How to Choose a Boat Lift
After the first season of storing your boat at the lakeshore, you noticed that pristine white hull was turning a little green around the edges, and the algae growth seems to plug cooling water inlets. You are a candidate for a boat lift to store it out of the water. So how do you choose?
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Instructions
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Make a list of your boat's specifications: length at water line, length overall, beam, weight--the actual weight of the boat, rigging and equipment, not the displacement or gross registered tonnage--and hull configuration are the most important factors. Your boat's operator's manual may contain information about lifting points, the places where slings need to be placed to avoid longitudinal loads large enough to cause hull damage or a twisted keel. The information on your boat will have the largest impact on the kind of lift you purchase.
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Assemble the information on your boathouse, if applicable. A conventional boat lift is like the working end of a crane; the lift will supply the power and sling system to lift the boat, but if the boathouse will be the support for both the weight of the lifting system and the weight of the boat, the structure must be strong enough. One alternative might be a boat lift mounted on the bulkhead or one of the piers of the boathouse so that this weight is transferred from the sling through the lift to the ground directly. Another alternative might be a floating or air-lift drive-on ramp, a system that appears to have lower initial costs and lower maintenance costs than the standard overhead lift. Make photographs of both the interior and exterior of the boathouse.
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Contact the boat dealers in your area and see what equipment is available. Most dealers sell boat lifts, and some will install the lift for you. When you approach the boat dealers, remember to have the information on your boat and your boathouse in hand; the information about the boat and boathouse will help winnow out boat lifts that are too small or too large; you don't need a 60-ton boat lift for a 3-ton runabout. The information on the boathouse and the photographs will help in the search for a boat lift that's configured correctly for the area and the boathouse layout.
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Ask about the warranty on the boat lift. A new boat lift will come with a limited warranty covering parts and labor. Some used boat lifts will have a lifetime limited warranty; if so, ask if the warranty can be transferred if the boat lift is sold to a new owner. This may seem like a small thing, but replacing parts on a boat lift is as expensive as replacing parts on a small crane, and it may be that the cost of replacements and repairs offsets the savings realized by buying a used lift.
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Before making a final decision, contact the boat lift manufacturer by telephone or email and ask for references and information on successful installations. A few minutes of fact-checking before the decision will save days of hand-wringing after the purchase.
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Tips & Warnings
It may be cheaper to buy from your boat dealer rather than the manufacturer; the boat dealer in town may charge more than the manufacturer online, but if the boat dealer includes installation in the price, that may prove less expensive than hiring a third party to install the system.
Whether the system chosen is a drive-on ramp, an air-assisted lift or a mechanical crane or cradle lift, boat lifts come with all the hazards of boating, plus the hazards of construction. Appropriate caution is advised. Local regulations regarding land use and state, federal or local environmental regulations regarding riparian uses and constraints (those that apply to the use of the waters of a lake or river, attached to the deed of a landowner on a river or lake) might affect certain types of lifts.
