Ramp for boat lift removal? Help!

[Schindawg]

First summer living on the lake and now first time getting everything out of the lake. Boat is out and winterized and dock is out, but I'm having a fun time getting the lift out, which is a Flow VXD-5000 with a canopy

http://www.floeintl.com/docks.asp?pageName...lLifts&sm=4

It has 4 wheels so once the pads are up, it's rollable. My problem is the rip-rap along our lake edge is made of large boulders and goes from beach to lawn in about 3 horizontal feet, and rises about 4 vertical feet. Some form of ramp is needed, but I'm too keen on just putting out some wood planks. I tried my neighbor's 10 x 4's but after winching it up a couple feet I was too nervous it would slip off. What would be great would be a ramp with edges to keep the wheels on. I found this 10' arched aluminum ramp:

http://www.realtruck.com/lund_aluminum_dur...14136P1C1T.html

This isn't my lakeshore but it looks VERY similar to this, maybe a bit steeper:

http://www.rassetlandscaping.com/landscapi...-lakeshore5.jpg

What do you pros use?

Thanks!

[Tao of Wake]

I just use the winch on my ATV, but I only need to pull mine up on the beach; not over rocks and not at that steep angle. I would think that those ramps would work fine. Just line up the lift and pull it straight so that it won't slip off the side. I don't think those guides on the side would do much. You could always build some ramps with 10x4 bottoms and 2x6s for "sides". Put the 2x6s on either side of the 10x4s so that there is no way the wheels will slip off either side. If you just put the 2x6s on the outside, there is still a chance that one of the boards could get pushed and the lift could fall off. You will have to see how much clearance you have on either side of the wheels to determine how high you can put the sides. Looking at pictures of the Floe, if you raise the foot pads all the way up, you should have at least 2" of clearance for the sides.

These would be some pretty heavy ramps, but they would do the trick and shouldn't cost $200. Well, a little less, anyway.

[malibudreaming]

First summer living on the lake and now first time getting everything out of the lake. Boat is out and winterized and dock is out, but I'm having a fun time getting the lift out, which is a Flow VXD-5000 with a canopy

http://www.floeintl.com/docks.asp?pageName...lLifts&sm=4

It has 4 wheels so once the pads are up, it's rollable. My problem is the rip-rap along our lake edge is made of large boulders and goes from beach to lawn in about 3 horizontal feet, and rises about 4 vertical feet. Some form of ramp is needed, but I'm too keen on just putting out some wood planks. I tried my neighbor's 10 x 4's but after winching it up a couple feet I was too nervous it would slip off. What would be great would be a ramp with edges to keep the wheels on. I found this 10' arched aluminum ramp:

http://www.realtruck.com/lund_aluminum_dur...14136P1C1T.html

This isn't my lakeshore but it looks VERY similar to this, maybe a bit steeper:

http://www.rassetlandscaping.com/landscapi...-lakeshore5.jpg

What do you pros use?

Thanks!

The pros at our marina use a crane to lift out all of our boat lifts . Not practical in your case I'm sure. How did you get it in to the water in the first place?

[Schindawg]

The pros at our marina use a crane to lift out all of our boat lifts . Not practical in your case I'm sure. How did you get it in to the water in the first place?

The installers brought her over on a pontoon and dropped her in.

[Sixball]

I use two 16' x 8" I also put two 14' 2x4 under them that I threw bolted to stop flexing. I need to come up a 4'6" sea wall so I need plenty of length. I also use the winch on my four wheeler with a pulley to increase pulling power. If I go under the pads I just go slow and if it is getting off center I use a 6' pry bar to nudge it. I have been just putting my ramps under the cross bar at the feet the last couple of years and lifting the feet to clear the sea wall.

[WaveGAR]

I have a similar rise at our lake. I bought a 4X8 sheet of plywood and cut it in half. I also nailed 2 2X4's on each one for support. Winch on the truck,, and up she comes. It is very steep but works well every time..

[malibudreaming]

The pros at our marina use a crane to lift out all of our boat lifts . Not practical in your case I'm sure. How did you get it in to the water in the first place?

The installers brought her over on a pontoon and dropped her in.

Looks like others have had good success with ramps and a winch. The only other way would be to take it apart , and that is probably a real pita.

[bound4er]

I set up a steel rigging over my lift and lift it out with two 500 pound chain hoists. Once out of the water, I slide two 4 x 4's under it and set it on the pier. The only caveat - you need a permanent pier for this to work.