I'm sure they can help

Scope Affects Effectiveness, Doesn't It?
 

Thanks, codeman671...wish we'd thought of it. Even a stationary crane would have been very helpful in the 67 years we've boated from the same cottage on Winter Harbor. :)

Thankfully, the two 1000# mooring blocks were dropped off (that is...over the side) by a pontoon boat. The operator promised to relocate it in June if too far out (my opinion, anyway). :rolleye2:

What surprised me is the moorings were round (like a tablet) and not rectangular (rectilinear= composed of straight lines). :confused:

A mooring kept on a short leash (to keep from neighbor intrusion) should have a block that won't "creep downhill" so readily--and have the float take off! :confused: