Save your dock from a bad day...
Dock Springs
Dock Springs protect floating boat docks from storm and wake damage by cushioning the loads on your anchoring system.
All floating docks secured to the shore with cables need and will benefit from a dampener to absorb the loads created by wake and wind on the anchor system. Dock Springs are the most effective dampener you can get.
PROTECT YOUR DOCK WITH DOCK SPRINGS
What are Dock Springs?
Think of the old screen door on the porch at grandma's house. It had a "wind chain" with a spring in the middle of it. The spring and chain caught the door at its widest open position and arrested its movement when the wind blew it open, protecting the door and keeping the little chain and its mounting screws intact. It dampened the stopping of the door's movement.
Dock springs work the same way, just on a much, much larger scale.
Dock springs are installed on your cables and dampen the forces created by the movement of your dock. You dock's movements from wake create loads that over time degrade your anchor system. In a substantial storm, dock springs absorb large loads that could break your dock's anchor system.
See the "What is Shock Loading" page to learn what these huge loads will do to your dock's cables.
Here are a few recent installs I have completed here on my home lake.
What are Dock Springs? How are they made? Why do we need them? How can I get them?
Here are 5 short videos that will answer these questions.
All Videos
Making Dock Springs
Making Dock Springs
Birth of a Dock Spring
Spring at work 2
How dock springs work.
Each floating dock has weaknesses that may become a point of failure under stress. When the wind picks up, you can see your dock move as the velocity of the wind picks up, creating a wind load. The gusts of wind also push the surface of the water, creating addition load from current on your dock. When a wake from a boat hits your dock, it lifts and shoves it against its anchor cables. Each time its movement is stopped by its cables.
At the moment it reaches the point where any slack in the cable is taken up, the kinetic energy from its entire mass in motion plus the forces from wind, wake, and current pushing on it are deposited on your anchoring hardware. This energy is a huge load that is applied to your cable and hardware in that fraction of a second.
A dock spring on your cable is a dampener that arrests momentum and spreads the loading of your cable system over time, mitigating the sudden load. The only way to reduce shock and impact load is to increase the time it loads your system. Dock Springs are load dampeners that do exactly that.
What is shock and impact loading?
See the "What is Shock Loading" page here. I got a little nerdy and worked out a few shock load and impact load problems to explain what it is, how it affects our docks, and what you can to do about it. In engineering there are mathematical formulas that will show you the forces involved when your dock moves. I used the round number of 10,000 lbs. dock weight in my examples but that is on the light side. The two boats on my dock weigh more than 10,000 lbs. The forces involved in stopping your dock's movement are tremendous. The math shows us why our stuff breaks.
Why do I need Dock Springs?
A Dock Spring on each of your cables will greatly reduce the shock and impact loading of your hardware, reducing the load to a level your dock mounting/anchoring hardware is capable of handling.
Ever go camping in a tent? How did you get the tent pegs out of the ground when it was time to go home? You tap on them from the side with the hammer you used to install them. They will then come out easily.
A moving dock is a lot like a huge hammer, beating against its anchors. Anchors become loose and get pulled out of the ground, winch gears strip and mounting bolts shear, welds break, metal tubing fatigues from flexing and then cracks, and cables break.
Dock Springs absorb this shock load and spreads the impact on your anchor system over time. A Dock Spring takes several seconds to compress, absorbing the energy of your dock's momentum, and spreading the loading of your hardware over time. See the "What is Shock Loading" page to learn why adding time to the loading of hardware is so important.
Another analogy I like: Which is better for your car when it comes to stopping? Applying brakes until it ceases to move or using a brick wall to stop it? Yeah, the brakes are better. Dock Springs are brakes.
The choice to add something that arrests this momentum, protecting the rest of the anchor system, is a really good idea. Its an investment in your dock. We all know what happens when a dock breaks loose and it will be expensive. A set of springs is way less than any repair.
When to get Dock Springs
The best time to get a set is before you wished you had them. If the last storm broke your dock loose and you are going to have to work on it, why not upgrade what you have with something that will reduce the risk of it breaking again? Always upgrade where possible.
So far, most of my customers have 2 things in common...
One, they have had to repair their dock more than once due to failures and are looking for a solution. A dampener on each dock cable will effectively mitigate loading that causes failure and damage.
Or second, they work in or have retired from an engineering related field and have the knowledge and experience to understand what they have going on and see that Dock Springs are the answer to this problem before damage is done.
How much are they?
Light Duty = $400 a pair
Progressive Rate = $500 a pair
Heavy duty = $750 a pair
The spring set that most average sized docks need is priced at $500 for the pair. Another consideration, most of the springs available to me to make into Dock Springs cable dampeners are made in other countries. Tariffs are coming and will make the cost to produce them go up 30%. I chose to use automotive sourced springs to keep the cost down for you. I looked at having them custom made for our purpose but at $490 a spring, that would drive the price of the finished set up considerably. So long as I can obtain new truck springs at pre-tariff prices, there will be no change in what I charge for the finished product. The day is coming where I expect to see them go up. Avoid a higher price later and get yours now.
Why are they so much?
Three reasons...
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I only use new components in the fabrication of your cable dampeners. Sure, scrap yard parts can be sourced but most likely will result in inconsistent performance. A fatigued spring that has already seen 100,000+ miles under a truck will not be as strong or reliable as a new one. New parts cost more.
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There is a fair amount of skilled labor involved in fabricating a forged steel dock spring assembly. The video above shows the basic process but has been sped up 30X. It is not created at a factory in China by robots or child labor. There is also the equipment, tools, expendables, gas, paint, the place to make them, insurance, business licenses, advertising, an accountant, software, computer, internet, utilities, truck and trailer to haul the steel used, fuel, and (I'm sure I've left things out) other stuff needed that I pay for to be able to produce a set of springs for you.
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I'm it. There is no other place on the planet that I can find that produces a properly sized, forged solid steel, dock movement dampening spring assembly for your cables. I've done the research to determine the proper components. Compression rate, coil wire diameter, outside diameter, overall relaxed length, the number of active coils, the coil body design, the coil wire termination method, and coil spacing all matter in determining a proper coil spring for a Dock Spring application. The components used in the Dock Spring dampeners I produce are more than up to the task of protecting your dock's cables and anchoring system.
I employed the knowledge base of 5 artificial intelligence systems to evaluate a common dock arrangement and describe the events that occur when the dock faced 60, 65, and 70 mph winds and large wake, with and without coil spring cable dampeners. They all confirm what I know. Dock Springs are key to a dock's survival. See the Ask Grok About Your Dock page.
How do I get a set?
Hit the Buy Now button above. It will take you to the online store on this website where you can select the set you need. I will ship the next day. If you are in an area served by one of my Dock Spring dealers, contact them to get a set local to you and set up an installation. See Sales and Installation Partners page. Want your business to become a Sales and Installation Partner? Call me and I can set you up. 205-966-2137.
What about shipping?
I looked at the actual cost of getting a set to Georgia recently and found it came to $117 once you add it all up. I feel that a flat fee of $100 will keep getting a set to you reasonable. The Progressive set weighs about 76 pounds and the Heavy Duty set tips the scales at 112 pounds. These things are substantial. I use UPS and with my shipping account discount, I still pay about $1 a pound for each label. If you are on my home lake, Lewis Smith lake in Alabama, I can bring them to you, see what your dock has going on and evaluate your dock's anchor system. I can also help you set up Dock Spring installation if you are on my lake.
Need more info about Dock Springs?
Take a look at the Dock Springs Info page, Frequently Asked Questions page and the Ask Grok About Your Dock pages As I field questions on Facebook and over the phone, I will add them to the FAQ page.
You can call me. The number is 205-966-2137. If you are local to the Lewis Smith Lake area, stop by my shop and check them out for yourself. There is a google map link to my shop below.
I've gotten a few comments that I can share with you.
A dampener system on your anchor cables is a very good thing.
Grigsby Enterprises LLC - Dock Springs
945 County Road 335
Crane Hill, AL 35053
205-966-2137
jongrigsby@docksprings.com
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