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Floating Lifts -- What brands to shop?


Fffrank

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I've got a friend with a new lake home and he's shopping for a lift.  He has a Cobalt that probably needs an 8000lb lift and another boat that he's looking for 12k-13k lbs capacity.  

He received a quote from the local dealer (I believe for Sunstream) that was over $100k.  That sounds crazy to me and I told him I'd consult the bu crew.

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For what it's worth I'm down here in North Texas.  I have a boat house with a lift already.  When I got my new '16 I considered replacing my existing rig that's galvanized steel and getting a new aluminum lift.  I just looked up the quote.  2.5 years old mind you.

New Aluminum Cradle custom for my boat $3970 (9'x15' 5 cross member (5" 2.75 lb per foot Aluminum) w/ front stanchions and Snap Trax Bunk System

CLM Watercraft Protectors 6pcs for $234

54" Freedom CSB Runabout & I-Beam Cradles 2 pcs for $130 (Cradle Tabs to Bolt to Side Rail of Cradle

Triton (Leeson) 1.5HP Footed Motor (220V) $299

Aircraft Cable 100' of Galvanized 7x19 1/4" for $79 (do yourself a favor and upgrade to Stainless for about 2x that).

Galvanized Cable Clamps 8 pcs for $2.32 (do yourself a favor and upgrade to Stainless for about 5x that).

Delivery via 25' work barge, install, wiring, cabling was $800

So that's about $5500.  It'd be more to pay an electrician to put in the electrical service, breakers, etc, but I already had that ready.  And it was on me to remove the old cradle or pay $400 extra.

I just made do with my old perfectly good galvanized steel cradle.  Some new hardware and an afternoon with an angle grinder had it configured for my new hull.

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Oh, and I do have two Hydro Port floating docks for my two 3-seater SeaDoos.  Those were about $5k a piece as I recall.  If your friend is looking at the JetDock products then expect to pay $100 a cube.  Plus more for extra features.  I had that at first for one Seadoo and just hated it.  Too dang hot to step on.  Gets really dirty really easy.  Way too many nooks and crannies for critters to live, scuffs up the gel on the bottom royaly.  Major PITA to reconfigure even with the right tools which cost extra to get.  And they don't work as easily or smoothly as the videos make them look unless you go really tail heavy.  I suppose boats use an air bladder to help with that in the back.

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$100K is crazy!  I understand it's a much larger boat, but I paid under $5K for mine (6,600 lbs, galvanized tank, front mount, installed).  Our area has a number of local dock/lift manufacturers.  I can't imagine there aren't the same types of manufactuers in your area.  I just did a search for "boat lifts Missouri" and came up with 13 separate manufacturers.  

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1 hour ago, Fffrank said:

I've got a friend with a new lake home and he's shopping for a lift.  He has a Cobalt that probably needs an 8000lb lift and another boat that he's looking for 12k-13k lbs capacity.  

He received a quote from the local dealer (I believe for Sunstream) that was over $100k.  That sounds crazy to me and I told him I'd consult the bu crew.

I see that you are located in Wisconsin.  Where is your friends lake house located?  May help with the regional lift style differences.

5 minutes ago, MUM3 said:

$100K is crazy!  I understand it's a much larger boat, but I paid under $5K for mine (6,600 lbs, galvanized tank, front mount, installed).  Our area has a number of local dock/lift manufacturers.  I can't imagine there aren't the same types of manufactuers in your area.  I just did a search for "boat lifts Missouri" and came up with 13 separate manufacturers.  

Part of the issue is if he is located in Wisconsin or a northern state.  They have to be able to pull the lifts and piers out in the winter before the lakes freeze.  Not all of the piers have power and many of the lifts can be hand operated.    They don't get away with the cheaper air style floating lifts that we get on our non freezing lakes.  You won't see a Boat Floater, HydroHoist or Econolift up there.   

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A floating lift for my Echelon up here in Michigan was around $10k, if I remember that right.  Two posts for anchors, battery/solar 12v power.  No canopy.

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I appreciate the feedback guys, but comparing permanent lifts with floating lift pricing doesn't really help me.  He's in a rental house this year but will be purchasing in the next couple of years and doesn't know if he'll continue to be on Lake Minnetonka (MN) or the St. Croix River (MN/WI border.)  Hence his desire to go with floating lifts so that he can more easily move them at a later date.  Plus, permanent lifts on the river don't work as the level fluctuates 10+ ft per year.

Going to reach out to Shoremaster as their product looks really nice (I actually do business with them and didn't even realize they had a floating lift solution.) AND there are dealers in our area.

 

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1 hour ago, blk93jeepzj said:

I see that you are located in Wisconsin.  Where is your friends lake house located?  May help with the regional lift style differences.

Part of the issue is if he is located in Wisconsin or a northern state.  They have to be able to pull the lifts and piers out in the winter before the lakes freeze.  Not all of the piers have power and many of the lifts can be hand operated.    They don't get away with the cheaper air style floating lifts that we get on our non freezing lakes.  You won't see a Boat Floater, HydroHoist or Econolift up there.   

Gotcha.  I guess I misunderstood the "Floating Lift" in the title.  

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Around here, econolift or polylift are popular.  Not sure what options you have in MN.  

 

Look for lifts that keep all hardware out of the water when raised and depending on how rough the water  is, tube tanks dissipate it better than square tanks 

 

And surely you meant 10k and not 100k.   10k for a 10-12,000 lb lift probably is in the ballpark   

 

http://polylift.com/

https://www.econolift.com/contact/

 

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14 hours ago, hethj7 said:

 

And surely you meant 10k and not 100k.   10k for a 10-12,000 lb lift probably is in the ballpark   

 

Nope.  $100k for two lifts and two canopies.   Obviously that's why I'm trying to help him shop around.

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Many boat house down in the center  belt and South are $100-300k huge aluminum structures with slips/floating air lifts , sun/party decks etc..(wahoo docks)  seems like he must have been asking for something like this? But not really what's used up north.. there are very few lakes up north with permanent dock structures such as finger lakes in NY.. the ice would snap a Large piling or steel beam like it was a toothpick.

Don't get me wrong u can easily spend that up north on stationary lifts and removeable docks as well just a lot harder to do. A local dealer here is selling an 80k setup, few large lifts, few jetski lifts, huge long dock with pods in ground, large platform , ladders, steps , install etc.. 

100ft dock can easily get to 20k installed (no platform) for certain types. Boat Lifts $20-30k each for "good" maybe not the best setups.. a 8k stationary "averages" $18-22k+ moderately equipped nowadays.. Ad all the goodies and mid-high 20s for an 8k is easy to do... now add a 10-12k pound lift in the mix that could easily get up far higher quickly. 

So if he's getting two very nicely equipped stationary lifts he's already near 50-60+k in lifts, now throw a beautiful dock setup ..maybe add some touchless side covers/curtains to the lifts and there goes another 10-15k...easy to do if he walked in somewhere and said I want the best of everything.. 

Is he adding seawall other?. seems like there are other things involved with the quote and if so it's not that hard to do.. ppl are always willing to take your money and sell u stuff that is.. 

99% ppl go as cheap as possible on docks and boat lifts and everything except their Boat. All I'm saying is if he walked in there like a boss and wanted to check all the boxes for the best setup over the water i wouldn't be surprised at all. There are several places on our small lake in IN that might have 60-80k+ in cost over the water.. 

Edited by The Hulk
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UPDATE:

I sent him some of your recommendations and he did a bit of shopping..... and ended up buying from the first dealer.  Sunstream.  He showed me the invoice (since I was questioning his sanity) and the bottom number was closer to $80k than it was to $70k.   This was for lifts only.  15,000lbs each (he thought his house would look better with "matching" lifts.... rich guy logic?!)   His house already has a dock installed.  He ditched the canopies to save money but my suspicion is that part of the huge cost was in the swiftshield automatic covers (the invoice wasn't itemized.)  

Two things that really surprised me.  A) the dealer offered him a buyback option that was absolutely incredible if he needed/wanted to resell the lifts within the first two years.  Less than 10% depreciation.  B) The dealer guaranteed installation the first week of May.  None of the other dealers would even talk to him about anything before July 5.  This was a huge decision maker for him as he hates to wait and it would have driven him nuts to watch his boats sit at the dock for half the summer.

One more thing that he pointed out to me to "justify" his purchase is that he's already spent $750,000+ on his boats.... why would he cheap out on protecting and storing them?  Makes sense if you've got the pockets for it!

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What's the length on his boats?? I'd be looking at Shore Station lifts with their new curtain system.

My lift is a Pier Pleasure Hydrodynamic (similar to a Sun Stream). I have a Touchless Cover on it. Very cool system, but it's a PITA to put on in the spring, and take off in the fall. I've looked at the Shore Stations with curtains, and that will likely be my next lift..

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