How to build a river mooring ball?

[pkrrvr619]

Where we are at in parker we have a beach where we can place mooring balls for the boats. Most keep the boats overnight but there is no way i feel comfortable doing that so this would be for day use. However i need it to be secure.

I've seen neighbors use heads chained together, box anchors with concrete blocks over them, concrete buckets buried etc.

For a 4k daytona, what would be the best way to construct this?

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Get a large box anchor from spanky's and one of their stretch ropes. Put the stretch rope on the box anchor lead and a hook on the other end. Bury the box anchor so the fins are digging in with the current and its embedded in reasonably hard bottom. Top with some concrete blocks.

The current acting on the boat should load the box anchor so its always digging in. The stretch rope is so the bow doesn't pull it up when boat wakes go by.

I agree with you, I don't trust these setups for full time use but for during the day it should work just fine. You could also add a regular mooring rope to the box anchor that's slightly longer than the stretch rope at full extension and use that as a backup in case the stretch rope fails for any reason. Hook it to the box anchor lead and the boat the same way.

 

[traquer]

These seem solid and cheap. Have fun installing it lol

ROUND SHAFT ANCHORS – helixmooring

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[lbhsbz]

I just use a danforth anchor with about 10 feet of chain on it and another maybe 10 feet of ski rope and a old coolant jug and a shackle. I used to use nice buoys, but they kept getting stolen...nobody wants my coolant jug so it stays attached.

 

[RaceTec]

An old Oldsmobile block, chain though a cylinder, done! LOL!

 

[Livewire Fabworks]

If you can get your hands on a couple of manhole covers these work the best. Chain two of them together and drop. Not the easiest to drop but ypu will not have to worry about leaving your boat in overnight.

By the way, just beware that by dropping a mooring in theory you are responsible for any damage it creates to another one's boat by running into or over and they are not responsible for any damage done to your mooring.

With that said, never had a problem other than when you go to use it and someone else is on it. Most people move if they know it is yours but there is always the one guy that won't.

 

[4Waters]

An old Oldsmobile block, chain though a cylinder, done! LOL!

You can get one of those from the jetbote store, right.

 

[DLC]

I think would be easy to do with an custom extension and a cordless drill. with some minor fab work, you can make an extension to get above the water line to use the drill to auger down

 

[FlatBottomGuy]

I have never done it, but I have seen people use man hole covers...rather heavy and wouldn't take long to get buried in the sand. The guy in my park got pretty creative with his, welded two cover together with some rebar spikes on the bottom of it to keep it stuck in the ground. Seems to work pretty good for him. I am still kinda curious what street the man hole covers came from...

 

[hallett21]

Anyone ever build a mold out of 2x and plywood?

Throw a yard of concrete in it and send it out with a reach fork lift.


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[pkrrvr619]

These seem solid and cheap. Have fun installing it lol

ROUND SHAFT ANCHORS – helixmooring

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1” shaft 66” deep?! No thanks! Haha

 

[Desert Whaler]

Bruce Anchors work very well from my experience. I've anchored up our old 23' Center Console on the backside of catalina island in ripping current and swell and never had problem with it pulling. Good holding power for their size/ weight . . . they just aren't as compact as a danforth which sort of collapses.

 

[pkrrvr619]

If you can get your hands on a couple of manhole covers these work the best. Chain two of them together and drop. Not the easiest to drop but ypu will not have to worry about leaving your boat in overnight.

By the way, just beware that by dropping a mooring in theory you are responsible for any damage it creates to another one's boat by running into or over and they are not responsible for any damage done to your mooring.

With that said, never had a problem other than when you go to use it and someone else is on it. Most people move if they know it is yours but there is always the one guy that won't.

Just lay them flat?

 

[Icky]

These seem solid and cheap. Have fun installing it lol

ROUND SHAFT ANCHORS – helixmooring

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My buddy had something similar hurricane ground anchor or something. Anyway one time at park moab, late at night a strom came in and the boats broke loose so we had to install these. He stood on my back while I head my breath to turn these things underwater because I kept floating back up

 

[Rondog4405]

Sink a old vw bug out there and tie off to it.. that current is a mother f'er

 

[Livewire Fabworks]

I have never done it, but I have seen people use man hole covers...rather heavy and wouldn't take long to get buried in the sand. The guy in my park got pretty creative with his, welded two cover together with some rebar spikes on the bottom of it to keep it stuck in the ground. Seems to work pretty good for him. I am still kinda curious what street the man hole covers came from...

DWP swaps them out when people complain about them making noise when running over them. They get warped and people complain so they swap them out all the time.

 

[FlatBottomGuy]

DWP swaps them out when people complain about them making noise when running over them. They get warped and people complain so they swap them out all the time.

Thanks for the info...that makes sense.

 

[Livewire Fabworks]

Just lay them flat?

Just drop them and they will naturally lay flat and sink in.

 

[2Driver]

Truck tire filled with cement with a backing so center gets filled in too. Place a couple pieces of corrosive coated rebar in and a huge eye bolt with a flange on the end in the cement

When it dries roll it in the river. if you dont want it used by others dive down and remove your line from the eye bolt

 

[Bob Bitchen]

Dude, I have a one hundred pound crane weight from Santa Fe.
Just drop it and forget it. Its only 1 foot in diameter and maybe 8 inches tall.
Used it for years in Big River where the current is major.
It's all yours for a 12 pack of Coors Light.

 

[teded]

We use a plastic storage bin with a piece of 2” pvc in the middle for the chain, fill it with cement. Chain goes bad after a few years. Then we just replace it.


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[SoCalDave]

Anyone ever build a mold out of 2x and plywood?

Throw a yard of concrete in it and send it out with a reach fork lift.


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Yore not going very far out at just over 4,000lbs.

 

[SoCalDave]

We use a plastic storage bin with a piece of 2” pvc in the middle for the chain, fill it with cement. Chain goes bad after a few years. Then we just replace it.


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Go stainless and never look back...

 

[traquer]

I think would be easy to do with an custom extension and a cordless drill. with some minor fab work, you can make an extension to get above the water line to use the drill to auger down


View attachment 956349

Good point, found another use for my new 1440 lb/ft impact wrench lol

 

[lbhsbz]

As for permanent moorings...I don't like them. We have so many of them cluttered in front of our park there's almost no room for guys that don't have them...and they're mostly unused.

In current, the chains wear pretty quick. I won't tie my boat onto at least half of the ones on our beach because the ends of the links are paper thin from the current rubbing them together all the time. My chain on the other hand is 30 years old and the galvanizing hasn't even worn off of it because I pull it out every weekend. Takes 1 minute.

 

[BajaMike]

I think would be easy to do with an custom extension and a cordless drill. with some minor fab work, you can make an extension to get above the water line to use the drill to auger down


View attachment 956349

Or get some scuba gear.

 

[pkrrvr619]

Dude, I have a one hundred pound crane weight from Santa Fe.
Just drop it and forget it. Its only 1 foot in diameter and maybe 8 inches tall.
Used it for years in Big River where the current is major.
It's all yours for a 12 pack of Coors Light.

Sold!

 

[Spudsbud]

Dude, I have a one hundred pound crane weight from Santa Fe.
Just drop it and forget it. Its only 1 foot in diameter and maybe 8 inches tall.
Used it for years in Big River where the current is major.
It's all yours for a 12 pack of Coors Light.

This !

 

[teded]

Go stainless and never look back...

We used heavy galvanized and it just deteriorates at the bottom. About 18’ .


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[hallett21]

Yore not going very far out at just over 4,000lbs.

Was thinking a 12k with outriggers. 40ft should be enough right lol?


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[Activated]

These seem solid and cheap. Have fun installing it lol

ROUND SHAFT ANCHORS – helixmooring

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helixmooring.com

I used something similar for mine. It was a telephone pole anchor but looked the same.

Waited until the water was low, swam out and screwed it 4 feet in to the ground. At first I used a rope with a danik hook until I figured out the correct length. Now every 2 or 3 years, I order another length of rope from Spanky’s in Parker. They custom make them for you. Have never lost a boat, jet ski’s or anything. At the beginning of every summer, I swim down and make sure the loop is still just above ground...it hasn’t moved an inch.

I initially started with a heavy duty buoy but Spanky’s also has a buoy that you can just clip one of their ropes to the bottom of like this...


My wife likes it better because it is easier to reach the top of the buoy to hook your boat up to...she is vertically challenged. My first buoy had a swivel and while it worked it didn’t make me comfortable. My wife didn’t like it because she had a hard time reaching over the bow to get the boat line in the water.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Thanks for the info...that makes sense.

But nowhere near as funny......

 

[Beautiful Noise]

I use a 165lb Manhole cover plus have a extra 40lb of weight chained to it I never put any rebar on it because I don’t want it to dig in anymore than it does which works great, Other people do use it when I’m not there and I’ve gone down to find the line has been run over and cut Now comes the hard part trying to drag it back out to put new rope on it till the next time it happens

 

[highvoltagehands]

These seem solid and cheap. Have fun installing it lol

ROUND SHAFT ANCHORS – helixmooring

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And Don’t forget to call in “USA” ticket.....

 

[Beautiful Noise]

And Don’t forget to call in “USA” ticket.....

Screw Anchors are great till you hit a big rock

 

[highvoltagehands]

Screw Anchors are great till you hit a big rock

Ain’t that the truth. I mainly work in PG&E’s Sierra Division. I think we install more rock drilled anchors then PISA’s. Argh......lol

 

[boatnam2]

The worse thing to use is a 5 gallon bucket, plenty of them in front of echo, except now they are 3-4 buckets tied together since one didn't hold, eye sore for sure. I used a couple metal plates, they get buried after awhile, stainless chain to a buoy, just heavy enough to hold, but i could move it with wave runner if need be. Best ones i have seen are concrete pads 2x3x10" thick, huge stainless eye bolt maybe 2 with stainless chain, lays nice and flat, holds a 30ft deep vee no problem on a Saturday afternoon in parker.

 

[Bob Bitchen]

Sold!

I'm in Havasu, send me a PM

 

[boatnam2]

I don't recommend the mooring ball with the easy clip on hook like in picture above, that's what i had and while it does make it easier to grab, it will beat the hell out of your boat on rough days unless you put longer tie off and back tie rope, then its twice the work and you into the next guys spot.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

With that said, never had a problem other than when you go to use it and someone else is on it. Most people move if they know it is yours but there is always the one guy that won't.

Put a LEO sticker on the ball or paint on their Logo, pretty sure no one will use it.