Need Advice on Boat Lift?

[mrbigs3toon]

Just boat a used lift for my tritoon. I have a couple of questions? How would I tell what year it is?
The guy before me bought and it was used for a v-hull. He took brackets off and added 4x4 and then 2x8 that his twin tube sat on. My middle toon sits up in the air. Should I go ahead and just add another 2x8 or should I try to get someone to fabricate some brackets and pull the 4x4 off and make 3 bunks?
I was told if I had Hydrohoist refit, it would cost a lot. I know the cheapest thing I could do is add the third 2x8. Just wanted to get some opinions and or ideas. This will be the first experience with owning a lift.
Thanks

[mrbigs3toon]

Sorry about spelling etc. I was in a hurry and did not proof read any of it.

[OldePharte]

I'd try to see if one could get brackets for a trailer to form the V for each tube and attached them to the lift. In any case, I would make sure that the center tube has some sort of support.

FWIIW - my neighbor's pontoon lift doesn't use bunks. He has arms that supports his triple tube pontoon from underneath the deck, so the tubes just hang down. And yes, the manufacturer said it was okay.

[STEVEBRENDA]

You have the same dinasour lift that I have. Mine had two sets of V brackets and a "shortie" one that I put on the back on the motor pod. It seems to hold my tri-toon well.

I do not know how rough your dock gets, but some idiot in a cruiser actually came in cruising about 20 MPH (guess of the people on the dock at the time). He thru up a 5 ft roller that shook the heck out of our dock. My lift broke. I had to do a mdified "rough water kit" on my lift.

I do not know if a boat would rest on a flat surface if waves like that came in.

Does he still have the brackets?

[Bamaman]

First, I would think it would be difficult to tell the year model unless you contact HydroHoist with the serial number.

Secondly, your pontoon boat may be substantially longer than the boat that was previously on the lift. I would prefer to have support under my toons--except for maybe 3' on the back and 4' on the front.

You may need to put your boat on the lift to see where the center of gravity is--front to rear. It also may be good to have bolsters on each side of your toons to get you centered side to side every time you lift. And a stop on the front of the boat to get it centered in the same place every lift might be helpful. Fabricating a steel rack might be warranted.

I built a 11' x 20' steel rack this summer for my new boat to rest on. Two 2"x8" southern pine runners (not pressure treated) were bolted flat on the frame supporting 18' of each toon. I would have preferred to use the V shaped commercial brackets, but they're just too expensive and would have made my frame drag on the rock bottom.

Good luck!

[cwag911]

Here's how our tritoon is supported.

[mrbigs3toon]

Thanks for ideas.

[STEVEBRENDA]

Likie mine, it is so old, age really doesn't matter. Fiberglass tanks have not been the in thing for quite a while.