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Anchoring Your Dock

READ OUR NEW DOCK ANCHORING BLOG

Anchoring is often the most overlooked part of a dock installation and also one of the most important. How to anchor your dock and how much weight you need are some the most frequently asked questions we get from customers. The answers depend on a variety of factors and we ask the following questions to determine the best dock anchoring solution.

What type of body of water are you on?

What is the terrain like? Is it silty, sandy or rocky?

How deep is the water?

Anchoring a CanadaDocks dock system is a requirement. As stated in our dock assembly instructions, your floating or standing dock needs to be properly anchored. Anchoring your dock properly is the best way to protect your investment and get the most out of your dock. It also saves you the hassle of having to frequently adjust your dock or worse, retrieving a wayward dock from the neighbours.

How do you properly anchor your dock? First off, you need to have the following components:

  • Chain Retainers for standing dock kits (sold separately)
  • Eye bolts (included in floating dock kits)
  • Concrete anchors (150 lbs, available for purchase)
  • 1/4″ Galvanized Chain (3/8″ needed for large bodies of water)
  • Carabiners

(Always check with your local municipality about materials that may not be allowed in your lake.)

Next, you need to determine how much weight you need. The best advice we can provide is that too much weight is better than not enough weight. Another thing to keep in mind if you are feeling overwhelmed about dealing with the installation of numerous heavyweights is that you should only need to do this once. Once the anchors are dumped in the water, they don’t need to be removed every year.

(PRO TIP: When you remove your dock in the autumn, gather all of the anchor chains that are still attached to the anchors and tie them together with a strong rope. Tie that rope somewhere on shore. When spring arrives, it will save you having to dive down and find the location of each set of anchors.)

A typical floating dock configuration will require a recommended minimum anchor weight of 450lbs. at each corner at the very end of the dock. Closer to the shore, 300lbs. on each side is recommended. This is based on a typical straight dock. Complex docks with “fingers” need additional anchoring.

A typical standing dock configuration will require a recommended minimum anchor weight of 300lbs at each corner at the very end of the dock and closer to the shore. This is also based on a typical straight dock. Complex docks with “fingers” need additional anchoring.

(These recommendations are based on a medium sized lake with moderate wave conditions. Increase weight and strength of chain for rough bodies of water)

Once the amount of weight needed is determined, the last step is where to put the anchors. The “crisscross” configuration is the recommended method for both our standing and floating dock systems.

Example 1) Floating Dock

 

Example 2) Standing Dock

 

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