The plan is to help the ducks that live around our tank at the lease by making a floating platform so they have somewhere to sleep at night. The way it is now, we keep losing them to coyotes who sneak up on them resting near the edge of the tank at night. In the past, they would roost on brush in the tank, but that was cleaned out some time ago.

I picked up a bunch of those styrofoam "noodles" that were on sale for 50 cents each that I intend to use as the floats for a platform.

Any suggestions on what to use as the platform itself, something lightweight, durable to water, and cheap?

Rigid insulation foam could work

http://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Insulation-Rigid-Insulation/N-5yc1vZbaxx

That will deteriorate very quickly in the elements.

Look for the plastic pallets, they are a little heavier than the wood, but they don't rot.

My grandfather used 4 plastic drums (later got some huge Styrofoam blocks) He built a wood frame and a deck on top, then made a ramp to the water on the 4 sides, the geese and 4 swans he had used it avery day. We used to swim out to it after using the tree rope, it was pretty solid, if a swan didnt run your azz back off, they get territorial!


IIRC, he used like 3"-4" capped pvc pipe "floats" for the ramp edges under the last plank run.

Couple of small plastic drums sealed up and tied together with a platform of some kind on top? I don't see those noodles holding up very well.

I wonder if several rectangular-shaped, PVC pipe frames that enclose the noodles to create the basic raft appearance would do the trick? I could glue the pieces together and create a very tight fit against the noodles. And being sealed and water tight, each frame would add a little buoyancy.

I vote this idea with plastic drums. Plastic drums can be had for cheap on craigslist. I wouldn't have ever thought of the floating ramp idea, but I like it.

I don't think the noodles would hold up more than one season....short term fix maybe....bamboo floor mate (cheap) zip tied to the noodles would work thru this season....past that I'd be looking into plastic drums, and plywood or expanded metal with ramps for a more permanent solution.....

Thanks for the replies.

There is a home along my drive to my lease that has a nice looking floating duck house on their pond. It seems like they haven't had any ducks in some time and may no longer be using it. I think I'll leave a note on their gate that I would like to buy it.

Plastic barrels (some drink syrups come in 15 gallon barrels)
PVC pipe cage
Pressure treated wood deck
Attach wood to pipes with conduit brackets

Maybe "sew" them together with stainless safety wire. Harbor Freight sells it.

I think the plastic drum recommendation would be best, with a platform built on it w/ a small shed. Block styrofoam would work a long time as well, that's what they have under lots of big marinas. anchor the floating object in the center of the pond with enough slack to give it some vertical play but not blow up near the bank. or drive a pole in the lake and fix the floating deck to the pole with a ring so it can move up/down as the water fluctuates.

Update- The raft is now floating in the pond and I'm just waiting to see if the ducks will ever use it.

After floating it, the next challenge was to find a way to get it anchored in the middle of the pond. My solution for that was to tie a length of rope to a large, yard stone anchor with the other end tied to the raft. Then I took about 50ft of rope and wrapped one end of it several times around the stone and placed it on the edge of the raft. Next, I took a fishing pole, line and lead weight to slowly pull the raft to the middle of the pond. Once I had it there, I took the end of the rope that was wrapped around the stone at the other end, and after slowly taking up the slack, gave it a strong jerk to pull the stone off the edge of the raft and into the water. Because the rope was only wrapped around the stone and not tied, I was able to easily retrieve it.