Baot lift installation

But most people think of it as both a luxury and a sort of insurance. So, if you are still not sure if the extra money is worth it, here are some of the top benefits of opting for a boat lift installation in A boat left tied at the dock will have water bumping it around and can lead to wear and tear.

Many times, the bow of a boat gets damaged this way leading to expensive repairs. I just read this on a forum today see it here :. Gouged through the gel coat…I am worried about delamination of the fiberglass. Fortunately, with a boat lift, you will never have to worry about your boat coming untied or being damaged like this when you are not around. In addition, you will avoid chances of your boat sinking due to severe storms, an unknown leak, a plug going bad, a failed bilge pump, or other issues.

If your boat is left tied to the dock, it can incur damage, further contributing to the need for expensive repairs and downtime. When harsh weather brings strong winds or big rains, the stresses put on a boat docked without a canopy can cause immediate problems and can also shorten its lifespan.

But because your boat lift installation lifts your craft out of the water, you can easily drain out rainwater. And wet storage also causes water line issues, hull blisters, or damage to props and shafts. So it is easy to see the differences when choosing between a boat stored on the water or one stored on a boat lift. One of the biggest concerns when wet storing your boat is the formation of algae on the exterior of the boat.

Typical installations require three joists for mounting. One joist is dedicated to the boat hoist, or the gear and motor unit which turns the pipe. The other two joists support the pipe and the pulleys that carry the cable down to the boat. Most boathouses are constructed of wood. For added strength these boathouses usually double up the joists that will be carrying the load of the boat.

The mounting brackets are through-bolted to the roof joists. Some boathouses are built with steel. If the joists are boxed steel beams then the typical installation brackets may be used. However if the joists are steel I-beams they cannot be drilled through for attaching the standard brackets. Special I-beam brackets must be used which will clamp to the I-beam so that no drilling is necessary.

Drilling through the side of an I-beam destroys its structural integrity. Boathouse lifts use either polyester slings for lifting the boat or steel cradles. A cradle generally provides better support than slings for a boat. A cradle is made up of two steel I-beams that have attachment points on the ends for cables. They also include brackets for holding the bunk boards, which are the carpeted wooden boards that the boat actually rests upon. Boat cradles can be set up for different hull shapes.

They can be adjusted for v-hull boats or flat bottom boats. Pontoon brackets are also available which allow a pair of bunk boards on each side of the cradle for both pontoons. Setting up the spacing between the slings or cradle beams is important for proper support of the boat and proper functioning of the boathouse lift. It is important that the center of gravity of the boat is in the middle between the two slings or cradle beams.

Then calculate the positions of the slings or cradle beams. First, set the rear sling or cradle beam near the rear of the hull but make sure it clears the motor and is properly supporting the boat.

Then calculate the distance from that rear support to the center of gravity of your boat. Since the center of gravity is also the center of your slings or cradle, use that measurement to find the position for the front sling or cradle beam. Make sure the front sling or cradle beam is squarely under the flat part of the hull. If it is too far forward and the hull is starting to slope up then re-adjust the position of your supports.

The boat hoist is the electric drive unit that controls the lifting. The most common type is a flat plate hoist which uses an electric motor to drive a worm reduction. The boat hoist drives a pipe that is the length of the lift upon which the cable wraps. Hoists range from around lbs up to lbs capacities when wrapping on a standard sized pipe.

The difference in capacities for the hoists comes from the differences in the materials used and the power rating of the motor. The most common boathouse lift installation uses a single pipe lengthwise in the center of the boathouse.

Cables extend across in either direction to four pulleys and then down to the sling or cradle. Some lifts may be set up with the pipe all the way on one side of the boathouse. With side pipe lifts, two cables extend across the boathouse to pulleys on the other side while the other two cables go down directly from the pipe. These lifts typically cannot lift as much weight because of the opposing forces of the cables. Some boathouse lifts use a two-pipe configuration with separate pipes on each side of the boathouse.

This arrangement requires two boat hoists drives and allows lifting a lot more weight. The simplest method for building a boathouse lift that can lift more weight is to use compounding. Compounding is when pulleys are used to lessen the load on the hoist allowing it to lift more weight.

The pulleys are attached to the slings or the cradle and then the cable is routed back up to the top of the boathouse where it is dead-ended. This cuts the amount of weight being lifted by the hoist in half but it also reduces the speed of the boathouse lift by the same amount.

When using compounding to upgrade an existing lift, be sure that the boathouse and the cradle can support the extra load. Some parts of the aluminum frame are always submerged, so anodes are necessary to prevent corrosion. They have to be inspected and changed as necessary, just like the ones on a boat. There are some fittings that need grease once in a while, said Felty, but otherwise a four- or eight-poster is pretty much maintenance-free.

Whether you choose old-fashioned timber pilings, fiberglass or concrete is up to you—but Felty emphasized that they have to be sufficiently sized to support the combined weight of the lift and boat. No matter what style of lift you choose, work with a licensed marine contractor to sink the pilings or make the attachment to the seawall, and have a licensed electrician do the wiring. A boat lift is only as good as the installation.

What about davits? A piling that looks great at the top can be eaten away to half its size below the waterline. Shipyards haul and launch big vessels—and I mean really big ones, like aircraft carriers—using floating drydocks. Sink the drydock by filling it with water, move the vessel onto its chocks, then pump out the water. The drydock rises and—bingo! You can buy a boat lift that uses the same hydrodynamics. Free-floating lifts, like those built by HydroHoist, for example, are basically mini floating drydocks, with the frame attached to flotation tanks that flood and empty with a pump.

The lift itself is 28 feet, 2 inches long but can hold a boat up to 45 feet long. The company says it can build custom lifts for vessels over , pounds. The HarborHoist can be tied in a slip or alongside, just like your boat was before you bought the lift. Its structure is aluminum, and the flotation tanks are heavy-duty -marine-grade polyethylene.

There are some downsides to the HarborHoist, of course. Your boat is still tied to the dock, only not in the water, so you have to keep an eye on docklines, weather, etc. Bottom line? Golden and ShoreStation both make them.

Some freestanding lifts are hydraulic and use pistons rather than a cable to raise and lower the frame, something like the action of a scissors jack. Others use cables with a lifting mechanism similar to a hydraulic yacht davit—a ram pulls the cable rather than winding it onto a drum or shaft, which manufacturers say is easier on the cable.

There are freestanding lifts that run on DC electricity and solar power, while the smallest models use a manual winch. And you can protect your boat from the sun with an optional canopy for a freestanding lift.

You still need at least a finger dock to board the boat, of course. Rough weather can move even heavy things.