Used dock

[dock]

We own a lake lot that we plan to build on in 2 yrs. Our neighbor is moving and has offered to sell us "an excellent dock at an excellent price". There is approximately 124' of dock. Below is the description he gave and the pictures I have. I would probably change the decking to something maintenance free. I am usually the type of person that likes to buy things new, but have a hard time passing on a great deal. What is a reasonable price/price range to pay for a used dock like this? Any problem with an aluminum dock sitting unused for 2 yrs? Thanks!

"It is made by Roll-A-Dock Lifts and Piers, Nicollet MN - 4'x8' sections aluminum frame with poles and adjustable feet that bolt/nut together (15 of these sections with cross member - allows split from single run out) and another short section (4'x4' same material) that we used to enter off the shoreline. The section planks are treated lumber that were replaced with new material in 2004 - I do not know the original date of the equipment."

[bretski75]

There should be no issue with it sitting for 2 years. There is nothing to rust and it really doesn't weather. What is he selling it for? I can tell you that last year I bought a 16 foot section, of a similiar dock for $1400.

The bad news is its really expensive, the good news that it will maintain value.

My house came with 100 or so feet of aluminum and I have the original receipt from the original owner. The dock store told me that they would give me the same amount on a trade as what the original owner paid.

All that to say that it will maintain its value. Like a 15 year old Malibu

[EZSnow]

Our family has Hewitt Roll-a-Dock. It would have to be a pretty sweet deal to get me to buy it. It looks from the description that he doesn't have any rolling sections. If that's the case, you couldn't pay me enough to install 124' of dock section-by-section every spring! Even with the rolling sections, you are limited as to how much weight you can carry on each roller. We've got two 16' rolling sections with one 8' in between them that forms the end of the dock, and a 16' extension toward shore. So we're 56 feet out, with two 4x8 sections mounted together as an 8x8 "L-piece". The L-piece has its own wheel so that it doesn't have to be removed to roll the dock in, but the dock must be separated in the middle to be pulled out of the water in the fall, as there is NO articulation built into the joints. We've got it down to a pretty good system with a hitch for the four-wheeler, but make no mistake about it- It's a pain.

Otherwise, it's a fairly modular system with lots of accessories that can be added. You can make just about anything you want to, as long as you figure out how to break it down every fall. I guess the possibility remains that you don't have to pull your equipment every fall, in which case... none of the above matters and I just wasted 5 minutes of bandwidth!

[dock]

Our family has Hewitt Roll-a-Dock. It would have to be a pretty sweet deal to get me to buy it. It looks from the description that he doesn't have any rolling sections. If that's the case, you couldn't pay me enough to install 124' of dock section-by-section every spring! Even with the rolling sections, you are limited as to how much weight you can carry on each roller. We've got two 16' rolling sections with one 8' in between them that forms the end of the dock, and a 16' extension toward shore. So we're 56 feet out, with two 4x8 sections mounted together as an 8x8 "L-piece". The L-piece has its own wheel so that it doesn't have to be removed to roll the dock in, but the dock must be separated in the middle to be pulled out of the water in the fall, as there is NO articulation built into the joints. We've got it down to a pretty good system with a hitch for the four-wheeler, but make no mistake about it- It's a pain.

Otherwise, it's a fairly modular system with lots of accessories that can be added. You can make just about anything you want to, as long as you figure out how to break it down every fall. I guess the possibility remains that you don't have to pull your equipment every fall, in which case... none of the above matters and I just wasted 5 minutes of bandwidth!

The dock and lot are in MN, so I will have to remove it every fall and appreciate the input. Is it difficult or expensive to replace the decking?

[bretski75]

I can only speculate about the decking. I would pull a dealer off their website and call them. My guess is its not difficult. And in my experience nothing about waterfront property is inexpensive.

http://www.hewitt-roll-a-dock.com/about07/...frmLocator.aspx

[EZSnow]

Our family has Hewitt Roll-a-Dock. It would have to be a pretty sweet deal to get me to buy it. It looks from the description that he doesn't have any rolling sections. If that's the case, you couldn't pay me enough to install 124' of dock section-by-section every spring! Even with the rolling sections, you are limited as to how much weight you can carry on each roller. We've got two 16' rolling sections with one 8' in between them that forms the end of the dock, and a 16' extension toward shore. So we're 56 feet out, with two 4x8 sections mounted together as an 8x8 "L-piece". The L-piece has its own wheel so that it doesn't have to be removed to roll the dock in, but the dock must be separated in the middle to be pulled out of the water in the fall, as there is NO articulation built into the joints. We've got it down to a pretty good system with a hitch for the four-wheeler, but make no mistake about it- It's a pain.

Otherwise, it's a fairly modular system with lots of accessories that can be added. You can make just about anything you want to, as long as you figure out how to break it down every fall. I guess the possibility remains that you don't have to pull your equipment every fall, in which case... none of the above matters and I just wasted 5 minutes of bandwidth!

The dock and lot are in MN, so I will have to remove it every fall and appreciate the input. Is it difficult or expensive to replace the decking?

We purchased our dock in the early 90's as a 40' section (16,16,8) with wood decking and an 8' single "L". The wood lasted 10 or 11 years. About the time the wood was checking out, we added the extra 16' and doubled the L. The new lengths were purchased with the white aluminum decking and the wooden sections were upgraded to match. It was a fair amount of time spent with a drill and rivet gun, but two of us re-covered the 40' of dock in a long afternoon. Seriously- if pipe-legs are your thing, I guess it'll work. It'll work better if the water happens to be less-than-chest-wader deep, but I prefer to have wheels. As wheeled docks go, I'd look elsewhere. It's nice while it's in, but in and out REALLY stink.