Floating Docks
Above is a 28 foot long 8 foot wide floating dock and barge. This is a licensed boat with an 8 person capacity that doubles as a great floating dock when moored.
If you are a floating dock designer or floating dock builder, there is something new and exciting happening in the dock world. RollingBarge.com has taken their “Rolling Party Barge” technology and used it to create a huge array of custom designed Rolling Floating Docks.
Our custom floating docks bolt, rivet, and screw together. There is no welding required. The process is simple and there are outstanding directions provided that walk you through the assembly process.
- The primary structure of the dock is 6061 T6 aluminum which is lightweight, strong, and salt water resistant.
- Aluminum bolts, nuts, and rivets are used for salt water corrosion resistance.
- The deck is pressure treated marine plywood with a lifetime guarantee
affiliatedresources.net/subs/products/aqua_ply_plus.html - The deck surface is non-skid polyethylene glued down at the plywood factory also lifetime guaranteed.
- Each dock has a galvanized Dexter Torflex® highway rated axle. www.dexteraxle.com/torflex_axles
- The axle wheel bearings are protected by Air Tight® seals that are designed to be submersed for one year continuous without allowing water into the wheel bearing cavity. www.airtighthubs.com
These new Rolling Floating Docks use 55 gallon polyethylene drums as floatation. This means that we can ship you a fairly small kit that includes everything but the drums. You purchase the drums locally and assemble the dock in your shop. When the dock is complete, you simply tow it down the highway to a launch ramp near your customer and then tow across the water to its new home.
If you are planning on towing the dock on a public highway, you will need to secure a trip permit and install temporary trailer lights. Folded up the width is about 9.5 feet. With 32” high railings upstairs, the towing height is about 13.5 feet.
The trailer tongue extends 52” for highway travel. However, at the launch ramp, the trailer tongue is retracted to 14” to insure adequate strength during the launch. To launch the dock, simply back the dock down the launch ramp until the tongue floats off the trailer hitch.
The Floating Dock system from RollingBarge.com is a modular system:
- Dock lengths up to 32 feet in multiples of 4 feet.
- Dock widths of 4.3, 6.4, 8.5, 13, and 17 feet.
- The 17 foot wide models can support an 8 foot wide 2nd story that can be any length up to the full length of the dock.
- Optional Diving Platform and Pool Slide.
- Optional Marine toilet with up to 200 gallons of holding tank. Dock can be rolled up the launch ramps with holding tanks full and tanks can be emptied on shore.
- Docks can be designed with a permanent room on the main deck up to 16 feet long and 8 feet wide. This could be a kitchen for a floating restaurant, or bedroom for a floating cabin.
- Permanent Pontoon Boat style furniture can be installed on the 2nd story including standard Bimini tops for shade.
In addition to custom floating dock kits, RollingBarge.com can provide engineered gangway kits up to 32 feet long. These gangways are essentially the same design as the dock and are assembled the same way. 55 gallon drums can be inserted along the gangway to allow it to be floated into place
Floating Dock Construction
Above and below shows the assembly process of a 28×8 foot floating dock and barge.
This barge has a total of 16 55-gallon polyethylene drums for flotation.
On this particular dock we used “Thru-Flow” decking, a plastic deck that allows light to pass through to the water.
(It is required in some parts of the country to make it harder for some fish to eat other fish.)
Even at 28 feet long, we had no trouble supporting this floating dock from four points.
(Can your dock do this?)
One of our Rolling Barge assembly crews.
Delivering a 28 foot barge on an 18 foot trailer…
Our 28 foot floating dock and barge weighs only 1100 lbs. (How much does yours weigh?)
The poly barrels slid nicely down the grassy road and right into the water.
With 16 barrels, this barge has a capacity of 8 people or 1300 lbs. Adding 12 more barrels would increase the capacity to 13 people. (Barrels can be easily added at any time).
A 10HP outboard will push this barge about 4 mph. With the electric outboard shown, the barge went about 1 mph.
Join the proud family of Rolling Barge owners and get a lifetime of enjoyment from your floating dock and barge.