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How to modify boat lift for my Bu.


jcon44

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OK, so we finally got our lake house we've been working on for 5+ months. :biggrin: My first priority is to get the lift set up for the Bu so i can get her out of storage and at the house. The issue is this: the lift was set up for a pontoon and has two bunks on either side very low to the inflatable lift. Does anyone have experience in modifying a lift for an inboard? I know that i can take measurements from the trailer and add new bunk but not sure if there is anywhere online to buy the parts. I've done some looking and am coming up short so far. I'll get some pictures of the lift to post but wanted to get this out here now and see what you all think. Thanks for all your help!

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Sounds like a lift like mine, Econolift, I had to replace the bunk arms with 22" arms and move them out..... I think there's old thread with lift and garage measurements in it for each model, can't search so well on my phone

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My life was for a pontooner too. I bought a "Ski boat Bunk kit" from boatliftanddock.com it worked awesome. Here is the link to my lift fiasco

http://www.themalibu...saga-continues/

You can see the bunk kit in the pics

I actually saw these and wish they would work but i dont have the same type of I beams on my lift. Its basically a huge plastic tank surrounded by a metal frame of what looks like 2"square tubing. the bunks are attached directly to the tubing and the tubing on the tank so i would not be about the wrap all the way around like these do.

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For the sv23 hull, the inside distance between bunk arms should be 41.5", according to guy that did my lift ~2 yrs ago

This sounds about right. i measured off my trailer and it was closer to 46" wide and 20" wide. do you remember what he charged to do your lift? if its not too much i would consider having someone just do it and save myself a few weeks of storage costs at the marina. Not to mention my boat is not on the other side of the lake :(

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This sounds about right. i measured off my trailer and it was closer to 46" wide and 20" wide. do you remember what he charged to do your lift? if its not too much i would consider having someone just do it and save myself a few weeks of storage costs at the marina. Not to mention my boat is not on the other side of the lake :(

The more I think about this I had to replace a few other parts. My lift swings into the water as it sinks. There are 4 arms connecting the lift to the dock and since I went from 10" pontoon bunk arms to 22" bunk arms, the swing arms weren't long enough to submerge the top of the bunks, so those swing arms got extended to 36" and they mount a foot or so under the water. I think in total I paid a little over a 1k and they did the work in winter right after the cove dethawed. Not fun for the under water work. Hardware itself was around $500, they drove one &half hours to get to our place also, so some was a delivery charge.

They took all the hardware they replaced since I wasn't there to stop them, but when I found out made them bring it back for the price it was worth. sneaky service men.

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The more I think about this I had to replace a few other parts. My lift swings into the water as it sinks. There are 4 arms connecting the lift to the dock and since I went from 10" pontoon bunk arms to 22" bunk arms, the swing arms weren't long enough to submerge the top of the bunks, so those swing arms got extended to 36" and they mount a foot or so under the water. I think in total I paid a little over a 1k and they did the work in winter right after the cove dethawed. Not fun for the under water work. Hardware itself was around $500, they drove one &half hours to get to our place also, so some was a delivery charge.

They took all the hardware they replaced since I wasn't there to stop them, but when I found out made them bring it back for the price it was worth. sneaky service men.

Good point, i didn't even think about the swing arms. this is sounding expensive...

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I actually saw these and wish they would work but i dont have the same type of I beams on my lift. Its basically a huge plastic tank surrounded by a metal frame of what looks like 2"square tubing. the bunks are attached directly to the tubing and the tubing on the tank so i would not be about the wrap all the way around like these do.

What a bummer, sounds like you're going to have to bust out a welder...

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Thanks Nate for posting the picks. In case your wondering it looks terribly dirty because it is. In the five months I've been working to by this house (short sale) I hadn't seen the lift above water once. I was pretty excited to see that it worked when we did our inspection, and yes this is in fresh water even though it appears to have barnacles living on it.

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Is that going to sink low enough for the fins to clear the frame work? You might look into trading it in on a lift with two pontoons.

Scott

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yep, that looks just like mine when I started, for the most part. Your's looks like a 6k lift, mine was only a 4.5k. The whole job of upgrading it can be done with wrenches, and a drill capable of drilling through square bars, you'll need 4-6 new holes.

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Is that going to sink low enough for the fins to clear the frame work? You might look into trading it in on a lift with two pontoons.

Scott

I'm really not sure either. I think i need to sink it as far as it will go this weekend and take some measurements.

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OK, so after a week of trying to find someone to come out and modify this lift i've decided its going to have to be a home job with Ndawgs help. I called 4 people left multiple messages and only got ahold of one and he never showed. Now he wont return my calls, Maybe its a sign. But next step if to try to find out the measurements so i need your help. Does anyone have an Econolift set for a bu? what are you bunk heights and width? Thanks for the help. This lake house is useless when my boat's now 40 minutes away. :(

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My friend just bought a brand new Econolift, so I know we have a dealer in KY that you could talk to. His name is Randy Burns. I'll post more info if I can find it.

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I can get you pics of mine right after labor day weekend if you can wait.

I know my bunk arms are 22" arms, 3 or 4 per side. They lean at a 70-80%, so really only ends up being 18" of lift. My fins and prop have sufficient clearance.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the pics.... Ndawg12 and i worked a 12+ hour day Saturday on the lift and got about 80% there. I promise we didn't start drinking until all the metal cutting and drilling was done. :) Anyway Ndawg is fabbing me up a few more supports for the middle and front parts( I may have mismeasured slightly :biggrin: ) but we were able to get Ndawgs Vride on there and lifted up on Sunday with only two legs on the bunks so things are looking good. I will keep you posted in case anyone else is running into a similar issue. All the parts were either bought at Lowes or Northern Tool. Right now I'm about $300 or so into this project in parts. I believe Ndawg has some pics of the progress so far and we will be sure to take more once we are complete.. Thanks again to everyone for you suggestions and input!.

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This might also be a good pic for my boat add!!

IMAG0313.jpg

Boat for sale.. always wiped down after each use and stored on a covered lift.. and absolutely no glass of any kind!

On another note i may leave the old bunk so i have something to sit/stand on when rubbing down my baby..... :)

Edited by jcon44
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