hi , I want to do a floating dock with 5 gallon and I have some questions on how to make the dock. Which wood should I use ? I know I have to calculate the weight of people and dock. For a dock for 4 people , what weight can it has? Thanks!
5 gallons of pressure treated wood
Depends. 4 Americans or 4 Ethiopians?
>>992941
5 gallons of pressure treated imitation crab meat
>>992983
4 5 gallon ethiopians
>>992941
Take one of your containers to the water.
Put a piece of scrap wood on it.
See how much weight it takes to submerge it.
Apply maths.
>>992941
Fill the 5 gallons with hot water
hot water is lighter floats better
>>993010
Fill it with ice, ice floats better
>>992941
Gotten interested in such things myself.
As far as I gathered, calculations are as follow.
>5 gallon -> 18,9L
>18,9L fully submerged displaces 18,9L of water which weights 18,9kg
>5 gallon bottle can at most float a weight of 18,9 kg, more or less
>Always take sizable margin of error, bur to bottle compression and other shit, so 5gal->18kg tops.
>4 people, take about 500kg just to be safe.
>500/18=27,(7)->28
>28 5gal bottles to float about 500kg, make that 30 bottles just to be sure and thats it.
>>993273
+ the weight of the lumber and fixings?
>>993282
How big, rigid and 'professionally build' is it supposed to be?
The bigger and better looking, the more weight for wood.
If its just for function and you dont mind it looking like shit, just tie bottles together with plastic string and fix few boards in the top of them to walk on.
How heavy you think wood and fixings will be?
50kg? 100kg?
Add 2-5 bottles and youre done, generally.
Might want to add something running throu the length of the dock to keep it rigid and not weavy, Im thinking something light and sturdy, like a bamboo, if you can get one long and thick enough somewhere. If not, some pcv pipes if the rigid enouch.
Generally, avoid metal - too heavy for this shit, even if durable- and reserve wood for top only. Also you might want to waterproof planks with something so they wont rot so easily.
Just use 5 gallons of palletised pallets.
5 gal? Top kek
You could add enough to hold 4 people and the wood but have fun submerging evertime anyone moves from the middle.
The dock posted has 6 floats with 400lbs of bouency for a reason.
Sealed plastic 55gal barrels on the other hand work fine but you'll need quite a few.
>>992941
If you are going to use 5-gallon buckets please use black buckets, not any other color. This is because the black ones made with black plastic, not painted black, won't deteriorate in the sun. Most 5-gallon buckets are made with HDPE plastic and all the light color/white buckets become very brittle in sunlight after a couple years. The black ones last a very long time.
Blue water barrels, that are HDPE also last a very long time without becoming brittle in the sunlight. They would be preferred since they are much thicker, more durable, and all around better suited for this job. You can hit them repeatedly and rather hard without harming their integrity to hold air. You can normally buy them used for around $15USD unless you are lucky to get another source. They are even lower when they have had something toxic inside where you can't use them for potable water anymore.
As for your calculations, it is more about stability than mere buoyancy force. Stability means you'll need a lot more buoyancy so that your platform won't simply see-saw over to one side.
5-gallon bucket = 0.66 cubic feet of air = 42.77 pounds of force
55 gallon barrel = 7.35 cubic feet of air = 470.55 pounds of force
You can use this simple calculator.
http://elgersmad.homestead.com/files/tide/Calculators%5CBuoyancy.html
>>993282
Wood is lighter than water. Anon has the theory right btw. And the more wood you use, the higher your factor of safety, as it is also displacing water.
And nails and shit are going to be such a small amount of weight you should just ignore their weight.
>>993022
Fill it with duck, duck floats best.
The problem I find with 55 gallon barrels is that your raft/dock is going to float really high.
>>993463
then add water to the middle ones till it floats where you want it to you nut...
>>993345
>black plastic doesn't deteriorate
I think you mean it is more resistant to deterioration. Not that it just out right doesn't.
>>993484
It deteriorates via a different method other than UV.
There is some of this in a local dam that has been floating there for the best part of 20+ years.
>>993502
And you can stand on it.
I'd recommend using a series of 5 gallon shipping containers and build the top with reclaimed pallets.
