Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Does anyone know if it is possible to lift a pontoon with a fork?? Down here in south florida most marinas won't touch pontoon boats. The one guy I found that says he can, I am not sure if i trust his judgement, Basically he said as long as the forks will fit between the pontoons and the transom, and the boat is structurally sound, he can lift it. He has a 22ft harris floteboat on a rack, but the fins on the transom have been bent a little due to the forks

It would be nice not to have to trailer, amd I am a little leary about keeping it in saltwater all the time. In and out storage would be the cats meow

rbiederwolf wrote:Does anyone know if it is possible to lift a pontoon with a fork??

Yes.

Yep. Pontoons are made to be lifted that way as long as the operator knows what he's doing.

The issue is how the boat is rigged underneath. As long as the stringers are clear and the forks get an unobstructed lift there is no problem. It is when there are wires and cables down there that they get nervous.
A boat barn usually ends up handling a lot of boats and they don't want to worry about which ones are going to pose a liability problem from simply picking them up.

I thought I was the only night owl up this late reading about pontoons....

Thanks for the input. I was under the impression that lifting with forks was a no no. Like I said none of the big marinas where I live - Jupiter FL area - want to deal with pontoons. However they are getting more and more popular so maybe they will change their minds

The engineer in me is obsessed with protecting the toon from the salt water. I have added zincs, plan to bottom paint fairly soon but, MY biggest concern is still the Pressure Treated deck potential electrolysis. No easy way to prevent this from happening.

My in laws will let me keep the boat at there house on the intracoastal, however I am leary of this since I will not be able clean under the boat regularly. Thus my storage options are
1. Trailer - pain in the ___
2. In and out - 280/month
3. In laws in the water - free

Any thoughts

The real answer is a lift. Would your inlaws let you install one?

I agree with Greg... a lift would be a good solution.. other than that, I think I'd opt for leaving it at my inlaws... I think you'll find you will use your boat more if you don't have to trailer it every time you want to use it...plus, you can still take it out of the water every so often and do whatever is necessary to fight the effects of salt water.... I have to trailer mine every trip and your right, it can be a pain in the butt... but I'm not dealing with saltwater.... just stumps and low water levels...

GregF wrote:The real answer is a lift. Would your inlaws let you install one?

Maybe. However Right now, especially after the boat purchase I do not have 10 to 15,000 necessary for a lift.

Why not in and out storage, other than the cost??

Regards

$280 a month towards your own lift would make the most sense if there was some way to finance it

You should be able to get a lift in for more like $3,000 or less if you do a lot of the work yourself. I see the hardware on Craigslist for $1000-2000 all the time. You should be able to get 4 pilings set for about $100 each. Just be sure you have the lift hardware before they set the piles so they end up in the right place.

The Ace 401 plates can be wired 120 or 240v. If you set them up 120v you could run this off of an extension cord until you can afford the wiring out to the dock. I ran mine that way for years.
My boat is pretty light but I pick it up with one lift plate using the lift rings.

Another option is a jet dock.

GregF wrote:You should be able to get a lift in for more like $3,000 or less if you do a lot of the work yourself. I see the hardware on Craigslist for $1000-2000 all the time. You should be able to get 4 pilings set for about $100 each. Just be sure you have the lift hardware before they set the piles so they end up in the right place.

The Ace 401 plates can be wired 120 or 240v. If you set them up 120v you could run this off of an extension cord until you can afford the wiring out to the dock. I ran mine that way for years.
My boat is pretty light but I pick it up with one lift plate using the lift rings.

Not sure I am that handy. Turns out his dock use to have a lift, thus pilings and electric are already there. Now I would need to find the essentials and someone to help me.

Ron Burgundy wrote:Another option is a jet dock.

How does this handle tidal changes - 2 to 3 ft?? Looks cool. How much??

Jet dock is a floating dock deal. They float up with the tide. I am not sure how they do in a storm.

If the pilings are there and drilled for the lift hardware this is a pretty simply project. It would be helpful to know which brand it was but if you can duplicate the old lift it is like putting up a swing set.

Do they have any clue? Maybe some pictures?

You might be swinging on a lift for less than a year's rent on that storage. An advantage is, if the pilings are in and you can show there used to be a lift, you probably don't even need a permit.

I'm not sure exactly what a jet dock costs, but I know they are expensive. Somewhere in the few to several thousand dollar range. If you already have the bones of a lift that is probably the best way to go.

The kinds of lifts needed so often depend on the depth of the water, the variance in water heights (or tides), and the size waves that the dock is subjected to. The kind of bottom is also a deciding factor: rock bottom? sand bottom? mud bottom? coral bottom? Any bedrock under the mud/rock? Is it salt water, or fresh water?

For example, my dock is located on a very wide river channel that can build up 3' waves and storm swells. The lake bottom is 4" rocks on top of 42" of mud/dirt before hitting bedrock. Our Ace boat lifts are mounted on a 4" channel steel frame with ten 4" steel pipes driven 42" into the mud. My boathouse frame is 12 1/2' out of the water to hold a pontoon boat 3' out of the water. Such a dock requires professional installers with a work barge, a small crane and pile driver. I built the roof on the boathouse and framed the pier myself to save money--an easy job.

There are many different kinds on the market, which can be found if you Google "boat lifts." Some are easy to install by an individual, and some require professional help.

If the water depth doesn't go up and down too much, and if the dock is not in a high wave/swell location, many people use Newman Lifts. See TandMMarine.com, and sign on Accessories--for repossessed, new and used lifts. They appear something an individual could install if the conditions were right.

Good luck!