Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hello All,

I will be installing a lift in a boat house for my pontoon boat, dual, 23" pontoon, 22 feet long. It will be a cable lift in a garage style enclosure.

There will be a lot of weight on the pontoons. I'd like to ensure they are properly supported to prevent damage when lifted out of the water.

As I understand, the boat will float in over the submerged guides then lift with the cable winch. What is the best type of pontoon cradle/guides to install for a pontoon lift? I have seen trailers where the guides contact each pontoon at 3 points for a length of the pontoon. (angled out on both sides and flat on the bottom with carpet or pad)

As always your help for a pontoon "newb" is very much appreciated.

Thanks - Brian - NC

In our lakes a lot of lifts use a flat deck on the lift. Full log contact and easy to use.

lakerunner wrote:In our lakes a lot of lifts use a flat deck on the lift. Full log contact and easy to use.

That is what I used on my lift. It's real easy to put it on the lift this way. The trailer is harder due to the angle of the boards. The boards are not screwed down in the picture but it will give you an idea.

Thank you lake runner,

Has anybody seen or used a lift configuration like this one?

http://boatliftworld.com/store/5000-lb- ... od_12.html#

http://boatliftworld.com/store/images/u ... kphoto.jpg

The boat deck is supported from the bottom by two wooden support rails that run the length of the deck. The logs hang. It seems like this would be easier to align in the boat house too.

Thanks - Brian

Jimrs' lift above would do a better job than the kit shown. He's using a fabricated rack underneath his boat, and it supports the wooden runners the boat sits on completely.

I fabricated my rack at home out of 4" channel iron, took it apart and reassembled it hanging in my boathouse. I'm using three pairs of 2 x 6's under my toons since my boat's a tritoon. I bolted my frame together with 4" long pieces of angle iron and grade 8 bolts.

When you mount the electric winch and 2" pipe on the boathouse frame, you want to run the pipe sideways for a pontoon--not the length of the boathouse. That way, you don't have to drop the bimini every time you come in. My electric winch, the pipe and bearings support the weight of the front of my boat. Steel cables go from the pipe to a pair of heavy pulleys and down to the rear of the frame.

The height of my boathouse frame (above the boat) is 12 1/2' above the normal water level. Many owners try to put pontoons in boathouses that are relatively short, and they just don't work as well as having a tall boathouse. I can get my boat 3' out of the water.

My boat is 8 1/2' x 23' plus the length of the motor. My rack is 11 1/2' by 18'. You want to make'em wide so it's easier to get the boat inside on windy or wavy days.

The reason I fabricated my rack at home is that I didn't want to hire a work barge with crane to install my rack. I was able to haul the 2 lengthwise pieces of channel and 5 cross pieces down to my boathouse on a jet ski trailer pulled by my ATV.

Total cost of materials for my rack was $500 vs. $2500 that a boathouse builder would have charged. The Ace style 3/4 hp lift is less than $500. Cable clamps, pulleys, cable and a 2" bearing might cost $200 or so. This is a job that can be done inexpensively if you do the work yourself.

Good luck!

jimrs wrote:
That is what I used on my lift. It's real easy to put it on the lift this way. The trailer is harder due to the angle of the boards. The boards are not screwed down in the picture but it will give you an idea.

Dude, where's the water???

This is ours.

Hi Carl,

Thankyou for sharing your pic. There are white poles on the sides on your lift. Are they used as guides so you can quickly allign the logs with the planks when entering?

Thanks - Brian

They keep you centered.

A few more pictures of the install. They had the frame welded up and brought it then installed the lift cable to one end and ran it up and then installed the front cables and adjusted the cable wrap from the top. This leveled the frame then installed the boards on top of the frame. This is a fireman that installs lifts on the side. He made it look easy.

Brian - NC wrote:Thank you lake runner,

Has anybody seen or used a lift configuration like this one?

http://boatliftworld.com/store/5000-lb- ... od_12.html#

http://boatliftworld.com/store/images/u ... kphoto.jpg

The boat deck is supported from the bottom by two wooden support rails that run the length of the deck. The logs hang. It seems like this would be easier to align in the boat house too.

Thanks - Brian

I'd check with the boat manufacturer about lifting using the deck. My neighbor's old Sundancer has a floating lift that lifts the boat by the deck. I wanted to do the same with my Neptoon. The folks at JC Mfg said, in essence, no friggin way. I think a lot has to do on how the logs are attached to the deck.