I just bought a house on a canal to the Gulf of Mexico and it has a boat lift that is twenty-seven feet long and covered. Perfect for a Mac (well, I hope - I am guessing that I can leave the mast connected and just crank it up and down as I leave and enter the lift). The lift is set up for a pontoon boat, however. Two long wooden boards are screwed into the metal base of the lift and they lay flat. I realize that I need to pad them (do you all recommend the black padding that comes on the trailers or is carpeting better?). I also need to adjust the spacing of these boards and, possibly, to turn them sideways. What should the space between these boards be and should I leave them flat or turn them 90 degrees or turn them to some other angle? One neighbor tells me to turn them 90 degrees and another says to leave 'em flat. I'd rather ask you guys first than the local boat lift companies. The knowledge on this board never ceases to amaze me. Thanks very much.
For you Tampa regulars, my place is in Hudson, FL, about 1000 feet from the Gulf and spitting distance from the channel. Hudson gets a bad rap in my opinion and I don't really care since it's one of the last places in America where you can get fairly affordable waterfront property. (If you are curious about Hudson, feel free to ask me questions about it. Yes, it has some old trailer homes that are probably crack dens but, yes, it also has plenty of nice new stilted homes with fancy yachts parked in the canals.)
I never use my Mac because, in my opinion, it takes too long to travel to a body of water, prep it, launch it, and break it down for a single day's use. I'm hoping to use it every weekend now! I've seen a Mac on the canals in my neighborhood (Hudson Beach Estates). It's a 26X that sits in the water. I had never seen an X in the flesh. I like the stern. Better for diving off of than an M, it would seem.
Chip S.
Boat lift questions
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Dimitri-2000X-Tampa
- Admiral
- Posts: 2043
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 5:36 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Tampa, Florida 2000 Mercury BigFoot 50HP 4-Stroke on 26X hull# 3575.B000
Chip, I got your PM (congratulations on your new house) and perhaps you didn't get much response because you are in the Venture section yet a boat lift question is not Venture specific (and you have a 26M) so maybe your questions should be in the main powersailor forum. Perhaps the moderators could move it so you will get better visibility.
The bunks on my lift are oriented vertical as you would expect with most highly loaded lumber applications (ie, like the beams in your house). If they are layed flat, then they will bend much more and have less strength. Even though the 26X is only weighing around 3000 lbs (maybe up to 4500 with full ballast and loading), I wanted a bigger lift for resale value, etc. so I went with 10,000 lbs. This is way overkill for a Mac so I put my bunks to one side of the lift so that it would be much easier to get on and off the boat. The lift can fit beams up to like 12 feet I think, so there is a good 4 feet left over. As for your question about which way to turn the bunks, I figure a pontoon boat needs the flat bunks or maybe the pontoons could slip off. You aren't going to have that issue with a monohull. So, for best load carrying ability, turn them vertical, but since a Mac is so light, you may not have to worry about that.
My bunks are longitudinal like with most lifts you see, I don't think it makes any difference compared to the trailer. In fact, it is probably better support this way versus the 3 lateral bunks on the trailer. Due to the curvature of the hull, I suppose the front 12 inches of the bunk does not make contact, but this is cantilevered anyway so I'm not concerned. I figure I still have a good 15 feet of bunks making contact which should be plenty.
My lift builder wanted to put the bunks about 36 inches apart if I remember correctly. This is because most deep V boats would hit the frame if you put them much further apart. Even though he was reluctant, I had him spread them out about another 14 inches or so which makes it close to 50 inches I think. I wanted this for better stability since the boat bottom much flatter, has so much freeboard and we can certainly get high winds here. Also, this lines the bunks up under the stringers in the hull structure. Due to the flat bottom, there is no problem with the keel of the boat hitting the aluminum cradle although I don't think you could go too much wider without starting to cause problems.
Ultimately, you should probably hire a boat lift expert for this. I used Anchor Marine and was very satisfied with them. I'm not sure if they work out in Hudson though but they might if they don't need to bring a barge. Here is a picture of my lift which I posted previously here:
Btw, its also important to have the guideposts the right distance apart for a 26X (ie, much narrower than most 26 foot boats) so that you are perfectly aligned on the bunks. You might also notice the rope which I have tied to one of the guides and to the dock post. This keeps my longitudinal position aligned as well. Longitudinal alignment is done by hitting the cables and making sure you get the same musical tone out of both (equal loading).
The bunks on my lift are oriented vertical as you would expect with most highly loaded lumber applications (ie, like the beams in your house). If they are layed flat, then they will bend much more and have less strength. Even though the 26X is only weighing around 3000 lbs (maybe up to 4500 with full ballast and loading), I wanted a bigger lift for resale value, etc. so I went with 10,000 lbs. This is way overkill for a Mac so I put my bunks to one side of the lift so that it would be much easier to get on and off the boat. The lift can fit beams up to like 12 feet I think, so there is a good 4 feet left over. As for your question about which way to turn the bunks, I figure a pontoon boat needs the flat bunks or maybe the pontoons could slip off. You aren't going to have that issue with a monohull. So, for best load carrying ability, turn them vertical, but since a Mac is so light, you may not have to worry about that.
My bunks are longitudinal like with most lifts you see, I don't think it makes any difference compared to the trailer. In fact, it is probably better support this way versus the 3 lateral bunks on the trailer. Due to the curvature of the hull, I suppose the front 12 inches of the bunk does not make contact, but this is cantilevered anyway so I'm not concerned. I figure I still have a good 15 feet of bunks making contact which should be plenty.
My lift builder wanted to put the bunks about 36 inches apart if I remember correctly. This is because most deep V boats would hit the frame if you put them much further apart. Even though he was reluctant, I had him spread them out about another 14 inches or so which makes it close to 50 inches I think. I wanted this for better stability since the boat bottom much flatter, has so much freeboard and we can certainly get high winds here. Also, this lines the bunks up under the stringers in the hull structure. Due to the flat bottom, there is no problem with the keel of the boat hitting the aluminum cradle although I don't think you could go too much wider without starting to cause problems.
Ultimately, you should probably hire a boat lift expert for this. I used Anchor Marine and was very satisfied with them. I'm not sure if they work out in Hudson though but they might if they don't need to bring a barge. Here is a picture of my lift which I posted previously here:
Btw, its also important to have the guideposts the right distance apart for a 26X (ie, much narrower than most 26 foot boats) so that you are perfectly aligned on the bunks. You might also notice the rope which I have tied to one of the guides and to the dock post. This keeps my longitudinal position aligned as well. Longitudinal alignment is done by hitting the cables and making sure you get the same musical tone out of both (equal loading).
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James V
- Admiral
- Posts: 1705
- Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 9:33 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Key West, Fl USA, 26M 06, Merc 50hp BF "LYNX"
20 years ago I lived in Hudson and liked the small Fl town feel so close to the Big towns. Never went in and out of the harbor. No GPS back then and the markers were not good. However, it would be great to get to the Gulf so quickly.
The Mac would be the perfect boat with the shallow draft and outboard.
The Mac would be the perfect boat with the shallow draft and outboard.
