The dead weight of 9" PT timber piling is 26.5 lbs. per linear foot.
I have been researching putting in a dock myself and I am interested in the method you referenced in the other thread about jetting pilings. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
It is common in my area for dock builders to sink pilings using a barge for lifting and positioning the piling while using a water jet to work it to the required depth (6').
Since I don't own a barge and my wife is not strong enough to hold a 12' pile vertical for very long, we came up with this approach.
The key to my method is to shape the hole before handling the pole. To do this I built a light weight forming tool out of readily available PCV parts. Take a 6" to 4" bell reducer then further reduce it to 2". Attached to this is a 6'section of 2" pipe, then a 2" te,e then another 4' pipe section.
I also built a jetting wand out of 1" pvc pipe. Like the main tool glue together a 6' section of pipe to a tee then another 4' section of pipe then a 1" pipe cap. Add a 2" threaded end piece to the tee as a connection point for the pump discharge hose.
The only other tools that are needed is a 5 hp, 2" dia trash pump (with hoses) and a chain saw, both can be rented.
The basic approach is to use the first tool to simulate the piling while hole is being formed. It then can be easily removed and the pile put it.
The tools were designed to create a 6' deep hole, 6-7" in diameter. I found that the hole created by the 6" reduced worked well for pilings 7" to 9" in diameter. You could use an 8" reducer if needed, the principles are the same.
Here are the steps involved:
1. Use the chain saw to pencil point one end of the pilings to be set.
2. Set up the pump in a small boat or floating platform with the suction hose/strainer in the lake.
3. Attach 2" pump discharge hose to pump and the center tee connector on the jetting wand.
4. Set main tool vertically at the desired location for the first plie.
5. Fire up pump and work the water jet tip around the bell reducer.
Note: throughout the process just let the water do the work, there is no need to pound the main tool up & down, be patient.
6. Keep the tees of the wand and the main tool lined up. This keeps the jet from getting too far ahead or behind the reducer.
7. As the sand/soil is being pumped out of the hole the main tool will just begin dropping under its own weight.
8. The tees give you excellent feedback regarding how deep the hole is at any time. Plus once they drop below the water line you can easily feel with your foot how much further there is to go and exactly when the six foot depth is reached.
9. Once full depth is reach pull both tools out together with the pump still running.
10. Turn off pump.
11. Float the piling over and push the pencil point end down to the hole opening holding it there with you foot. Have you wife go to the other end of the pile and lift.
12.We found that once the pile reached 60 degrees it just fell in to place. You will be surprised how easily they drop into place.
13. You could go back with the water jet to adjust the piling height but we never found it necessary.
14. Once all the pilings are set, mark for level and use chain saw to top off any pilings needing adjustment.
That's it, this process was used with pilings up to 16' long with two people and I'm still married. Once you are set up each piling can be set in under an hour and with practice you could do them in under 30 minutes each.
That's about it. Good luck and please let me know how it worked out if you decide to do it this way.
