Hateskate

Hello All! We recently acquired a Boat Floater 12k "back in" boat lift. It's our first "back in" so we're still learning how to best utilize the lift. A couple of things with the lift. It is a 14' wide and has remote capability with a key fob. At first this seemed like a nice idea but in use we've yet to become efficient. There doesn't seem to be a practical way of holding your boat steady and centered while awaiting the lift to come up and catch the bottom. So far we've just jumped off and attempted to hold the boat steady and centered waiting for the lift to catch. Any idea's you guys have on a good way of being able to utilize the remote lift while on board?

The second issue is just the initial hit on the hull when the lift comes up. In past use of a regular pull in lift it could be set to a depth where the initial hit was very soft since it didn't have to drop so low to clear outdrives.. I've tried pausing the lift at first sign of it coming up but it still hits the hull fairly hard. Am I missing something or just being overly concerned about the initial hit of the lift against the hull? What do you guys think who have owned and or used "back in" lifts?


_OD19221 by kirklandimaging, on Flickr

IMG_5679 by kirklandimaging, on Flickr

outonsafari

4 of these i bet would do the trick

https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Boa...t%7EStyle.aspx

you could put depth marks on them to so

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Marginmn

The way we do it is to set up the ropes in the slip such that they hold the boat in the proper place for the bunks to catch the hull -once the lift has it we take the ropes off the boat cleats and raise it the rest of the way.

I also shut off the air once the lift starts to move up. Been doing it this way on all of my boats since 1999 and never had an issue with the bunks hurting a hull.

AllDodge

Agree, have to lines from the dock to the stern. Push the boat out making the lines tight, this way its in position

Knot 4 Me

Short of verifying the lift only drops as far as it needs to for drive/prop clearance (I went as far as riding my lift down while standing on the outer edges of the bunks to get an accurate measurement) and shutting off the air once the lift begins to move up as Marginmn states there is really nothing else you can do to lessen the bang of the bunks on the hull. You will never get a back-on to hit as softly as a pull-in lift. Mine still hits like a mofo and has knocked gel off my strake edges on occasion if the boat is not perfectly centered.

Sydwayz

If it were me, I'd have two long docklines that are "permanently" fixed to the dock; fore and aft, with a loop tied in the center that was perfectly positioned to hold the boat centered on the lift while attached to the mid-cleats. As soon as you pull in the dock, grab these two lines, affix them to your mid-cleats, and press the button.

Hateskate

Thanks guys! I figured as much on the lines and have tried that but without great success yet. The docks cleats and the boats cleats do not line up in an ideal position for this purpose so I will have to brainstorm a little more to figure out a plan for that. It's at a marina vs. a personal dock so I cant customize it the way i'd like to. Thanks also for the reassurance on how hard it hits on the initial contact. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything I could've been overlooking on that side of things as well.

Bill 3

I would like to come up with some kind of shock absorber to stop the hit in both directions. Not am I careful when raising the lift, but when lowering I am careful also, it will slam and i worry about it hurting itself or the dock.