How to Prevent Ice Damage to a Dock, Boat or Lift
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- čas přidán 13. 09. 2024
- In this video, house flipping brothers Dave and Rich show you how to prevent ice damage to a dock, boat, or lift. Ice can do major damage to all of these. Ice will crush metal. It will twist it. It will bend it. It will pull your dock poles up. It will cause all kinds of problems that you will have to fix in the Spring, when you would rather just get in your boat and go.
The two main kinds of ice prevention are bubblers and de-icers. Bubblers blow air through tubes, creating water flow. The other option, which we decided to go with, is using a de-icer, which is basically a small fan and motor unit which is submerged under the water by a dock or lift.
We heartily recommend the de-icer that is shown in this video. This is a Kasco Marine 1/2 horse power De-Icer. It is easy to install. Just tie the two ropes to the sides of your dock and plug it in. The unit will hang suspended by the ropes about 4 to 6 feet underwater. The ropes are fastened slightly offset on the unit, so it will tilt. We tilted it at the end of our dock, toward shore. This creates at least a 50 foot area around the dock that will be ice free.
If you would like to purchase the Kasco Marine 1/2 hp De-Icer shown in this video, just click on our Amazon Affiliate link below:
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We also purchased a thermometer that attaches to the De-Icer. The thermometer will turn the De-Icer on when it reaches a certain temperature. This is very convenient because we don't have to run to the lake house all the time to turn the De-Icer on and off.
It has been rediculously cold in our area for the last few weeks. The temperatures have ranged from 12 degrees to 3 degrees below zero. But our Kasco De-Icer has been a real champ!
For a while it seemed like every goose, duck, and swan on the entire lake had congregated by our ice-free dock.
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👍This is terrific. It seems the birds / ducks / water fowl like the deicer too. 💞
Hi LovingAtlanta, yes all of the feathered creatures love our deicer. This house is on a 7 mile lake. When the lake freezes it seems like every duck and goose in the region is congregated by our dock. Thanks for the comment!
HouseBarons - 👍I’m sure the feathered creatures are grateful. I hope you get some great winter pictures. I used to live in Ohio and I don’t miss the winters. Hope you have a great winter. 💞
This was very helpful . Thank you.
Hi Jim, it was 12 below zero here a couple of weeks ago here, but our de-icer kept churning away and we are happy to report that we had a nice clear section around our dock. Definitely a great device for ice prevention. Thanks for the comment!
The waterfowl love you! Ice fishermen...not so much :)
That model does an impressive job.
Hi Chris, we just got our deicer all set up last week for this winter. We don't have too many ice fishermen around, but you are right about the waterfowl. This house is on a 7 mile lake. Last winter we seemed to have every winged creature in the area on our cleared area by our dock. Thanks for your comment!
Hi, great video. What happens in the spring thaw, when the ice starts to move? Does that not crush/smash into your dock and boat lift??
Hey Let Us Talk RE,
Ice can be a damaging issue. But we use a deicer - we showed it in this video: ( m.czcams.com/video/BGjuKUawAiI/video.html ) .
So long as we can keep the water moving, ice issues are greatly decreased.
Thx for the question.
Going to buy a sinkable waterpump under my 25 foot sailboat for the winter, ive read that these do the Job. my only worry would be that the Electric wire wil get dammaged during the Norwegian winter. This might be a much cheaper option, but well see ;)
Greetings Eyolf,
Our dock deicer has been going strong for 3 years, no issues with electric wire, good luck!
BTW - please let us know how it all works out with your idea. We are always on the search for great DIY ways of getting things done.
Thx
cool product i didnt even know this existing. Do you know how many amps it draws? trying to get an estimate on how much we would pay in electricity
Hey Ian,
Google Kasco deicer calculator.
If you ran a 1/2 hp one 24 hrs a day, it would be something like $40 a month.
Where we live, it only needs to be run a lot in January. To reduce costs you can put it on a timer and run it in evening or in 2 hr shifts. They also sell a temperature activated switch.
They are great machines....worth every penny.
Thx for watching.
If we are frozen currently, but could get this positioned under the dock, would it help to eventually prevent additional ice from building up and potentially get to unfrozen water?
Hi Megan, yes, it might take a while, but the deicer should eventually clear a circle around your dock. Hope this helps and good luck deicing!
What temperature I have to set a d icer thermostat
Save The Dock
How much does it cost to run?
Hey Jeff,
If you run the 2400 model (1/2 hp) 24hrs a day, it will cost about $1.50 a day.
Here’s a calculator :
kascomarine.com/calculators/#electrical-cost
In our experience, it would only need to run during long cold snaps where sunlight was not helping melt the surface lake ice. Once turned on, the agitation of the water did away with ice quite quickly. The 50 foot diameter is no lie.
Enjoy the warm weather while you can :-)
Hi Jeff, the de-icer would cost a few dollars a day to run if it is running continuously. We purchased a C-10 thermostat to go with it. The great thing about that is we don't have to monitor the unit constantly. Just set the thermostat a couple degrees above freezing. The unit won't turn on unless the temperature goes below the setting. It will turn off when the temperature goes above the setting. In our area we will need to run the unit for a month or two. If you are in a very cold climate, the unit will run for a long time, and the electric cost will add up. But that cost should be a small amount compared to a damaged dock. Thanks for the question, hope this helps!
Thanks a lot for the info.
HouseBarons - 👍Thanks for providing the additional info. 💞
How efficient is this and how long has it been working for you
Hey J,
It won’t probably break your bank - I think it only cost around $25 a month to run - but that may depend on how often it is turned on and off.
We’ve had it 3 years. Probably call our useage “light” - a couple months of real cold.
Hope that helps.
Thx for watching!
Question, are you on a lake or river? I'm interested in this but worried about ice floats in the spring on my river dock and want to prevent them as well. This will keep my dock from freezing but once the river starts breaking up, what then? Any advice?
Hey Justin,
We are on a large lake / reservoir which drains via a stream at on end.
So there is an ever so slight current in this body of water. That being said, before we bought our deicer, our neighbor already had one 125ft up-current from our dock. As a result we benefited from the water being disturbed by his deicer and it traveling toward our dock in slightly cold weather.
Now I’m sure a river freezing and thawing is an entirely different deal, but I would wonder if your situation could be addressed by placing your deicer in different places to find which solution worked best for you.
I’m just guessing, but a I would hope someone else in your shoes would have figured this out already - just have to find them. Great question though! Thx for watching!
Send me the link. This link has too many pepito search through. Can’t find it. How much is it??
Hey Natalie,
Here is the link. amzn.to/3aDHLfs
It also corrected now ( thx ) and in the description of the video.
Thx for watching and asking for the link! Much appreciated
They run around $600 and they also sell a variety of user specific options to meet your needs ( shorter or longer cords, timers etc )