Platform lifts

[Cnewbert]

At last we’ve found a lake house on our favorite public ski lake in Central Florida. We close on May 15!  There is a nice dock, covered dock deck, and covered slip w/lift already  in place. All I need to do is adjust the bunks correctly for our Prostar.  But I’ve always been intrigued with platform lifts, as they allow for complete walk around on the platform deck, making maintenance such as wiping down the hull after each use, or routine weekly Babe’s Boat Brite treatments easy, oil changes simple, and even putting the cover on less complicated. 
 

They’re not especially cheap, but as long as we’re blowing too much money on the house, we’d consider converting to a platform lift. But all I really know about them is that they look very cool. 
 

Does anyone in this group have one, or know someone who has one?  And if so can you share any personal thoughts about them,  good or bad?  Thanks!
 

[Wiltok]

Never heard of such a thing - but VERY cool!!

[MDB1056]

@Cnewbert will have to get some pics of my neighbors lift. He built it attached to the cradle structure for his 94 MC . Was not terribly expensive   and yes definitely helps with wiping down etc.  

[BraceMaker]

Great if your lift is usually high and dry - horrible if you usually have the boat down and that platform sits wet all the time.

You're seeing pictures of a boat that is 99% of the time fully up, but if you like to keep your boat just sort of up out of the water so its easier to deploy then the deck is going to sit underwater and get covered in silt and junk.

[MISkier]

@BraceMaker, I would gladly take a few minutes to hose off the platform each time the boat is raised and stored for the convenience it provides.  And, if you construct the boathouse properly, it could allow you to completely enclose the boat from birds and most critters.  That would also give the option the leave the boat cover off and fully dry the interior for less mold, etc.

[mike_mapple]

Got to also make sure its good for hurricane season if your dock floods, that boat wouldnt be good floating around in the dock!

 

I have never seen this in FL, but I have seen them further North. Always wanted one it seems so cool!

[motoxr]

Good afternoon. I've seen these and know the owner of the company you highlighted. These are amazing systems and would LOVE to have one myself.....but sadly, am not in that snack bracket.

If you get one, you will not be disappointed. They have amazing attention to detail and proven systems.

[aupatking]

I’m considering doing something very much like that in my ski boat slip. I don’t know that my fishing boat lift slip would really accommodate such, as it’s just too big. My main question is how much weight is added from the wood alone, and how much will that wood want to float. I’d also want to make the bunks removable, as they look like great places to kill yourself tripping over them when the boat is not in the lift. 

Im sure someone can address those questions.

[Broussard]

Peter Fleck (former pro barefooter and Award of Distinction recipient) has a dock company in Central Florida and installs these.

https://q-icebuilders.com

 

[Cnewbert]

@MDB1056 I’d love to see those photos if you get the chance. Thanks!
 

@BraceMaker I would expect to keep our boat fully up when not in use as we’re on a public lake. 
 

@MISkier I completely agree. 
 

@mike_mapple if a hurricane or trop storm is headed toward us I’m pulling the boat out of the water and putting it in our garage no matter what kind of lift we have. 

@motoxr thanks for the great endorsement!  I’ve corresponded with the company a couple of times in the past  but the lake houses we were pursuing at the time always fell through. This new one’s a lock so it’s time to dig deep on the possibilities of a platform lift, especially now while the cost will get lost in the overall pain of the house purchase!

 

@aupatking Should I commit to a platform lift I’ll rely on the contractor to calculate weights, capacities and so forth.  Personally I’m not the least bit worried about tripping over the bunks. 
 

@Broussard thanks so much for letting me know about Peter Fleck’s company! Since we’re in central FL as well he might be perfect. Assuming the photo is of one of his lifts it looks like he does a great job. 

[Wish]

Edit what I posted and take it all back. 
 

I thought as well that a Hurricane could have an affect on a platform like that. But with the boat off of it, send it up as high as it can go. Should be ok that way. 

[MitchellM]

7 hours ago, Broussard said:

Peter Fleck (former pro barefooter and Award of Distinction recipient) has a dock company in Central Florida and installs these.

https://q-icebuilders.com

 

This looks incredible!  I'd be very interested in something like that.

[MDB1056]

On 4/26/2023 at 4:23 AM, Cnewbert said:

MDB1056 I’d love to see those photos if you get the chance. Thanks!

@Cnewbert - here are the pics. y neighbors 94 PS 205. They did a phenomenal job on this lift as the cradle construction was custom made for the boat. The decking is attached to the cradle structures . Love that even the tie down strap points are integrated into it.   This is how yo do it right 

[dave2ball]

Looks good but  a cable lift is not really designed to be a platform lift. Looking at this I see a lot of tension in the cable crimps with the added weight of the docking material. Getting in and out of the boat while in the air puts stress on the crimps as well with swaying and shock loading. If you have ever had a cable break free or break in general while the boat is lifted it can cause major damage who know what would happen to the boat with the bow secured if the front cables let go. 


 

[MDB1056]

@dave2ball The lift has double cable clamps at all connections and is overbuilt for the boat . Mine for example is a 6000 lb capacity cable lift but my boat is only about 2300 lbs. This lift is even more heavy duty looking at all the connections to the steel overhead where the pulleys connect to the cable size / diameter to the double clamps on all connections. Will hold that PS for 100 years and then some . 

Edited May 1, 2023 by MDB1056

[BraceMaker]

@dave2ball as with any sort of overhead lifting strategy your best bet is to proof test it.  Good thing is these boats are so light that plenty of the normal overhead lifts are several thousands of spare pounds.  But ideally every few years you'd put like a far heavier boat on your lift and make sure it held.

[buechsr]

2 minutes ago, dave2ball said:

Looks good but  a cable lift is not really designed to be a platform lift. Looking at this I see a lot of tension in the cable crimps with the added weight of the docking material. Getting in and out of the boat while in the air puts stress on the crimps as well with swaying and shock loading. If you have ever had a cable break free or break in general while the boat is lifted it can cause major damage who know what would happen to the boat with the bow secured if the front cables let go. 


 

If it's all sized correctly I don't understand the concern?  There's cable lifts in use that pick up WAY WAY more weight than a prostar and boards.  Am I misunderstanding your concern?  I've got a buddy who lifts his 40 foot Yellowfin using a cable lift...thats pushing 20,000 #s rigged!

[BraceMaker]

Another aspect is to make sure that the cradle has enough weight to sink the boards!  With a DIY strategy that can cause a problem neighbor lost a prop one year when he switched out all his bunk boards with new ones.  The old ones were nice and waterlogged and the new ones floated well enough that his cradle didn't sink.  Just a side note as wood floats.

[dave2ball]

I had double crimps on mine and it let go 

[dave2ball]

@buechsr the boat size / weight would determine what size cables and motor to lift a boat.   If this platform lift has what would be standard cables for a ski boat plus the additional weight of the custom made cradle  plus lumbar it could put a lot of stress on the cable system  even with double crimps on the cable. 

[BraceMaker]

@dave2ball they definitely can break.  Even in practice and properly done those crimps are lower than the basic strength of the cable and the load is never shared equally between the two unless something has started failing.

He did nail the vertical orientation of the cable though too often its got a slant due to the width of the cradle being off and that changes the loading too.

But even a 1/4" cable should hold 5k+ lbs.  So the minimum break point would be nearly 20K lbs in the cable system.  And that's probably 3/8" cable.  All good things to think about however, like you mentioned its not just the weight but the fact that the wood also makes it inviting to do activities you wouldn't normally do like kids running back and forth or jumping on that section so you're adding a design element that should be considered particularly as the fittings age.

[Jordan]

Some of the Platform lifts run the cables horizontally in a channel that runs along each side of the slip. They use a hydraulic cylinder to extend and contract the cables. Much neater look and no cables running over head.

An added benefit for closed in boat houses is thst the platform prevents anyone from swimming under the door to gain entrance.

This video includes an animation that shows how the lift works.