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The Story Behind the Wahoo CAT 3 Boat Dock

Posted on Aug 17, 2010 by The Engineering Team   |  

In response to some questions regarding the CAT 3, below is some background on its inception from the engineering folks. As always, also feel free to give us a call with any questions.

Several years ago, we decided that it was time to put aside all preconceived notions of how to build an aluminum dock and start with a clean sheet of paper. Our initial aluminum dock design was still functional, but it used off the shelf aluminum shapes and several competitors were building docks that were very similar and we were not easily differentiable. The economy was great, we were positioned as the best dock money could buy so we needed to build the best dock money could buy. The result of that effort was the tremendously successful CAT 5. A dock truly capable of withstanding anything mother nature could throw at it. We have CAT 5 docks now in places that regularly see waves of over 4 feet with absolutely no issues.

Fast forward a few years… We now have the economy in shambles and price often replaces quality and value as the most important consideration in a dock purchase. People are quick to realize that they don’t necessarily need a dock that can withstand extremely rough conditions. We decided it was time to build a value line. All of the engineering optimizations we did when we designed the CAT 5 actually allow us to build a dock that is a similar weight as the Classic (which directly translates to a similar cost), that is still much stronger than the competitor’s offerings. The result was the CAT 3. We used much of the technology developed for the CAT 5, along with some new optimized components to build a dock that is priced similar to our competitors, but far exceeds them in all other measures.

Welding aluminum is a “necessary” evil in boat dock manufacturing. Structural marine grade aluminum gets half its strength from a process called heat treating. So when an aluminum alloy 6061 shape is made, with a given heat treating process (generally T6), the aluminum extruder has increased the aluminum’s natural strength by heating and cooling the alloy in a controlled manner. When aluminum is welded, the localized area near the weld loses the effects of heat treating and the strength of the material is cut dramatically, close to half. Assuming that the welding is done in a controlled environment, where the required shielding gases are effective, the welded strength of the material is typically 16,000 psi. As a contrast, un-welded 6061-T6 has a yield strength of 36,000 psi. If the welds are not carried out in a controlled environment, the effective strength of the welded areas can be much lower. It is imperative that the weld take place in an environment that contains absolutely no oxygen. This is accomplished by blowing a stream of argon over the welder tip during the weld. In our experience this cannot be done in an environment that is exposed to any air movement or wind. Moreover, other marine grade alloys such as 6005 and 6063, the material used by most competitors, has an even weaker as-welded effect.

At Wahoo, we understand this and have designed a system that utilizes interlocking aluminum structural shapes wherever possible. Where this is not feasible we have analyzed the localized stresses using finite element analysis and added extra welded area or bracing to ensure that the base metal strength is maintained at all welded joints – a dock is only as strong as its weakest link. As always, we’re happy to answer any questions or points out where failures typically occur and what we have done to ensure that they simply do not occur with Wahoo Docks.

The Engineering Team

Wahoo Docks

Chip Hawkins, Max Volk, Michael Lyle , Jim Delozier, Josh Fields

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