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Boatlift


Markob1970

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I just purchased a 2012 Malibu Wakesetter 247, dry wgt. 4,000 lbs, lift that came with my house is a ShoreMaster, 120 inches wide but it is only a 4,000 lbs lift, will I be okay or is this a recipe for disaster? I know a 5,000 lbs is preferred but is it an absolute? Trade in is only $1,500,  it is 4 years old, has bunks and an electric motor. My wife is already stressed over amt. of money I have already spent! Thanks for any input. 

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Your boat is going to weigh at least 4500lbs with fuel and toys. Add a person or two and your pushing 5000. I would be happier with. 6000 lb lift. 

Edited by Sailvi767
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I say upgrade. I’d use the opportunity to bite the bullet and buy a more future proof lift. Boats are getting heavier and heavier. You never know if you’ll upgrade boats in the future to something heavier and your next trade would cost more than the upgrade today.

We are upgrading our floe lift to a screw drive lift from a standard vertical. We are paying the extra for the 8000 pound vs the 6500. My understanding from my dealer is you’d like to be at roughly 80% of the lifts capacity with your dry weight for max safety. We had a faulty cable on our current lift holding a 3300 pound boat on a 4600 pound lift. It’s very scary to see a boat fall two to three feet on its own weight. I couldn’t imagine if someone was in it how much worse it could’ve been. 

It’s only money compared to someone getting hurt or your boat being damaged by a smaller lift. 

Safety first and best of luck with your wife. 

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I just looked at 3 different lift companies yesterday at the boat show as we have a m235 coming in March.  When you go from 6 to 8 k you need four pistons instead of 2  it jumps the cost from about 10 to around 15k

 

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the rating of a boat lift of 4000lbs = 2000lbs front/2000lbs back.  Now for calculating weight of the boat - deduct engine/transmission (I usually say about 800lbs) and then divide the rest by 2.  Add the engine back to that number and that's the number you need to have for the back of the lift.  You will be way above that even w/o fuel - that will just add to the misery.

Going with a 5000lbs boat lift puts you probably just barely at the weight for your boat and is from a long term perspective probably not a wise decision - boats are getting heavier - there's probably only MB Sports now out there with a 23ft. boat with a net weight of 4300lbs.  Anything in that size is today above 5000lbs to start with.

1 hour ago, Ndawg12 said:

Isn't this just a matter of upgrading to bigger cables?  If I recall when our lift was put in, the difference from 5k to 8k was 5/16 to 3/8" cable.  Might be something to look into.  

no it's not.  My 5000VSD (Floe) had 3" posts - the 8000VSD I got last year has 4.5" posts plus double cable runs etc.  As soon as you get above the 6500lbs rated lifts - they come a lot heavier and beefier.

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My flow dealer said the major difference between their VSD 6500 and 8000 pound lifts is only the motor that is used. The frame is the same. The difference in our area is a little over $1000.  I’m sure once you get into hydraulics and other brands the difference may be significantly larger.  He said the 6500 would hold and lift a 5300 pound dry boat but long term failure rates/risk would be lower for the bigger motor. Cheap insurance to ensure we are covered long term hopefully. 

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You need to look closer at each brand of lift. Some up construction. Some just cables, motors on some. If you will have long extended legs you will want some beefier legs. they are not all equal.  In my area used lifts move quite fast and get good resale so upgrading may not be as costly as the initial look.  I would not push a 4,000 lb lift with a 247. Its going to push well over 4,000lb.  

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We had a similar situation. Boat was 3600lbs and lift was 4000lbs. We've had 3 failures in two years and are now looking to invest in something bigger. If you keep your current lift, I would definitely have a line attached to that boat in case it does fail, and keep an eye on it.

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I have been on a lift with a cable snap.  

A seaweed bog loaded the bunks and we didn't notice while raising the boat.  Cable snapped and did serious damage to the glass on the front of the boat.  Would have been very scary if anyone was in it.

Lift was rated 500lbs over it's loaded and wet weight. 

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It is freaky when a cable snaps and the boat drops. Kersplash !!  Should send out tidal wave warnings after that. Anyway, ours was alway's ski nautiques, no one in the boat.

Bummer was stringing a new cable.

Steve B.

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I was cranking mine up when the cable snapped, boat was empty.  It was really scary - that boat and cradle would have gone right thru anything (bone/flesh/tissue) in its way.  In my case the cable was frayed and snapped.  I saw a couple of strands frayed but didn't think much about it, but now I inspect it end to end periodically.

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An old millwright who worked on cranes and lifting equipment told me a cable brakes from the inside out. You will never see the first problems.  A guy at the local marina sold me some galvanized cable. He told me it lasts just as long and is half the price. Yeper I was a dumb a$$ and let him talk me into it. It didn't last two years. I get stainless steel aircraft quality and get seven or more years out of it. Just the trouble of changing  it on a vertical lift makes it a good buy but the safety is the biggest thing.

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Not a time for frugality... I hated spending money on the lift when I could have used that money for more toys.  I tried to make a smaller lift work when I upgraded in 2013.  Nothing but headaches.

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Basically add 1.5k lbs over dry weight and that's the adequate lift.. 1k over is too close in most situations.

Dry weights of boats are laughable and understated.. gas gear and a person or two is 1k+ lbs in most boats add the fact the weight is not even,and that 99% of people are not in the #levelboatliftclub which adds further stress on things. If u want to b happy a 6k would be absolutely minimal but I'd shoot for a 7-8k so your future proof for any Newer boat if u upgrade down the road as well. The coat difference now will be far less than a year or two from now.. lift pricing is going up with boat pricing each year!

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Awesome advice, can’t thank you all enough! I am going with a 6,000 lb lift after your input, I agree (wife doesn’t) that if we spent this already on boat, doesn’t make sense to risk injury or worse by not having appropriate lift.  

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I could not get by with a floating lift. Depth #1 My boat would be A rocking and rolling all weekend long!  My lifts front leg are as shallow as they can go and the rear have 6' extensions.  I also depend on my lifts for the canopy.

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19 hours ago, hethj7 said:

Why don't more places uses floating lifts like we do in MO vs. cable style?    No dangerous cables to snap.   Maybe water depth could be an issue when lowered. 

They require larger structures to hold boat in place most glacier lakes in north freeze and docks and lifts have to be removed and put in each year.. royal PIA!!!  Not to mention many lifts are only in 3-4ft Water. U guys down south are LUCKY!!   Time to relocate! Sick of winter already! 

 

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9 hours ago, Michigan boarder said:

I think they quoted me $10k for a floating lift for my little Echelon.  A brand new cable lift would be around $2k.  I'm still using my old cantilever.

Wow did not know the price difference was so big. FWIW, no way is a floating lift for an echelon $10K in my region.   A 6,500 lb econolift was just under $5500 installed when I got mine.  

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18 hours ago, hethj7 said:

Wow did not know the price difference was so big. FWIW, no way is a floating lift for an echelon $10K in my region.   A 6,500 lb econolift was just under $5500 installed when I got mine.  

Yeah, I about hit the floor.  The floater was going to be my option if there was an issue with my easement and the definition of "mooring and keeping".  If I mooring meant no cable-style boat lift, then I was going to use the floater since it does not sit on the bottom and only needed two anchor points.

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