Put the boat on blocks. A boat operates at the boundary of two fluids, water and air. Your pontoon boat lift will offer the stability, durability, reliability, performance, and usability that you would expect from any boat lift with the quality guarantee that comes standard with all ShoreMaster products. “Boat lifts of today have a wide range of accessories, including automatic boat covers, bow stops, motor stops, guides, canopies, catwalks, underwater lights and hands-free remotes. You can often drive your pontoon right onto the dock and adequately secure it in place. Instead of a science fiction creation, it really is an effective way to keep your boat lifted. I have a 20' pontoon as you can see in the photo attached to this message. I also have a few small holes in the pontoons at this point that I need to braze up so I need room to work both for stripping the paint and for the torch. It’s the end of the day, you’ve had fun but it’s time to pull your boat up. Instructions to Dock a Pontoon Boat. Blocks keep the hulls off the ground. Members reserve a boat and then simply show up and enjoy a hassle-free day of boating every time. The routine method is to help each other in the dock when you are trying to move your boat lifts. The following are some of the many benefits of a boat lift. Step 1: Put your boat in neutral and start coasting towards the dock slowly. In researching these, it seems I can put a foil between the pontoons at around the center of gravity, and get some major lift. This will allow you to choose the correct weight capacity and the correct cradle width. Pontoon boat lifts do pretty much the same thing, right? As far as when the boats off the trailer, you can put the boat right on the ground if grass/dirt. Pontoon Boat Lifts Choose from hydraulic and manual pontoon lifts. Knowing the overall weight and beam of your boat is the best place to start. If you’re looking for a pontoon boat lift, the bulk of the lifts on the market is free-standing, but you also can get shore-mounted and floating options that work like those described for PWC. The lift is setup as either a back in or pull in and the boat position cannot be reversed without modifying the lift. The Boat Lift Helper is made of the same tough material that the military uses to raise sunken equipment from the ocean floor. The Heavy-duty air-lift-bags will raise your boat lift up off the lake bottom for simple positioning right from your dock. Because pontoon boats don't have one hull to support them in the water, but two, they don't sink into the water as much as a boat with a single hull will. Lift one side, insert rollers and do the same on the other. They lifted the boat off of the trailer and I replaced the boards and they let me do this starting on a Saturday afternoon until Tuesday. Also, outside strakes can rub on dock supports when you take your boat in or out, which can damage them and reduce performance. We used a flat bed car trailer. Tie a heavy tow rope to a tree and tie off the rear end of your pontoon boat with the other end. While some manufacturers put lifting strakes on the outside, Harris lifting strakes are on the inside. Another option would be to row out with a decent size anchor, and use a winch to pull the boat back. Does anyone have any brilliant ideas and/or … 2 years ago I bought a 4000 lbs shorestation with 22 foot canopy. When configuring your lift, remember that you should outfit your lift to use and protect your boat, not to just store it.” So I took the boat to my local marina and had them use there boat lift. The boat has a great point for the jack to access on the lower gunnel. Drive on, drive off. I recently came into the ability to pick up a shore station boat lift for super cheap (few hundred) and am curious about the ability to use it for my pontoon boat. Find out what "trimming a motor" means and best practices for controlling the throttle and engine trim on a luxury pontoon boat. Whether you're looking for one of the safest, most dependable lifts on the market like the ShoreStation Hydraulic, or the simplicity of our original manual drive lift, ShoreStation's pontoon lifts elevate industry standards to help you enjoy your time on the water. These hulls are normally filled with air and are called pontoons. When it comes to choosing a lift for your boat, pontoon or PWC, there are a few things you will need to know to ensure you purchase a lift that is the proper size for your watercraft. It is generally safer on the water because of the dual hulls that are used to keep the boat afloat. And because of the popularity of pontoon boats on Lake Norman, Evan decided to add two 2010 Sweetwater 2386 pontoons boats to his fleet this … Practice Makes Perfect. I am in the process of ordering the material for my conversion from a hull boat lift to a Tri Pontoon lift. Step 2 – Call Your Friends. The strakes, welded directly onto the pontoons, produce lift at the bow by displacing water, allowing the boat to, in essence, glide above the water rather than lumber through it. "Google" boat lifts and you can see examples. You wouldn't want to put your toons on 1 1/2" wide boards. Making my big pontoon come up on plane to some extent and bring more speed and fuel efficiency. Well, not exactly. I took the canopy off and it splits in two so that was easy to put inside the lift for transport. OK, i have a problem, I am stripping old epoxy paint from the pontoons , and I need to be able to get under the pontoons to strip it there as well.I have the pontoon bunk style trailer rather than a center lift. 9. Cover Your Boat When Not In Use. This year, we only have 3. Pontoon boat owners can rely on ShoreMaster for precision welded boat lifts that are rigorously tested for quality. They will lift and hold the boat 4 to 6 feet up from the lake bottom. 1. Pontoon boats are just as susceptible to sun damage as any other boat. Boat lifts actually serve a very important purpose for your watercraft regardless of your location, the size of your boat or the body of water it will be used in. Although the principles behind sea legs and pontoon lifts are pretty similar, they work in completely different ways. Elevator lifts can be used for boats ranging from 1500 to 10000+ pounds and prices range from $8000 to $20000 or more. Dealerships often use big chunks of styrofoam. The docks and smaller lift shouldn’t be bad, but we have one big pontoon lift that will be a bear. A pontoon boat is basically a flat boat that has pontoons attached to the bottom to help the boat stay buoyant. Water Absorption If you have a specific style of boat, like a pontoon boat, a specialized lift is required, A pontoon boat lift … In one of my recent threads a picture of a lift was posted and they had 3 2X8's with carpet lifting straight up on the 1" pontoon keels. If your boat slip has sufficient width, your new HydroHoist boat lift can be set-up to accommodate both a boat and 1-2 PWC’s. It works by using a simple air or hydraulic system which is connected to a support structure that literally lifts the boat out of the water. The boat will come off on the ground. A pontoon boat can be a fun, relaxing way to enjoy the water. As summer comes to an end and the weather is getting cooler, it's time to start thinking about the fall clean up around the cabin. Cover the boat with a canvas tarp, especially if the boat is stored outside. If your going to try and do this at home, and you absolutely can't go float the boat while working on the trailer, your going to need to come of with a way of lifting the boat from the center. In almost any situation, a quality boat lift is crucial to the lifespan of your boat and equipment. Never become discouraged as you learn how to dock a pontoon boat. Again, a high-lift jack can be used as a winch with appropriate chains or wire (rope would be too stretchy). Here are the steps we suggest for folding your canopy cover for storage. I've moved a couple lifts in the last few years for some friends but that was less than 10 miles. We do this because the inner strake design allows the pontoon to bank into turns. If you have a larger boat, an elevator lift may be required. When you factor in the cost of painting your boat along with what it would take to reclaim a sunken boat it should be more than easy to justify the extra expense of a boat lift, but it is still important to take a look at pontoon boat lift prices if you want to go into the endeavor as a more informed consumer. In this section I’ll explain exactly how to secure your pontoon boat to a dock successfully. There is one other lift system unique to pontoons, too. This prevents corrosion. Can I put a boat and a PWC together on one lift? I also put on those plastic covers too. A pontoon boat lift is designed to protect your expensive pontoon boat. No need to muscle your boat lift … Best of all, pontoon floating docks store your craft completely out of the water whether you have a twin-hull or tri-hulled pontoon boat. Leaving the boat on the lift will increase the likelihood that hurricane-force winds will break the piles (or lift them out of the seabed) and cause your lift to collapse. The pontoons of your boat move through a single fluid--water--and are affected by the same forces as an airplane: thrust (the power from the engine), lift (the planing capabilities of the pontoons), drag (the interaction of your pontoons with the water) and gravity (your boat's weight). Many lifting strakes use negative angles, which can generate lift, but … Hopefully modifications can be made to your present lift to accommodate your boat on flat bunks. Then put something under the back end that'll keep the pontoons off the ground. We normally have 5 guys to put in our docks and lifts. The product consists of hydraulic or electric operated lift legs that are attached directly to the bottom of the pontoon deck. There are 120" candilevered lifts on the market engineered for pontoons for just under $3K. The pull the truck and trailer forward. If you want to go on enjoying the water in your pontoon, here are some key pontoon boat maintenance tips to help keep your boat in top shape. For starters, sea legs attach directly to the bottom of your boat. Hello! You may need assistants to move a boat lift. It has no wheels–just skids. Therefore, the first step of preparing your boat lift for a hurricane is to remove the boat and store it someplace safe. Part of that clean up includes the ever difficult folding of the boat lift canopy cover. Usually people who share the same dock could be of help. Sun and precipitation are the two biggest enemies of the longevity of your pontoon boat. The boat lift which is not too heavy can be put in place with some floaters, like blocks of Styrofoam. This means that they will float free of the trailer quickly. I am glad you asked these questions. At an average of 24 ft long and 15 pounds it's not like folding a bed sheet. I did this on the off season so there was no rush to get the boat lift free.