Touchless Boat Cover

[cwkoch]

I'm looking at putting a Touchless Cover on a free standing lift. Who's got one, and how do you like it?? Have you ever had any issues with it??

[Sixball]

I have seen them at boat shows but never seen one on the lake. They look very nice but I wonder how low to the water I could go with big wakes coming in.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Sixball

[chadwick02]

Free standing lift, as in no boat house? I dont know much about the touchless covers other than what a quick google turned up, but what about a canopy for your lift? I added a canopy to my lift a few years and cant believe I didnt do it sooner. It does not cover the sides of the boat like the touchless cover appears too, but even with only a 12 or 18" curtain that hangs down on all the sides, mine keeps my boat clean and dry, even in in real windy storms. We've got it set up so with the lift all the way up the top of the tower (in the up position) is about 2 inches from the bottom of the canopy, and still the boat stays clean and dry. You could set it up so that you fold the tower down and tuck the boat way up under the canopy when your done for the day. You can also order canopy with longer curtains - I've seen people with 2 or 3' long curtains. Seems like it would be a much cheaper lower lower maintenance product than a touchless cover?

[cwkoch]

Free standing lift, as in no boat house? I dont know much about the touchless covers other than what a quick google turned up, but what about a canopy for your lift? I added a canopy to my lift a few years and cant believe I didnt do it sooner. It does not cover the sides of the boat like the touchless cover appears too, but even with only a 12 or 18" curtain that hangs down on all the sides, mine keeps my boat clean and dry, even in in real windy storms. We've got it set up so with the lift all the way up the top of the tower (in the up position) is about 2 inches from the bottom of the canopy, and still the boat stays clean and dry. You could set it up so that you fold the tower down and tuck the boat way up under the canopy when your done for the day. You can also order canopy with longer curtains - I've seen people with 2 or 3' long curtains. Seems like it would be a much cheaper lower lower maintenance product than a touchless cover?

Yes, as in no boat house. Your typical aluminum free standing boat lift. Very common in the midwest.

Yes, it will have a canopy with extensions at the very least.... However, my boat is about 80% black, and 20% red, so I really want to keep it out of the sun and elements. The Touchless Boat Cover is the best option I've seen to completely cover the boat and keep it fully protected.

Over on WakeWorld, someone mentioned the Ultimate Boat Cover made by Liquid Audio sounds. Their website doesn't specify whether it's ok to use on a free standing lift (like they specify is ok for the Touchless Cover), so I think I'll give them a call and see what they say about that.

[BlknYlwT22]

This is our set up and we haven't had any issues. Boat stays nice and dry and yes there is a ton of room to lift the boat higher. The sun never hits the boat except at sunrise.

Edited March 20, 2012 by 2004WakeSetterVLX

[CVand2010VLX]

We have a touchless on our Floe VSD lift. LOVE it. One of the best lakefront investments we've ever made.

Pros

MAJOR protection from the elements, WITHOUT having to put the trailering cover the boat. Entire boat, including the swim platform (2010 WS VLX) is covered. I believe we have the 26' version. This is why we have not upgraded our OEM boat cover to the Evolution....the only time the cover gets used is when the boat is in storage for the winter.

Jacking it up in the air high enough allows us to bring the boat into it, and raise it as high as the lift will go and still not have to fold down the tower. You will not have to worry about the waves hitting it. Period.

Durable material that doesn't leak.

Wireless operation via the keychain remote.

110 Volt AC power - very easy to add lights to the inside of the canopy. Both of our lifts are 110V AC, and are plugged in via a GFI socket that is controlled by a switch in our house. This also adds security as the lift or cover cannot be operated when the switch is off.

Cons

You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT, install the fabric on a windy day. Yes, I understand this goes for most other canopies, but with the amount of fabric there is to this thing and the amount of attachment points (i.e., velcro, "dingle balls", etc), if there's any wind at all, it's going to end up in the water. We always install ours after 7:30 pm after the wind has died down.

Installing the fabric is tricky because of how high up in the air we have it. Our lift is in a slip/well configuration with dock on each side of it, and We still usually use our peddle boat and 14' row boat to give us more work space.

The unit is expensive.

All in all, the touchless is an awesome cover. One other thing, (this I know I have a picture of somewhere), we ran some tall auger poles into the lake bed on all four points of the lift and strapped it down. Because of how lightweight most of these new boat lifts are, if you get enough wind up underneath it and your boat isn't on it (If you're on a trip with it, the boat is broken, etc) the cover (as will most other canopies) will actually act like a great big parachute and flip the lift right over. (Happened to one of our neighbors once with his lift, the day after he told us we were crazy for strapping ours down, and that the wind will not tip one over )

Any other questions, feel free to PM me!

Edited March 20, 2012 by CVand2010VLX

[CVand2010VLX]

Here are some pictures. In The second picture you can kind of see how we have it strapped down with the auger pole just under the surface.

[Living the Dream]

curious what do they cost?

[CVand2010VLX]

To tell you the truth, I can't remember off the top of my head. I'll have to look. Another option (if you wanted to buy a new lift) would be to look at Summit Marine's line of Hydraulic lifts with their canopy built for towers. They're built here in Grand Rapids MI and a friend of ours has one. The extended cover is like a touchless, except everything stays closed up. The back of it obviously opens up, and there is a side "door" that unzips to allow access into the boat.

[foiler1]

are you able to pull the cover back to let the sunshine in to dry the rugs when they get wet? If not, i see mold issues

[cwkoch]

CV- Thanks for the great review!!!

Living The Dream- For a 26', with 84" sides, I've been qouted around 5K plus another 1K for setup and install. The guy claims they take him and another guy a full day... But this is the same guy that was trying to sell me a 4 year old lift for almost the same price I was qouted a new lift for. I'm trying to find other dealers around here for them. The "Ultimate Boat Cover" which is similar, and they told me they've built them before for free standing lifts, is $3K for the tall one for wake board towers.

Foiler1- I think with the cover up away from the water like it is in the picture, there will be plenty of air flow to dry out the boat.

[CVand2010VLX]

are you able to pull the cover back to let the sunshine in to dry the rugs when they get wet? If not, i see mold issues

Yes.....you hit a button on the remote and all four of the sides retract...making it just like a normal canopy. There's also vents inside of it. After 2 years of use we've had no mold at all!

Edited March 20, 2012 by CVand2010VLX

[wakeboarder3780]

Wow I can't believe it, these things are awesome. I also plan on getting the floe VSD lift when we move out to our lake (5 years) so I'd have the same setup as you. Glad to hear it's working well for you, sad to hear how expensive they are. But the lift is one thing I will definitely geek out on and drop some money. We'll be living at the lake so whatever it costs will likely be worth it. My only fear is that my neighbors have a habit of firing off fireworks off the dock.. We used to do that too at my dad's cabin until we ended up burning our neighbors cover from the fallout. I wonder if they sell aluminum top covers... Gonna go out and look.

[srintx]

Does anyone know who the dealer is for Texas?