If it ain't broke - don't fix it?

You know the drill..

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Marc K
Posts: 742
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:35 am
Location: Eustace, TX

If it ain't broke - don't fix it?

#1 Post by Marc K » Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:58 am

I am in the process of doing some maintenance on my boatlift. It is a simple overhead center mount pipe setup, with pulleys at four corners. The cable winds directly on the pipe. Already bought new stainless steel cable and clamps, disassembled the pulleys to inspect/clean/lube the bearings. Cleaned and greased the worm drive and main bearings.

The pontoon boat was part of the deal, when we bought our home a year ago. The internet consensus is that you will damage your pontoon boat by using slings in lieu of a cradle setup. I do understand the concept. But…….my boat has been in slings for 12+ years. I cannot see any tweaking/cracking/separation of the brackets and the toons appear to be plumb and parallel. I cannot see any deformation of the tubes where the straps contact. The cable drops from the overhead pulleys are about 2-3 degrees from vertical, in an outward direction.

My inclination is that it is hard to argue with success, but I have people telling me that it positively will be problem some day. When I press for details, I can’t find anyone who has actually had a problem with it, but I have found many people using slings on pontoons without problems. I’m thinking that it may be a brand/bracket design specific thing……some are OK and some are not – so always err on the safe side.

There is much wisdom and experience on this board. Anyone see a need to push me off the fence on this? Right now, I am leaning toward “if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it.”

Marc
Big and ugly but we love our 1999/2000 Crest II DL with a Yamaha F115

BobL
Posts: 589
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:41 am
Location: Louisiana

Re: If it ain't broke - don't fix it?

#2 Post by BobL » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:23 pm

The primary advantage (and possibly the only advantage) to a sling setup is in shallow water situations. Cradles require deeper water.

As you know, slings need to be properly spaced (fore/aft) so the weight load is spread properly and also spaced properly from an overhead/beam perspective as they can put inward pressure on the boat. Sounds like yours are spaced perfectly.

You can google where people with fiberglass hulls have experienced gel cracks and issues with walk-thru windshields getting out of alignment due to improper spacing of slings (strap location and hangar width).

If yours has worked without issue for 12 years then I wouldn’t change anything. If you were building new or replacing, then I would vote for the cradle.
SOLD - 2009 20' Bentley w/4 Stroke 90hp Mercury
SOLD - 2011 SouthBay 522CR w/115 4 Stroke Mercury
2014 Xcursion 23RF XS package w/150 4 Stroke Mercury

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Marc K
Posts: 742
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:35 am
Location: Eustace, TX

Re: If it ain't broke - don't fix it?

#3 Post by Marc K » Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:40 am

Thanks, Bob:

You can tell that I was thinking along the same lines. I get a new cradle with bunks and docking poles for about $1200. - but I have other priorities at the moment.
Big and ugly but we love our 1999/2000 Crest II DL with a Yamaha F115

Bamaman
Posts: 3679
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 1:44 pm
Location: NW Alabama--Tennessee River

Re: If it ain't broke - don't fix it?

#4 Post by Bamaman » Mon Jan 14, 2019 12:06 pm

I'd be glad to sell you a 1985 StarCraft pontoon boat with a 115 hp Yamaha. Only problem is that the rear of the toons have a slight bend from the 6" wide slings it sat in for 28 years.

Over time, chances are your toons might bend.

I have since built a 20' long, 10' wide rack out of 4" channel iron with a total of 5 crossmembers. My 24' Bennington is sitting on six 2x8 boards mounted flat to the rack with lag bolts. I fabricated the rack in my driveway and it's being held together by 4" long angle brackets (in the corners) and bolts. Needless to say drilling so many holes was hard work. By prefabbing my rack, I was able to carry it down into my lot on a trailer behind an ATV and slide the steel piece by piece down to the boathouse. Then I reassembled the steel in the boathouse without issue. Total cost of the steel was about $450.

My neighbors had dock contractors weld up their racks, and by the time they brought them out on a barge with a crane for installation, it set them back $3,500 or so.
'12 Bennington 24' SSLX Yamaha 150

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