Which type lift supports are best - under toons or decking?

[SMLLarry]

I am new to this forum and haven't seen related topic.
I just bought a used 2005 24' Crest Savannah tritoon (26" dia toons) with 200 hp Merc EFI (2001). I am about to modify my lift at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia to handle this beast. Existing lift cradles, motor, pulleys etc are too far into the dock to accommodate this boats center of gravity, so that stuff is being moved and newer 9'6" cradles obtained.

The installer fellow says we should do what the manufacturer recommends in selecting type of supports in the lift. Since I have not been able to get the folks at Crest to call me back with the answer, perhaps someone on this forum can tell me whether I should support the boat using under deck vertical supports with PT 2x10s or a set of three carpet covered Vee supports mounted on the cradles. The boat has aluminum sheet metal covering the underside of the deck.

The installer says the vertical "between the toons" support for the underside of the boat deck can serve as a better guide to berthing the boat. Would seem to make sense, but I am concerned about the flexing of the deck every time we take the boat out of the water and let the toons hang their weight. Would this not eventually loosen the joints between the toons and the decking?

Thanks for responses.

[jimrs]

This is how I did mine and don't have any problems with it. Once mounted and when pulling in your boat centers up on the boards. Your boat is too big and long to miss them. It's easier than loading on your trailer. The pictures without the boat on the lift show the boards just laying on the lift not screwed down yet. But it gives you the idea of how we did it. There are a few more like mine. I don't like the idea of mounts holding up the outside edge of the board as when and if the boards rot or break then you have this mount sticking up through your toon.

[georgiatoon]

Ok I give up where is the water?

[GregF]

Because of the shallow water under my berth, I pick it up with the rings on the pontoons. That lets you launch when the water is real low. Sometimes I even pull it out a bit while it is still hooked up and drop it a few feet back for a little extra water.

[Ron Burgundy]

Ok I give up where is the water?

LOL...I was thinking the same thing. I now understand why you haven't been out in a few years Jim. What was the reason for the lack of water? I forgot...

[dockholiday]

I would shoot for the v bunk carpet for each toon. Similar to a tri toon trailer. Best would be support through out the entire length of each toon. If that is not possible I would make sure each weld joint is supported on the toons.
doc

[OldePharte]

I'd continue to call (harass) the folks at Crest. Failing that, talk to your dealer.

In my neck of the woods, we all have floating boat lifts and I during my pontoon search, 'toon lift support didn't even come up. Would it have made a purchase difference? Hard to say.

My neighbor has his supported by the deck and yes, it it much easier for him to lift his rig when done for the day. My mfr said no way to deck lifting, they wanted tube lifting. It is more of a pain in the butt, having to hold it in place while the lift raises, especially if we get some big cruiser rollers come in. My lift has composite (plastic) bunks in roughly a V-shape for all 3 tubes.

[GregF]

The cradle lifts I see use a 2x12 or 3x12 under each pontoon so you have full support

[wed]

This is what I have. Similar to jimrs and works well. It is fairly easy to float the boat on backwards for prop changes and maintenance.

boat lift 1.JPG (78.44 KiB) Viewed 7870 times

Boat lift 2.JPG (86.28 KiB) Viewed 7861 times

Boat Lift 3.JPG (83.34 KiB) Viewed 7863 times

[jimrs]

Beleve it or not there is 6 foot of water below the boat in the picture. You are seeing the invasion of the Giant Salvania. This started the year the boat house was completed and we are still fighthing it.
That is actually water all the way over to the tree line about 1000 or 1200 feet behind the boat.

[GregF]

Interesting. The lifts around here look more like this and when it is a pontoon they just run the boards flat where the pontoons sit.

[wed]

Greg, I thought about just flooring the lift frame but that is not how it is done around here so the contractor built bunks. In any case most of the boat houses around here are covered and the preference is to put the lift mechanism in the ceiling. Because of the lifting strakes the bunks are narrower than they would have been for regular tubes.

Are you at a public or private slip? Just curious.

[GregF]

My boat is behind the house on a lift I built.

[wed]

Greg, it appears that you have a front and rear lift system. Am I looking at your lift correctly? Looks like you are well sheltered. Nice.

[GregF]

The rear lift plate pulls both ends. There are pulley blocks in the front. This requires a rigid girder on both sides so the pilings don't pull together. In my case is is a pair of 2x12s with 2x4 bridging between them to stiffen the whole thing up.



The switch is the over travel cut off. If you get distracted and it winds up too far that will shut down the motor before it "tops out".