Boat Lift Question [Archive]

Dave R

02-18-2005, 03:48 PM

We're finally moving to a waterfront home with a boathouse for the X30. We have to modify or replace the strap lift that is in it now. What are the dimensions and spacing of the bunks to support the boat properly? any other suggestions for a new boathouse owner?

jayderwin1

02-18-2005, 03:52 PM

i don't have any suggestion, but congrats on the lake front property always been a dream of mine.

G-man

02-18-2005, 03:55 PM

east tx skier

02-18-2005, 04:02 PM

What George said. If you match the dimensions and twist of your trailer bunks, you should be fine. I helped my father in law build a pier and deck last summer. He had someone else build the boat house and install the lift. Since the boat house is already there, any suggestions I'd have, i.e., composite decking and tar paper between the deck supports and the decking would be too little too late. Make sure the lift is sufficient for your boat's weight and put carpet on those bunks.

Lance

02-19-2005, 07:28 AM

Hate to hijack this thread... but.. EastTxSkier.. you mention tar paper between deck supports and decking and also use of composite decking. I would be interested in hearing the purpose for the first and your views on the latter. We will probably be building a boat house this summer and am questioning whether to use composite decking. I haven't heard about tar paper so also interested what problem that solves.

Also, I see this years HGTV 'Dream Home' is at Lake Tyler in east Texas. Is this lake anywhere near you? Looks like a pretty good setup.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_nobanner/text/0,,HGTV_10680_19215,00.html

east tx skier

02-19-2005, 03:07 PM

Lance, just posted on the other thread. Lake Tyler is our home lake. For short trips, we ski there all the time. Watched the "dream home" go up. Lots of enormous live-in boat houses popping up on that lake these days.

The composite decking is expensive, but, as my father-in-law put it, I don't want to do this more than once. The no splinters aspect of it is nice, too.

The way he built his pier/deck was, of course, posts with side rails. The side railes were connected to one another by a series of cross supports every 18 inches. On top of the rails and cross supports, he attached strips of tar paper with stainless staples. The point is to keep water from settling on top of the side rails and cross braces, which were not composite. Everything on the underside was held together with monstrous stainless steel lag bolts. The thing is like Ft. Knox. I've never seen one so sturdy. Hope that helps. Here's a picture of the dock (before the roof and lift were on).

east tx skier

02-19-2005, 03:08 PM

Here's a closeup of the composite decking.

Lance

02-19-2005, 03:12 PM

On Lake Anna in Virginia the Dream House boat house would be a non-starter due to full bathroom. Not allowed to have any plumbing in boat house. If I owned the dream house I would give up the master suite and live in the boat house.

east tx skier

02-19-2005, 03:19 PM

My plan is to sell the main house, and keep the boat house and an easement.

André

02-19-2005, 04:39 PM

Doug
Now i understand your concerns about lillypaths(sp).

east tx skier

02-19-2005, 05:49 PM

Yeah, they're a pain when the water level drops. There's not a lily in site at this point. I'm hoping that if we run the boat enough, they'll stay away. We've got the cutters ready to get them as they pop up this year.

Professor

02-19-2005, 09:54 PM

I would like to hear more on this topic also. I am in the process of adding a cradle to one side of my boathouse. It is set up (interesting system of a welded drive-shaft attached to I-beams) for boats with lifting rings. I thought about purchasing the aluminum cradles at http://boatdockstuff.com/Aluminum-Boat-Cradles.html. I can figure out the distance/shape of the bungs from the trailer, and if I purchase the cradle kit they will have it ready for me. However, the present I-beams (3 about 8 feet apart) run at 180 degrees of the boats. Now I must weld/attach angle iron or square pipe to the I-beams to run laterally along the outsides of the boat to lift a cradle (width about 8 ft 4 in). I figured welding 4” square pipe to the I-beams and then attaching four snatch blocks/pulleys at the appropriate locations. What do you guys think?

east tx skier

02-20-2005, 05:43 AM

chico

02-20-2005, 08:46 AM

professor\
check out ace boat lifts.they will have everything you need for your lift.they are in ohio.

k2mc

02-20-2005, 03:20 PM

I plan to build a house with a cradle lift in the next few weeks. check out boatliftdistributors.com good prices on kits and knowledgeable staff.

Professor

02-20-2005, 08:13 PM

Professor, you lost me along the way. For long term lifting, a cradle would be best (as I understand it, the lifting rings are only for short term lifting, not long term storage). Do you have any pictures of your setup?
Thanks and I don't have any pics. I will try to take some this week. It was an interesting set up and they used parts from the junk yard (reminded me of junk yard wars).

Professor

02-20-2005, 08:15 PM

professor\
check out ace boat lifts.they will have everything you need for your lift.they are in ohio.
Thanks guys, I will check out the other boat lift companies. Thanks K2mc for the additional info.

Professor

02-22-2005, 03:28 PM

Here is a pic showing the 3 I-Beams (red line added) going across the interior of the boat house. Not a very good picture but the beams run the width of the boat house. What I think will be necessary is to attach … say square tubing to the I-beams in the direction of the boat.

Professor

02-22-2005, 05:43 PM

Oh, I forgot the pic with the “welded” parts (driveshaft, etc.). As I said, the guys would be great teammates on Junk-Yard Wars.

k2mc

03-19-2005, 01:29 AM

Hey Prof. Did you ever do anything with this project? It looks like you could add a cradle without adding any more steel in the rafters. Can't you just add pulleys to the existing steel? Put the fixed point on the cradle beam ends and then wind around the drive shaft?? (assuming your motor can take the weight - if not, just add an extra pulley at the cradle and move the fixed point to the rafters.)

My lumber's on my dock and construction starts tomorrow. Picks coming soon.

Professor

03-19-2005, 02:22 PM

Planning on starting it in a couple of weeks. Should have stayed here instead of Spring Break but.... I will have to add additional steel beam to attach the pulleys. The present beams were too far apart for the cradle system. Good luck with your project. Would love to see the pics when you finish.

east tx skier

05-10-2005, 10:53 AM

I won't post this picture in too many places, but it took a lot of sweat to get this all built and I just like seeing my boat from this angle.

ski36short

05-10-2005, 12:19 PM

Nice setup. Right in front of the course too!

east tx skier

05-10-2005, 12:22 PM

We were feeling pretty spoiled this past weekend, that's for sure.

André

05-10-2005, 05:05 PM

Looks really good Doug.Now go get those 6 bouys!!!

erkoehler

05-10-2005, 05:09 PM

I won't post this picture in too many places, but it took a lot of sweat to get this all built and I just like seeing my boat from this angle.

Are you not supposed to have this setup?

k2mc

06-08-2005, 08:01 PM

Finally got mine done too

k2mc

06-08-2005, 08:05 PM

another view

erkoehler

06-08-2005, 08:05 PM

Looks nice guys, you have awesome setups! My home lake is just too small for something like that. :worthy:

k2mc

06-08-2005, 08:06 PM

and one from the water before I got the lift in

AirJunky

06-08-2005, 08:40 PM

Sweet setup, Keith. No wonder Randy didn't have any trouble finding your place!

prostar205

06-08-2005, 11:30 PM

Keith -

Very nice setup. What lake are you on? Godwin? I live in Bothell/Mill Creek. Are you ever on Lake Washing-Machine (Lake Washington)?

k2mc

06-09-2005, 01:59 AM

Yep - that's Goodwin. Haven't ever put in Lake Washington as I've always been up north. I was thinking about either LW or Lake Sam on friday though as the boat's in Renton for 20 hour service until Friday.

haven't seen Randy out in a couple weeks. now that the water's tolerable I'm excited to try his foil - now if only we could see the sun occasionally.

sizzler

06-09-2005, 03:59 AM

very nice crib keith

parks_jr_55

06-09-2005, 10:04 AM

ERK-
Correct me if i am wrong but:

Not only would your lake be too small but wouldn't one of those be illegal in the state of Wisconsin.

If i remember correctly you can't have a permenant roof or anythign like that. And if you already do you can only put so much $ into maintaining it each year.

east tx skier

06-09-2005, 10:16 AM

Are you not supposed to have this setup?

There's no problem having it setup. I'd just posted the picture somewhere else and didn't want to be too redundant is all.

k2mc

06-09-2005, 11:53 AM

not only is WI law more stringent with regards to building over water, ice makes the maintenance a nightmare as the pilings get shoved around every spring.

Thanks all for the compliments. It was a ton of work, but well worth it in the end.

k2mc

06-13-2005, 01:18 AM

Should have mentioned...

Motor is Boat Hoist US - 6k lb
Bunks are Boat Lift US - 12'
Fixed hardware is Ace
Not sure who made the pipe hangars or pulleys

mbeach

07-26-2005, 09:52 AM

If you have a trailer with two bunks in the area that would be supporting the stringers of the boat you can use that distance. Some four bunk trailers go just inside the stringer for the inner bunks and have two more short bunks just in the stern area a bit outside the stringers. Definatly do not lift with the strap lift.
am in same situation. have a strap lift. was thinking about lifting foot off water with strap. know strap will have to be placed between shaft and boat in stern and adjusted so won't slide. other option is using the lift rings in the rear and strap in front. again, only plan on lifting one foot off water or so. will probably go with cradle next year, but whole
lift mechanism will need to be redone to accomodate longer (19'6") mastercraft. so question is what are pitfalls of strap lift other than slippage and droppping boat? seems like big pitfall to me.

jimmer2880

07-26-2005, 12:24 PM

am in same situation. have a strap lift. was thinking about lifting foot off water with strap. know strap will have to be placed between shaft and boat in stern and adjusted so won't slide. other option is using the lift rings in the rear and strap in front. again, only plan on lifting one foot off water or so. will probably go with cradle next year, but whole
lift mechanism will need to be redone to accomodate longer (19'6") mastercraft. so question is what are pitfalls of strap lift other than slippage and droppping boat? seems like big pitfall to me.

The biggest concern is cracks in your gelcoat/structure from not being supported properly. Read your owners manual - it should say something in there on how to lift.

Zach S

07-27-2005, 08:51 AM

peason

07-27-2005, 09:21 AM

Zach, greetings from Minnesota - I used to live in Peoria, IL. Do you ski live on LAke Springfield?
Anyway - you're best bet may to have a metal fabricator locally make the cradle for you. I have no idea where the closest inboard dealer is for you - but I do think there is a new MC dealer on the Illinois river up near Morris, IL - you may want to give them a call.

mbeach

07-27-2005, 09:29 AM

I was fortunate enough to pickup a boat dock on our lake last night. It sounds like I may be in the situation as some of the others on this thread. I have checked out some of the sites that have been discussed in this thread. My situation is that the motor and cables are already there. All I need is the cradle portion. It looks like most of the sites sell the whole kit which includes more equipment than I need. Any suggestions on where to find just the cradle portion? Maybe if I call some of these companies they will sell just the cradle?
yo zach -- i have same problem and called my hoist manufacturer, doozie in nc (http://www.itsadoozie.com/index.htm). they will sell the cradle separately and you purchase the wooden rails locally. everyone else wanted to sell me more pieces-parts than i needed. owner is also a tournament skier and mc owner. good luck.

bigmac

07-27-2005, 11:07 AM

I was fortunate enough to pickup a boat dock on our lake last night. It sounds like I may be in the situation as some of the others on this thread. I have checked out some of the sites that have been discussed in this thread. My situation is that the motor and cables are already there. All I need is the cradle portion. It looks like most of the sites sell the whole kit which includes more equipment than I need. Any suggestions on where to find just the cradle portion? Maybe if I call some of these companies they will sell just the cradle?

I helped a buddy do that exact thing. He didn't want to use a strap to hoist the boat, so we picked up two 108-inch pieces of 2x6 aluminum tubing for cross-pieces and secured the hoist cables to each of the four corners.

He then bought some aluminum bunks http://www.pierpleasure.com/images/Accessories/full-vbunks.jpg
and secured them to the cross-pieces. I'm sure it would be cheaper to use 2x6 cedar, but he wanted to be sure he didn't have to worry whether or not the prop shaft was clearing the cross-piece.