Floating Dock Hardware

For Wood Docks

About Floating Hardware at Great Northern Docks


Great Northern Docks manufactures our own line of residential / light commercial floating dock hardware. It is ideal for floating docks built from 2×6 or 2×8 wood frame construction. We have a variety of connectors, hinged, or rigid, for many possible configurations.

Manageable-sized dock sections with light framing are ideal for floating systems that require seasonal removal, especially when installers will need to carry by hand. Hinged connections (articulating) are ideal for relieving stress from wave motion.

We recommend wherever possible to make connections at the corners of your dock so forces transmit directly into the longer side stringers, instead of the headers which are more prone to cracking. It is best to use a reinforced style hinge plate, or a corner iron in conjunction with the hinge.

When turning a corner on a T or L shaped dock, use the T-hinge or Short-L hinge plate together, with corner irons at adjacent joints. It is best to reinforce all joints all the way across the dock section adjacent to T or L connections with corner irons.

All hardware uses 3/8″ diameter carriage bolts, 2-1/2″ long when mounted to single 2x lumber. Interior dock hardware typically uses the carriage heads on the outside of the wood frame with the hex nuts on the inside. Exterior mounted hardware have square holes for carriage bolts. This allows you to more easily tighten bolts, as the square hole holds the head of the carriage bolt. This is especially helpful in situations where you do not want to risk losing your tools!