Boat lift float and drop in place

[@kastaway2]

Great concept Thank You from Minnesota!

[@gsurpr]

Combien pèse votre elevateur

[@paulankrett2928]

This is a brilliant idea. More flotation for a heavier boat lift would be easy to achieve with more pipe sections. Typical French Canadian ingenuity!

[@leomenuzzo1014]

Hello. This is a great idea! I struggled so much last weekend to get my lift in the water. I read that someone used 4” pipes. My lift weighs 600lbs. Do you think that 8 4”x10ft pipes would work?

[@StormyWeather93]

I have a floating pontoon rig I'm thinking of for my company so found you. I gotta say though, with the size of this I'd get 3 or 4 young guys and I'd have that in place in the water in about half the time it takes you just to rig it. Good idea but too over thought.

[@rcr-zt4of]

But if you don’t have the guys this will definitely help out. Sometimes the biggest problem is getting people.

[@gunitoptics]

Merci, très ingénieux. My boat lift is 575 pounds. According to your calculating method, this means I need four 6 inch pipes of 171 inches each. I just bought pipes of 161.5 inches. According to you, will this still float pretty well? P.S. I didn't buy 8 inch pipes because they are literally twice the price. I don't mind long pipes as my lift in 10 feet wide : long pipes will provide me stability. Merci bcp.

[@michaelslama7399]

It should float but you are at limit with 4 pipes 6 inches X 161.5 in long to lift 575 lbs. 36 more pounds and it sinks...

[@RussellMoran]

Would this work for a 20" pontoon boat? I have a dock but not a full boat house and it is the shape of an L. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[@michaelslama7399]

Hi Russell, not sure I understand what you are asking, do you want to lift the pontoon boat or the docks?

[@RussellMoran]

+Michael Slama my pontoon boat is 20 foot long and I'm guessing around 3,000 lbs. Do you think this would hold it securely? If not, what suggestions would you have? Thanks

[@michaelslama7399]

+Russell Moran To float 3000 lbs you would need 4 pipes, 12 inch in diameter, 20 feet long or 2 pontoons. Are you doing this to take out of water or to dock it? There are boat lifts for pontoon boats.

[@RussellMoran]

+Michael Slama I have a dock but it's a weekend home. When I'm not there during the week the water can get choppy and don't want to run my boat into the dock. I would be using this to get it out of the water so I don't have to launch it every time I'm at the lake. This looks like a possible solution...just need to figure out how to affordably build it.

[@RussellMoran]

+Michael Slama I believe I misspoke. My boat is 1,320 lbs dry weight.

[@Gloch9]

Looks like 1 pipe per side might work just fine to float it. Have you tried that?

[@tp5135]

Do you have a video showing how you hooked up the pipe to the lift?

[@michaelslama7399]

jack poole Hi Jack, do not have video but all it is we tie one end to the bottom of the part which goes up and down, then pass it under base of lift to finally tie it to pipes, do this on both ends

[@bennoble2049]

Put plastic under the feet and frame so you stop scratching the hell out of the homeowners break wall.

[@philipbleier8558]

How do you attach the straps to the bunk frame?

[@michaelslama7399]

Philip Bleier just wrapped around a made a knot then taped it

[@bossboyent]

does this actually lift a boat? I can't see it working

[@TheMarschmallow]

what have you done to your dog?

[@michaelslama7399]

Sadly she passed away last year. She spent all her time in lake and could not go while we were putting rack in

[@TheMarschmallow]

@@michaelslama7399 sorry to hear that but why did she sound like that?

[@erikcummings8560]

It would be easier to pick that little lift up and set it in the water.

[@johnsimmons1319]

Brains over Brawn. i like it. well done.

[@bmkelly7580]

Is that 6" pipe in the video? Brian

[@michaelslama7399]

Yes

[@daneapeterson]

Why didn't you show how this worked with a boat in the cradle?

[@michaelslama7399]

Because it would not float with a boat on it.

[@daneapeterson]

My mistake, I thought the whole point of this was to lift the boat out of the water. If not, what use is it?

[@michaelslama7399]

Dane Peterson sounds like misunderstanding, the lift is used to lift boat out of water but this video is just to show how to get the lift into position in the lake so it can be used to lift the boat. At end of video we can now place boat on lift.

[@dcretney]

Brilliant. Why didn't I think of this.

[@doggyman2013]

Ingenious!! Love it!

[@yelyab1]

The best way to do this is pay someone. I almost lost a finger, froze and Lake Huron just ate 2 steel lifts over the 50 years I f--ed with these stupid things.

[@Fryewakeskate]

This is incredible

[@waleedamoun6796]

really very good job fantastic

[@seandexter3702]

Hello, do you speak english? I have questions about this... Thanks!

[@michaelslama7399]

SEAN DEXTER I sure do. What are your questions?

[@seandexter3702]

Michael Slama Perfect, my french is rusty. I have been looking for an easy way to float our lift (around 2-300 metres) and yours seems like the best one i have found. My lift weight is around 450-500lbs, and I am trying to figure out how much pvc pipe (diameter and length) I will need to do it. Also, did you just use ratcheting tie down straps to hold them in place??

[@michaelslama7399]

SEAN DEXTER Hi Sean, your lift is heavier than mine but this is easily doable. For every pound of lift you want to float you need a minimum of 28 cubic inches of space in the pipe. Formula for pipe volume= 3.14 x pipe radius x pipe radius x pipe length. For example, 500 lb lift multiplied by 28 =14,000 cu in required. Add to this 20% for pipe weight and error margin and you need 16,800 cu in to float this. To use 2 large pipes would be too hard and expensive so need 4 pipes. So 16,800 cu in divided by 4= 4,200 cu in per pipe. To calculate length of 6 inch pipe required you take 4,200 divided by 3 divided by 3 divided by 3.14 and get 148.6 inces which is too long so let's calculate 8 in pipe. So 4,200 divided by 4 divided by 4 divided by 3.14 and get 83.5 inches. So I recommend you get 4 pipes 8 inches in diameter and 8 feet long to do the job. Just by caps for both ends of the pipes. You will have to cut off part of each pipe to get cap on it. I used ratcheting straps to hold the pipes together, passed the strap under the frame and tied it to the part which lifts. In this way when the lift is raised the pipes are held at bottom of rack making it float and when I want to sink it I just lower the rack as if putting boat in water and pipes stay at water level but rack sinks. When rack is on land lift the rack up high as possible with the wheel. Attach straps with ratchet on each end of pipes to hold them together. Thread strap under frame. Attach it to raised lift. Really simple once you tried it. Drop rack in water and it floats. Bring to spot the sink it using wheel. Untie straps take pipes away until next time. Hope this helps. Please tell me how it works out for you. Regards, Michael

[@seandexter3702]

Michael Slama Thanks very much for the info, I am having difficulty finding 8 inch pipes at home depot etc, will likely have to hit an industrial supplier. Looks like a great idea...

[@randyohhh]

I'm also in the same boat. My lift is 475lbs but 8" pipes are very hard to find. Can I do 8 x 4" instead?

[@ClickinChicken]

my dog does that too.

[@alslosher6673]

nice job thank for sharing

[@toddmcg2378]

Clever.

[@kastaway2]

Poor dog.....

[@terryg2160]

Very clever!

[@user-jz3vc9kd2j]

Would have been much easier to just lift the damn thing with 3 people and walk it in.

[@leomenuzzo1014]

Hello. This is a great idea! I struggled so much last weekend to get my lift in the water. I read that someone used 4” pipes. My lift weighs 600lbs. Do you think that 8 4”x10ft pipes would work?