Lift Noob

[rhouse181]

Working on a new home for my Kaiyen… I’ve haven’t gone through the process of building a dock / boathouse before, so hoping to tap into the experience on the forum for any pro-tips.

Mainly looking for guidance on any dock design features you wish you built from the get go, and then any other considerations for keeping your boat on a lift instead of a land-based storage shed.

Had the 4 legged project manager out and he’s on board…

https://i.imgur.com/BqvOEsG.jpg

[HFarr]

Make sure you allow enough height to lift the boat without having to lower your tower. Also, if you are putting in a cable lift with a single motor, which is most common, make sure you space the overhead lift pulleys and any roof truss supports so that your tower and Bimini will fit between them when lifted. If you have the space, make your cross bar lift points wide enough that your board racks will clear the cables without having to be swung in. Of course doing this might put the boat a little bit further to step in and out of. But I can tell you that when you are coming into the dock in a hurry to beat a bad storm, you might just forget to swing them in! It only takes one time to make sure that is on your checklist every time going forward though!
If you have the option, put the slip in so that you don't have to fight a cross wind every time. Or the majority of the time.

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[HFarr]

My setup https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230201/68b587e8a889fd378e006ff141e6162d.jpg

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[rhouse181]

Nice setup... looks like you have dual driveshafts? Any reason for the lack of risers off the cradle... shallow water accommodation?

I'm going with a single motor 8k cable lift, but the driveshaft will run horizontally across the slip at the front of the boat. I definitely wanted to make sure there was a good sized pocket to lift the boat into without messing with dropping the bimini every time. Forgot about the board racks though... slip is going to be ~11 ft wide, so I'll have to swing them in before pulling in.

[Bigs28]

Have plenty of height inside to raise it up to protect from rising water, sun, weather, etc. Make sure they put the poles into the ground plenty deep so they don't sink from the weight of the boat and warp your dock and do cross bracing. Pay the extra for composite and if your wife likes to lay out then built in hammocks are $$. American flags to read the wind when docking. Place to tie up when you don't want to put it on the lift.

You will use your boat more if it's on the lift vs trailer.

Also have the dock go into ground level vs a step. Makes wheeling the gas caddy out much easier.

[DOCDRS]

Nice setup... looks like you have dual driveshafts? Any reason for the lack of risers off the cradle... shallow water accommodation?

I'm going with a single motor 8k cable lift, but the driveshaft will run horizontally across the slip at the front of the boat. I definitely wanted to make sure there was a good sized pocket to lift the boat into without messing with dropping the bimini every time. Forgot about the board racks though... slip is going to be ~11 ft wide, so I'll have to swing them in before pulling in.


I have been thinking of taking my setup , which is similar to bigs except a single side driveshaft ( was originally Center but moved to side when I went from the Outback to the Supra) to block ball bearing pulleys on the other side to a bow driveshaft at deck level with cables running aft to block ball bearing pulleys down to hoist beams. Driveshaft pillow block bearings will have to be anchored/ thru bolted to a 6x8 timber with 6x8 Timbers running aft to thru bolt 2k block pulleys at beam lift points. I am unwilling to pay the $30,000+ hydraulic portion price tag of a platform lift and trying to find ann alternative solution. Existing lift has serviced well for 25 years with little to no maintenance. Wife doesn’t like the visible lifting cables and wants a seamless look. I am curious as to how you propose drive shaft and pulley anchorage to prevent any movement forces during lifting.

I never liked the driveshaft bushing supports used on the ace/doozie cable lift designs and sourced out large pillow block bearings for drive shaft support.

[rhouse181]

Have plenty of height inside to raise it up to protect from rising water, sun, weather, etc. Make sure they put the poles into the ground plenty deep so they don't sink from the weight of the boat and warp your dock and do cross bracing. Pay the extra for composite and if your wife likes to lay out then built in hammocks are $$. American flags to read the wind when docking. Place to tie up when you don't want to put it on the lift.

You will use your boat more if it's on the lift vs trailer.

Also have the dock go into ground level vs a step. Makes wheeling the gas caddy out much easier.

Going with TruFlow decking to try and combat the scorching bare foot surfaces in the middle of Texas summers. Those built in hammocks are pretty trick! How many times have you eaten up passengers in the hammocks after exiting the boat after a few too many adult beverages?

Our lake levels fluctuate pretty dramatically over the course of the season, so any tricks to managing the dockside tie up system to accommodate? I guess you can keep tacking on skirting as the levels drop so your bumpers have something to push against.

[Bigs28]

Our water fluctuates about 6 feet on average throughout the year so yes i will add another skirt if needed and adjust the mooring balls as needed. The hammocks are constantly occupied. Good cool place to take a nap with the breeze under you.

I pull up to the side with bow in so people exit on the other side of the dock from the hammocks. The let's tie up balls all popped but they were not being used as intended so my fault. The mooring bouys have been great.

[HFarr]

I am in only in about 5 ft of water at my dock, so that's why no spacers between the bunks and crossbars. Don't need them. I have dual drive shafts because the guy who put it in over engineered it. Each shaft has its own motor. 8K rated lift. I don't have any cables going across or rather over the boat. No pulleys, so each side just winds the cable straight around the shaft. It lifts fairly fast that way, but it has two switches and I have to be mindful to keep each side level. A single controller to regulate two motors is pretty costly, so I just keep an eye on it. Lift came from Boathoist USA. We generally load and unload with the boat lowered in the lift and just barely snugged on the bunks enough to keep it stable. It puts my swim platform almost even with the dock that way. Just have to hop across the gap. I sometimes put a carpeted covered 2x10 across the gap like a small bridge from the dock to the swim platform for some older people who can't step that far. My slip width is also 11 ft wide and I always just pull into the lift and snug it up by rasing the bunks till the boat bottom is barely at water level to avoid waves from rocking it. Always parked in the shade that way.

I may have to look into doing that hammock setup to mine. That looks cool.

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[HFarr]

We are also fortunate that the lake only fluctuates about 6-8 inches during the year for the most part. It's regulated with a dam.

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[HFarr]

Couple more picshttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230202/edb5fd524d2c762d09842a62589b538b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230202/6151205726692543f66f4d8c25ddcc68.jpg

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[cozilla]

Jealous of the setup HFarr! Looks like a great place to hang.