Buying a boat is certainly an exciting investment that many would only dream of doing. Few things in life are as calming, pleasurable and relaxing as a cruise on your very own boat. Once that boat is yours, though, there will definitely be the point where you’ll have to consider whether you need a boat lift or not. This boat dock accessory is used to keep boats lifted from the water level. Since you have a boat or are considering to purchase one, you want the boat to remain as pristine as possible as the first day you owned it, so definitely a boat lift will help to maintain your watercraft.
Keeping your boat above the water means avoiding water damage and erosion to it. In the beginning, keeping a boat on water might not seem like a bad idea, but over time, the water will cause exterior and possibly interior damage if not hoisted up well, due to changing water levels. When you have a boat lift, it promotes easier checks and requires regular maintenance, making your boat less prone to damages. Once you decide on buying a boat lift, the question becomes how to buy the right size for your boat. There are 2 main factors that will determine your purchase, and those are the weight and width of the boat.
Weight:
You can easily check the boat’s specifications to know the weight. The information will alert you to the dry weight of the boat and will also include other helpful information on storage, batteries, and gas. After knowing the weight, you ought to add a 20% of a safety margin to the boat lift you will purchase. There are some factors to take into consideration here, like the year, make and model of your boat. Realize that different boat manufacturers may have different ways of determining the dry weight. Calculate the overall weight of the boat, including non-factory additions, and even water sports equipment when checking Boat Lifts to ensure you buy the correct weight capacity.
Width:
Identify the beam of your boat because it’s the widest part. The inside pile to inside pile width needed to park your watercraft on the lift should be the beam width of your watercraft. Add to that at least 4 inches of cushion on both sides. If you’re going to use guideposts on the lift, you’ll want at least ten-inch cushions. Also, you need to make sure the lift is the right width for your dock slip. This might seem like an obvious thing to find out, but the wrong lift width means some difficult modifying so that the lift can offer the same structural strength in a wider slip as it does for a smaller dock.
Although the aforementioned factors are primarily what you should be concerned about, you also need to consider the depth of the water during low tide. With this bit of information plus using your specification sheet, you should be able to figure out the appropriate capacity.
There will be other factors impacting your boat lift purchase. As mentioned, the type of water your boat is in the matter, whether it’s a shallow lake, deep water, or fluctuating water. Dock location and shape are other considerations that a professional boat lift company can provide you with the best and most accurate answers.
Protect your investment
Having a boat lift is only a small part of your overall boating expenses, yet can greatly reduce bottom line costs by keeping your boat safe all year around. They are a time saver when getting in and out of the water. You’ll make your docking and launching as stress-free as possible with a boat lift, so you can get down to the really important things like enjoying the open waters.