A few days prior to Ice-Out, everything was going "swimmingly" for a damage-free 2007—until the strong wind shifted from West to North, and a huge mass of ice slowly marched towards my dock.
(Those are fallen trees breaking up the ice in the photograph).
The ice managed to push one dock piling—the biggest—out from under its cross-member.
I broke out the $40 (now paper-cataloged
at $35) "farm jack" mentioned above, removed two boards, and put the base against the top of the piling.
A few "clicks" later with the jack's red handle—and voilá—returned the piling to its proper place under the cross member and secured the piling in place. (Probably saved $500 having it done professionally, and did it in one sunny afternoon).
