Harry Krause wrote:
Doug Kanter wrote:


If you ever replace the nylon cleats and want to entertain the idea of
metal, try West Marine. I bought some stainless steel ones a few years back.
All edges are beautifully smoothed, and they still look as good as the day I
bought them.

"Sunny" wrote in message
...


Sunny wrote:

I just spent my summer vacation working my butt off building a new dock
at my Muskoka cottage - the old one only lasted 18 years because I used
pine logs and 2 x 6 spruce, but I expect this one to be around a bit
longer due to the 8 x 12 Douglas Fir beams I lugged into place and the
small fortune spent on cedar decking.

We can't use it to moor the boats yet because I haven't found cleats or
mooring rings which meet my requirements at local suppliers. I want
something sturdy enough to withstand wave action (it's a small
freshwater lake, but being on a channel we are subjected to some pretty
inconsiderate wakes), preferably recessed so the kids don't stub their
toes while playing running and diving games, yet still usable in the
late fall when there is often snow and ice on the dock (ice sticks to
galvanised hardware like glue), and, last but not least, rustproof.

The old dock had zinc-plated rings attached with lag-screw eyes. They
held the boats fine (until wood rot set in and they started to pull
out), but the kids were constantly bashing their toes on them and they
rusted. A neighbour has recessed rings which are kid feet-friendly, and
not too bad in fall provided you carry a large screwdriver to prise the
rings up when they are frozen into the recesses, but they are also rusty
- and I'm pretty sure they are actually trapdoor pulls from Home Depot
and were not designed for mooring stresses (Hint: they came with 3/4"
mounting screws).

I've seen some anodised aluminium folding cleats, but they were not
cheap, only available in white (I'd prefer stainless steel), and looked
like they'd be unusable when frozen.

Anyone know where I can obtain recessed stainless steel rings designed
for the task? Or know of a better design given my criteria?

TIA

Sunny

Many thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

In the end I found a supplier who stocked 6" black nylon cleats. They
have nicely rounded ends (hard to see how kids could injure themselves),
snow and ice don't adhere very well to nylon, and they seem fairly solid
when mounted with two #14 x 4" stainless steel screws (which go right
through the cedar decking and just over an inch into the fir beams).

This solution was cheap in terms of both financial outlay and
installation time, and I'm optimistic it will prove satisfactory over
the long term.

Pity the same can't be said for my efforts to preserve and protect the
decking - it was nicely dry after 3 days of hot weather, with a 48 hour
forecast of 'a mix of sun and cloud', so I applied a coat of water seal
- then it poured rain for 16 hours straight :-(

Sunny



Interesting he picked cedar to deck his deck. It's a pretty wood, and
easy to work, and, of course, it resists rot, but I wonder if it is
strong enough or abrasive-resistant enough for a dock. For the premium
price you pay for cedar, though, you can go with one of the new
"plastic" wood planks, as many of the dockowners around here are doing.
These new products are maintenance-free, don't rot, and result UV, too.

We did seriously consider several "plastic" and sawdust-plastic
composite materials available in Canada, but the boss rejected all of
them as unattractive. Also, the total cost worked out to roughly 15%
more than cedar, largely because they required 16" OC framing whereas
24" OC is the standard here for 2x6 cedar decks and docks.

I share your concerns about cedar's strength and abrasion resistance, so
used Douglas Fir and treated spruce for the frame, and designed the dock
such that the decking will not come in contact with boats. The face
boards and deck trim will take the brunt, and are easily replaced if
necessary.

Sunny