Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

This was a spring / summer project for me. I didn't want to leave my boat sitting in the water, so I came up with this setup. I am on a river and the water level fluctuates close to 10 feet. A crank up boat lift would be almost useless under extreme conditions. I decided to modify a Hydrohoist 7500 LB side tie b model lift.

I did most everything custom as the parts from Hydrohoist were very expensive or difficult to get. Also, with the standard Hydrohoist bracketry, there is no support in the center of the lift. The bunks would have run 12 foot with nothing in the middle for support. Apparently that works okay, but I wanted to build something heavier-duty. I ended up using 14 foot 6x6 beams to support the bunk brackets. The bunk brackets are actually Mid America pontoon trailer brackets.
All of the nuts and bolts on the lift have been replaced as well as the air hoses. It is essentially refurbished. I also modified the exhaust mechanism with an additional valve to allow the lift to lower quicker. This cut the lowering time almost in half!

The plastic floats on either side act as a guide when pulling in the boat. I ended up carpeting some 2 by 12 boards and made bumpers to help guide the boat in and also prevent the plastic tanks from scratching my painted pontoons. I wish I would have done this from the get-go, as it helped out dramatically.

The lift uses a 1200 watt / 110 volt vacuum cleaner motor to raise itself out of the water. It takes roughly four minutes and 30 seconds to go up or down. If you are just docking the boat for a little bit, you do not need to raise the lift up all the way. This allows you to raise and lower the lift in about half of the time.
Another nice feature of the lift is that it allowed me to use a universal boat cover that is really easy to tie down. The White Tanks act as runways to walk all the way around the boat and provide tie down points for the cover.

The lift has worked out very well all summer long. This project was a lot of work, but in the end it was definitely worth it!

Pictures?.

[photos since added]

Pics added above. Here is a picture of what the lift looks like all the way down.

Here is a video of the lift going up. This was one of my first times using the lift and I did not know what I was doing. You can almost completely ignore the audio lol!

FYI: You raise the front first completely and then the rear of the lift. There are 4 tanks total (Two front & two rear)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzfi7spqwxU

Nice job. Good pictures, good video, good explanation.

Very Nice Job! That will keep your boat maintenance down...

That is a nice setup but I'd have concerns on vulnerability of the system in general. I also boat on a river and am well aware of the amount of debris that often flows with any kind of high water event. Most times I get lucky and it just flows through under the boat and on out the back and on down the river. Because my boat offers very little tooth for the debris to lock onto it's seldom been a issue but there have been a few times whereas my boat looked the part of being parked in the middle of a beaver dam.

My concern with your lift is the fact that large amounts of debris will lodge and accumulate in the hardware of the lift system to the point where the weight of the debris and water resistance causes something(s) to break allowing your lift, boat, or maybe even a portion of the dock to flow off down the river.

[quote="Bamby"]That is a nice setup but I'd have concerns on vulnerability of the system in general. I also boat on a river and am well aware of the amount of debris that often flows with any kind of high water event. Most times I get lucky and it just flows through under the boat and on out the back and on down the river. Because my boat offers very little tooth for the debris to lock onto it's seldom been a issue but there have been a few times whereas my boat looked the part of being parked in the middle of a beaver dam.

My concern with your lift is the fact that large amounts of debris will lodge and accumulate in the hardware of the lift system to the point where the weight of the debris and water resistance causes something(s) to break allowing your lift, boat, or maybe even a portion of the dock to flow off down the river.[/quote]


We do have a lot of debris during high water. However, the way our dock is setup, my boat is pretty well sheltered. The amount of logs that get though to my lift are minimal. That is also another reason all of my air hoses are tied out of the way. Most Hydrohoists just have the hoses dangling in the water asking for something to get caught up. The hoses are also very thick 200 PSI rated. It would take a lot to damage them.

I have included photos to show how the lift is sheltered as well as how I use a universal cover on my boat. The ratchet straps the cover is attached to will be gone next year. I am going to install anchoring points for the cover directly to those blue carpeted boards.

When I take the cover off, all I have to disconnect are the cords on the shore side of the lift. I leave the cords on the dock side connected and I store the cover in the dock box that has the solar panel on it.

That's pretty wild. Never saw that kind of setup.
Thanks for filming.

Boy that water is muddy...

Really Nice! Thanks for the posts!

The lifts in our marina use a similar system except that the tanks are square and are plumbed with PCV pipe and a very simple 2 valve up/down arrangement, same overgrown aquarium pump.

This is one of the best setups I've seen.

I've been wondering if a Hydrohoist would operate from a 12 volt battery and inverter with solar recharging. Plus, it would be less expensive than running power.

It looks like you did exactly what I was considering.

Is there a particular brand of solar panel, regulator and inverter that you used?

Nice job--well thought out. You are certainly high and dry.

Those Midwest rivers usually just go up 3-4 feet a year. But when the big rains come ever year or two, they might go up 12 to 15 feet which eliminates having a fixed dock or boathouse.

Thanks for the compliments!

To answer the questions regarding the solar/inverter setup....

I bought the following 100 Watt solar kit: https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Vol ... B00BFCNFRM

Inverter: https://www.harborfreight.com/2000-watt ... 63429.html


I run one large 12 Volt deep cycle battery. I probably could have gotten away easily with a 50 watt solar panel, but I did not want to run out of power. Also, I have the room to mount the larger panel, so why not!

I have always had plenty of juice when needed!