Boat lift

[Skyboss]

Any sage advice from anyone preferably people involved with boat construction or naval engineers? I am looking at Marlow 34-37 Pilot (or similar) 12k to 18k pounds to possibly have on lift. I am getting feed back on pros and cons but am concerned with stress and flexing on that kind of weight. Last boat was Mainship Pilot 30 on stanchions ( no bunk) and didn’t have any noticeable problems that I knew of. Any input encouraged and thanks. M

 

[Seevee]

Any sage advice from anyone preferably people involved with boat construction or naval engineers? I am looking at Marlow 34-37 Pilot (or similar) 12k to 18k pounds to possibly have on lift. I am getting feed back on pros and cons but am concerned with stress and flexing on that kind of weight. Last boat was Mainship Pilot 30 on stanchions ( no bunk) and didn’t have any noticeable problems that I knew of. Any input encouraged and thanks. M

Not and engineer, but there's tons of boats (literally) on big lifts without issues. I had a 14K# boat on my 20K# lift for years without issues. Friends with 30K# boats on 50K# lifts with not issues. And had I kept my 400 Mainship I would have had it on a 40K# lift, but my newer 430 is just to heavy... so, I'm selling a 20k# and 40k# lift and will do without until I find a deal on a 50 and might buy it.



However, as the lift gets bigger the cost and installation gets quite expensive. I was quoted $1000 per 1K for the bigger lifts... that' $50K for a 50K# lift. And that's just not cost effective. Nice to keep the bottom clean and skip the haul outs and 3 year painting, but can by those for the rest of my life cheaper than the price of the big lifts.

 

[Mr. Ed]

I'd suggest contacting the company you intend to use to build/install the lift to ask them for their input. They may already have a template for the bunks/support for your boat, or might have a source for that info. Or they can contact the boat manufacturer for their recommendation. That's the way I approached upgrading my lift for the Ranger Tug.

Based on the weight you listed, I would recommend no less than a 25k lb lift. More is almost always better, and the relatively small increase in initial cost might be offset in the future with lower wear and tear, and less worry on your part. I say this from personal experience.