Teamwork . . . The Key to Our Success
When our customers stop to visit the Super Duty dock building facility there is no mistake that we take dock building seriously. The Co-Owner team of Ernie Pattyn and John D. “Butch” Carter run a pretty tight ship. Butch is in charge of sales and Ernie oversees the dock building processes. The Super Duty employees take pride in the docks we manufacture. As our business has grown, so has our team of employees, and all employees must learn each step in the dock building process to maintain the hectic pace. With our busy schedule the employees hustle to stay on top of the challenge to keep up during the busy summer months. We maintain a schedule of long hours and much overtime from March to November. From the day the steel is delivered until the day our finished product is shipped, every detail is checked and rechecked to make sure that our docks are the best in the industry. Follow the photos below to see the various stages that each dock must go through before we decide that it is ready to be delivered. We don’t rest until the customer is satisfied.
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SUPER DUTY SHOP
A rare view of the Super Duty Shop on a quiet day. All of the employees must be doing installations.
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SIDERAIL JIG
This is the jig to assure that the siderails of each dock section are exactly the same height and plumb and square.
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ANGLE IRON 40′ LENGTHS
On the floor beside the jig we see the 1 3/4″ x 1 3/4″ x 3/16″ angled steel. We use full measurements on our sub-frames. We never butt weld. If we need longer we special order 60′ lengths.
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JIG TO FRAME TEMPLATE
This is how the template is used to check the fit to the frame to assure accuracy in alignment.
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TEMPLATE JIG
This jig is for siderail and cross member precision. Here we are assured square accuracy. After the frame is welded out the jig hole template is rechecked to insure proper fit during assembly alignment.
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ASSEMBLY HOLE TEMPLATE JIG
This hole jig is used to triple check that hole pattern is exact so lakeside installation flows smoothly with no on-site fabrication needed to correct shop errors.
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IRON WORKER
50 Ton Hydraulic Shear Punch Press. It precisely shear cuts the angles. It also copes (cuts angles on angles) and punches holes in the angles for bolting sections together. Seen behind is the drilling mill used for drilling the upright roof posts accurately.
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PRECISION CUTTING
A new project begins. Each dock is custom made so we have no assembly line cutting. Each dock is fabricated from start to finish with it’s own individual size requirements
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WELDING TEAMWORK
Each weld is done by hand and then rechecked to insure that none were missed. Our welders work hard and we are proud of the job they do.
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MORE WELDING
No matter how small the job each square has the same number of corners. Each one must be perfectly aligned.
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DEBURRING
A thanksless job but very important. If the seams are not ground down before the prime paint or galvanizing is applied you will know it. This process is time consuming, but we haven’t found a better way to keep our quality above the norm.
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POLISHING
This is one more step to smooth out the rough spots and get the product ready for the primer or galvanizing process.
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READY TO PRIME WITH PAINT OR GALVANIZE
Notice here the shiny clean corners which have been sanded smooth and are ready to be primed or galvanized. Before either of these treatments each piece is wiped down with solvent to clean off any dust and debris.
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PRIME COAT PAINTING
Here some upright posts are getting a coat of primer paint. The metal is primed with an industrial grade rust inhibitor primer. (Galvanizing is also available.)
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PAINT APPLICATION
The paint we use is industrial grade that we special order. The paint can be mixed any color you want to co-ordinate with your home and landscape. (Galvanizing is also available.)
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PAINT CURING
Just as important as the paint process is the curing stage. Please don’t rush us at this stage. It’s easy to ruin a good job if we try to rush the paint. (Galvanizing is also available.)
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FLOAT APPLICATION & INSPECTION
Because the floats are what make our docks work we use the best floats on the market. See our Shoremaster page for details. You will notice our employees are inspecting each float to make sure no bolt was missed.
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READY FOR DECKING
Here are some dock components ready for the decking process. They have just been moved from the floating section to the decking arena.
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DECKING PROCESS
Number one grade 2″ x 8″ pressure treated Arkansas pine decking screwed into the 1 3/4″ x 1 3/4″ x 3/16″ cross-angle supports with two screws on the 8″ part of the board approx. every 32″ into the next cross angle and double screwed again.
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NUMBER ONE GRADE LUMBER
Decking runs the length of the frame and staggered. No joints line up in one spot. Every place the boards meet there will be a double cross member 1 3/4″ x 1 3/4″ x 3/16″ cross-angle support. NO OTHER dock builder in our area uses this technique and this grade of lumber. Our customers notice the difference.
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DOUBLE SLIP CUSTOM DOCK
This double slip custom dock is ready for delivery. From the dock sections to the ramp and roofing materials it is loaded and hauled to the local jobsite on one of our Big Tex trailers.
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