Has Anyone Put Pads on their Boat Hoist Guide Poles?

I’m looking for some wisdom from the pros here ..... We all put pads on the guide poles on our trailers, but has anyone found a good way to similarly put pads on the guide poles on your boat hoist? I’ve got 3 sons who are all still getting proficient with docking the boat, but as you all know it can get a bit hairy when they come steaming into the hoist and end up banging around a bit.

We’ve got a Pier Pleasure dock and hoist system, and I measured the guide poles to see if I could just use a set of trailer covers for a cheap & cheerful solution, but no dice. The hoist guide poles are 3” diameter PVC over a 2” x 2” square metal pole. So I’m on the hunt for an easy solution, but I haven’t yet found an off-the-shelf product to fit over the 3” diameter poles.

I’ll try to post a pic of the rear guide pole on my hoist but I am guessing is pretty standard on most boat hoists. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or creative solutions to offer :)

I had to post a pic of the guide poles via Tapatalk as I couldn’t upload them from the website ... https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a138cfc17e.jpg




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One more pichttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...99e49afadd.jpg


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My family has always cut noodles down a side and wrapped around our lift poles. Extremely cheap and surprisingly efficient.


2018 Moomba Craz

Here’s what I ended up doing ..... Because the guide poles on our Pier Pleasure hoist has 3” diameter guide poles (significantly larger than the trailer guide poles), I couldn’t use the typical pool noodles, so I had to find an alternative solution. I ended up using 3/4” thick 3 1/4” diameter polyethylene pipe insulation in 6’ sections that I bought from Grainger’s which I then cut down to 4’ sections to fit the height of our guide poles. I then had the local canvas shop in town build canvas covers to specifically fit the guide poles to keep everything in place and looking tidy. I had them use the toughest material they had as they can get a bit of a banging when coming in on windy days, and they suggested something called “Trucker’s Tarp” - If it’s good enough for truckers, then it’s good enough for me :). They work great and are tough as nails (even with the kids docking the boat...).

Here’s a pic of our set up for both our 2014 LSV as well as our 1936 Chris Craft:

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And a pic of the LSV:

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And of the Chris:

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Looks great! I am guessing that the kids don't dock the Chris Craft! :)

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Originally Posted by North Woody

And of the Chris:

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Awesome. How much do you get to take it out for a cruise?

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Originally Posted by MJHSupra

Awesome. How much do you get to take it out for a cruise?

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We take her out every day we’re up here (which is not nearly often enough!), for at least a cocktail cruise if not an early morning coffee cruise as well :)

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Originally Posted by tarheelskier

Looks great! I am guessing that the kids don't dock the Chris Craft! :)

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Not yet, we’re focusing on getting OFF the hoist safely as a first step before attempting any return trips ....

That boat is sick. Never seen one around here (Houston).