Dock Leveling

[newbie]

As the weather starts warming and I begin to think about the summer, I notice that my dock post have gotten slighly beat up this winter (out of level). I remember a neighbor describing a jack/leveler that affixed to the top of the post and had chains that wrapped under the deck bracket. Once in place, he said that you use a winch or crank and they crank together an voila, you have a level dock. I believe that he called it a farmers jack.

As I begin my search this spring, I haven't run into anyone that can help, so I am turning to the forum that has never let me down.

Any help or direction is always appreciated.

[BigLake]

What I have done to level my dock that is supported by 2 1/2 inch diameter pipes with permadock brackets. I went to the junk yard and bought an old fassion bumber jack. I drilled a hole about 3 inches up from the bottom of the
jack and put a bolt thru the hole.Then I put the jack in the top of the pipe, the bolt stops the jack from going more than 3 inches into the pipe. I then wrap a chain around the permadock bracket, and attach it to the working end
of the jack. I then loosen the bolt on the permadock bracket and jack the dock so it is level. Then tighen the bolt and move on to the next bracket.

I hope that helps.

[Bear Islander]

I made my own using a boat trailer winch. It's a strap winch that is bolted to a bracket that fits over the top of the post. A large hook at the end of the strap grabs the dock rails. Using this it's easy for one person to crank the dock up or down.

[Lakegeezer]

You can get one of the levelers at Ferrante Dock store on Route 25 between Center Harbor and Moultonboro Neck Road. I used one for 10 years and they work great - even in mid-summer with you standing on the dock that you are lifting. The only glitch is that it needs smooth pipe. Mine was smashed thick from all the pounding it had experienced, so I had to find a pipe cutter to cut it smooth before I could use the lifter.

[phoenix]

as another alternative Watermark Navigation will come and do it for you . 603-254-6066

[SIKSUKR]

I made one similar to Bear Islander except I used a come-along winch.Pretty simple. SS

[ApS]

Originally Posted by newbie

"... I remember a neighbor describing a jack/leveler that affixed to the top of the post and had chains that wrapped under the deck bracket. Once in place, he said that you use a winch or crank and they crank together an voila, you have a level dock. I believe that he called it a farmers jack...."

Farmer's jacks, belt-winches, ratchet-winches (come-a-long), and bumper jacks are all good. They're not the only way to level docks, though. http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBPJ7XNX4E.html

I use a farmer's jack for dock leveling. They're available for about $40, will be "FedEx-ed" and can be left at your cottage's doorstep. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=6530.

My docks on Winnipesaukee and Florida are very heavy and I find the 3½ ton capacity essential. Two years ago -- with so many Winnipesaukee docks damaged by ice and barge repairs backed up into July -- I even straightened ice-damaged pilings with it. The farmer's jack has built-in holes for chaining (or lag-bolting) to the uprights.

Nothing wrong with a bumper jack, but a farmer's jack can be used up-side-down if necessary, is indestructable, and can always be used as a bumper jack.

[upthesaukee]

When I saw the picture of the farmer's jack (had no clue what it was until I saw it), I realized that was the same thing we called a high lift jack in the military. Versatile tool for the outdoorsman. Can lift a vehicle off a log or rock or use it as a come-along. With the Jack and some chain, you can move mountains. sorry, off topic for a moment here, but I got bit by the nostalgia bug. Of course it will straighten docks. (B.O. T.).

[ApS]

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).

[ITD]

I bought a dock jack at Heath's in Center Harbor, more expensive than $40 (Does that include shipping?) but you either hook it on the metal post or it fits over a 4 x4 timber and hook it to the dock. No disassembly of the dock required. When the dock gets tilted I have an extra pipe and bracket I use to straighten everything up.

[RDS Dock]

We currently cast and sell two of the components for the chain jack. You can see them on the RDS Dock Hardware Facebook page. We are working on the threaded rod portion to manufacture the entire jack.....

[Kamper]

I used to help some friends with their seasonal dock that used pipes as the vertical support. I used a small scissor jack and some light chain to adjust the deck height. I carefully put the jack on top of the pylon and ran chain under the horizontal support and adjusted each section.

One year I set up the whole dock pretty much by myself and made a pair of slider jacks. Two 2X4's, 1/2" holes drilled about 2" apart. A short cross-piece for each, and a 6" bolt to go through the holes. When I started I also had washers and nuts to go with the bolts but that got to be a nuisance and changing to 8" bolts (for peace of mind) was adequate.

Put the base on the lake bottom and the short arms under the dock edge, at an angle. Push the long pieces straight up. Drop the pipe through the fitting. Adjust as necessary and lock it up. Although there will be less stress on the dock with two people working simultaneously, I was able to handle it fine.

I later used the tool to adjust the decking height when the water lever changed enough to merit the effort, and level it up when some of the pipes settled more/less than the others.

Good luck!

[TiltonBB]

I also got an old rachet jack from a junk yard. It has seen a lot of use and would work much better if the lip that is meant to hook under a bumper was longer and the jack itself was taller. A farm jack solves that problem and Tractor Supply in Tilton has farm jacks.

I have also used a come along but if you hook it in the top of the pipe it really needs to be offset slightly from the pipe or the weight of the dock and the angle may damage the come along by pinching it against the pipe.

When I first bought the house I was clueless about removing the dock and I hired a dock company. They left the three sections of dock in the sand in front of the house and the pipes and pins in a pile on the front lawn. I called them repeatedly to tell them that the area where the dock sections were left would be underwater in the spring but they wouldn't come back.

In the spring I got two large truck inner tubes, deflated them, and after picking the docks up slightly with a crowbar, slid them under the dock sections one at a time. After inflation it was very easy to float the sections into place, insert the pipes, and level the dock in place. I was able to put a 47 foot, 3 section, steel frame dock in by myself and it wasn't really that difficult.

[meredith weekender]

We use a farm jack whenever we have to level our dock and it works great! All of our neighbors now borrow it when working on their docks as well. With the farm jack, dock leveling is now a one person job for us. Definitely worth the $65 we paid for it 10 years ago.

[bearislandcc]

Originally Posted by newbie

As the weather starts warming and I begin to think about the summer, I notice that my dock post have gotten slighly beat up this winter (out of level). I remember a neighbor describing a jack/leveler that affixed to the top of the post and had chains that wrapped under the deck bracket. Once in place, he said that you use a winch or crank and they crank together an voila, you have a level dock. I believe that he called it a farmers jack.

As I begin my search this spring, I haven't run into anyone that can help, so I am turning to the forum that has never let me down.

Any help or direction is always appreciated.

You can make a dock jack out of an old metal post & a come along