Remove The Panels
Deck panels are usually just held down by gravity, so lifting them up off the frame is trivial. In some cases they are held down by panel locks which must be disengaged first because otherwise the panels are just way too heavy.
Undo The Hooks
No other feature of Pier of d’Nort docks offers more convenience to our customers than our connecting hooks… except maybe our folding legs… and perhaps our height adjustment cam mechanism…and our dual-dovetail mounting grooves… and our gripper technology… and our deep-water bracing… and our easy removing panel locks… and if you can still read this. . . wow!
Nudge Forward Slightly
The frames are designed so that as you push the two frames apart, you will be able to lift up BEFORE the frame will drop down. It takes less than 3/4″ to lift up, but you would have to push more than twice that far to drop the frame down, which makes for a touch more convenience.
Pull onto the Pier
Pull the section all the way up onto the pier. Then step to the balance point and pick it up.It won’t matter whether you’re facing the footpad end or the hook end.
Lift & Rotate
After rotating the section 90 degrees so it’s perpendicular to the pier, you can rock the frame back and forth to swish the bottom stuff off the footpads so it doesn’t fall on the frame when you turn it over. Next, simply set one side of the frame down on the pier and step out of the middle while lifting the other side. The video below shows how simple and easy this really is.
Turn Upside Down
Your next operation is going to be to fold the legs, so when positioning the frame to turn it over, you’ll want to be mindful that you need to be able to reach the legs. Of course it’s very easy to reposition the frame after it’s upside down.
Fold The Legs
No tools are needed to fold up the legs. Facing the legs you simply pull upward and inward on the scissor brace to get it past it’s locking indent. Then just push the leg down (see video below). Everything just folds up into a neat little package and you haven’t disturbed next year’s height adjustment of the leg. The only thing left to do is march it off to shore and stack it.
Pull Out And Remove Dock
Once one gets used to the idea that properly designed footpads can pull out of the bottom without getting stuck, this mode of removal becomes a forehead slapper. It makes so much sense that the thought of a pier with wheels begins to seem more and more redundant.
Dock Removal Final Steps
Once the panels have been removed from a section, the whole process of taking that section out, from undoing the hooks through to the point where you are walking toward shore with the legs folded, takes about one minute. You will very literally be spending more time walking back and forth. Your whole pier will probably take less time than it would otherwise take to call up a crew and get them over to help.
See how easy it is in the video below.
Will the footpads really come out? What about the suction?
Massive suction makes lifting footpads straight up out of the bottom an annual back-breaking chore. Pier of d’Nort has broken that tradition with footpads designed from the getgo to slide out of the bottom like skis. It’s like cutting butter verses trying to push a knife through sideways. The ski-like pads are welded to the legs at a 5 degree angle. That makes sense anyway since that’s the natural slope of your bottom. When you lift up the shore-end of your section, it not only angles the footpads more ideally, but it also begins to soften the substrate. The footpads really do pull out with minimal resistance. Best of all, they have no moving parts. Wheels in this case are way overkill.
