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Which of these 3 boat lifts?


H2oskier13

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I would like some input from you guys who own lifts as to what you think of them? I am buying a lift for my 06 Response and have never owned a lift before. I have been looking at a few different lifts but the ones that are standing out, mainly for price and the fact that the dealers are close to where I live are the Shorestation Hewitt and Shoremaster. All three are approximately the same price and have the same features so any input would be awesome. I am looking at a basic vertical lift model with a hand crank, so nothing too spectacular. I will most likely add a canopy down the road, but not this year.\

Thanks for any input.

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I had a Hewitt and have a ShoreMaster. I would stick with the ShoreMaster. Seems to be better built IMHO. I also like the wheel dolly option which makes it much easier to pull out of the lake at the end of the season than the Hewitt wheels. The winch on the ShoreMaster was also better, it had an automatic brake on it where the Hewitt had a simple wratchet type system. It took less force to lift my boat on the ShoreMaster than the Hewitt.

I have no experience with ShoreStation.

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Agreed with above. Shorestation and Shoremaster are very very similar. Dealer might be the only difference. We do a lot of Shorestation's, but only because we are Shorestation dealer.

Peter

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Shorestation's are the easiest to find parts for. they were the standard for years.

I think Hewitt is a budget, lift, but everyone i know with one has never had a problem either.

One thing you may want to look at is, if you are definitely going put a canopy on the lift in the future, make sure you look at those closely.

For me, the reason i didn't like the shore-station, is they're canopy is very shallow, so if I wanted to slack off and not cover the boat for a night, it wasn't possible.

Edited by jeepdude2
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I don't know anything about those lift manufactures specifically (I have a Basta Lift and canopy cover), but I can provide some generic advice...

1) Purchase a lift that has lift rating well in excess of the quoted dry weight of your boat (e.g, 1500 lbs or more). The dry weights are significantly less than the real world weight of the boat. Also, people will get into the boat while it is on the lift, so instead of worrying about or having to school people just purchase a lift with lots of reserve load capacity

2) Purchase a lift that can handle the weight of any potential boat you could possible imagine yourself buying one day. I ended up putting in my second lift because I purchased a new heavier boat (Basta did take my old lift on trade in for a fair price)

3) Measure the separation distance of chines in your hull and then measure the width of the bunks. You don't want your chines falling right on the bunks. It will make centering the boat on the lift very difficult. The boat will naturally want to float the chine to the inside of the bunk, resulting in a crooked position. Be cognizant of the bunk separation width when selecting your lift.

4) Consider purchasing two pairs of boat centering posts. They are very helpful for centering the boat. Our boats have very flat hulls, so they don't naturally self-center on the lifts.

5) I recommend a canopy. Our boats need to be protected from both water and sun. If you are planning on a canopy, be mindful that the canopy post will interfere with board racks on the tower. Purchase a canopy with wide post separation (e.g., 115"+ inside dimension separation distance). If the canopy posts are narrower, ask the manufacture if they provide extension brackets for widening the canopy posts.

6) Install the lift so that the top of the bunks are about 1 foot out of the water. I have mine about level with the top of my dock. I see so many lifts on our lake where the boat is needlessly sitting sky high.

My 2 cents...

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I have a ShoreStation, my neighbor has a shoremaster. Both very nice.

My opinion

Shorestation - They are built more solidly, and are a fair amount heavier. Great if you live on big water and are docking a big Cobalt in 2 - 3 foot waves. Not a big deal for an 06 Response on smaller water. I can say for sure they take a beating well.

Shoremaster - they have better canopy options and an option for canopy extension.

I would buy a Shoremaster with the canopy extensions if I had to do it over on my small lake with my Echelon.

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  • 1 month later...

I'd also 2nd a Floe lift...I don't have one personally, but the people I know that do have them love them. If I ever replace my Vibo lift (very cheap), it'll be a Floe lift with the VSD technology.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I own 2 ShoreStation lifts (6000 lb and 4000 lb) and think they are pretty quality lifts. Not sure about other brands, but the bungee install system for the canopy is pretty nice for easy installation of the canopy. My father-in-law has a 15 yr old ShoreStation with the springs to tie the canopy down, which are a pain to connect. Get the carpet guides, they are nice assisting with docking. I have an electric motor w/remote made by Lift Tech Marine that is pretty convenient also on the 6000 lb lift....

I actually like the canopy frame in high wind conditions, it allows the wind to pass thru because the canopy frame is shallow, without grabbing underneath like some of the canopy frames of other brands where frame really bends down. You can easily tie down the sides to keep the wind from flipping the sides up for sun protection.

Edited by Jeff247
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Thanks for all the information. After much searching I came across a used 5000lb Shoremaster with the direct drive. The lift is in at my place and I will see it for the first time on Wednesday. That also happens to be the day I pick up my new to me Malibu response. I'm pretty stoked to say the least.

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MalibuNation

Congratulations on both. I remember getting my new boat, truck and lift all within 24 hours ... cha ching.

With that lift you'll be all set for a V Drive if you ever decide to go that route :)

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