Any experience with Sea Legs

[onthelaketwo]

I saw a demonstration of a product called "Sea Legs" at the Oshkosh WI Boat Show

They are basically a set of legs which are driven by hydraulics, which serve as a boat lift.
They can lift about 6 feet from bottom of deck, minus toon width and how every much you sink in bottom.

I am very interested but would like to know if anybody has first hand experience.

Downsides I see: lose about 330 lbs of capacity on boat
docking needs to be in water shallow enough to get toons off water

Let me know any experience

[Parasympathetic]

I've seen them on the internet, but not up close.
There was one guy who either had them or had a friend that had them.
I don't remember who it was though. Maybe someone with more experience will chime in.

BTW, welcome.

Randy

[PeteF]

New member here. Glad to respond to the SeaLeg question. We had them installed on 25ft Sanpan. They are a bit heavy, but that is not an issue for us. We really like the convienece of being able to "dock" almost anywhere in water of the proper depth. You don't have to tie up in most cases. The model year we have is 2008. I think they made some fairly significant changes to the pump system that year.

You make a reference to getting the toons out of the water. I would suggest this for long periods of non-use, but for a stop off at friends or neighbors, they do not need to fully extend in order to work. For better or worse, I use them to barely lift out of the water. More stable that way as well.

They also adjust from both end of the boat to aid in leveling. We no longer use the boatlift for weekday docking. My boat is very stable when legs are at about 70% extended. That is all I need to get up and out of the water for the week.

I have also been in some very mucky bottoms on portions of our lake. No problem with the motor/pump retracking them.

In a nutshell, I would put them on again if I had to make the choice.

PeteF

[badmoonrising]

Welcome, Pete. I was always wondering how they'd work in soft muddy conditions.

[Parasympathetic]

Check it out...........1st post and he was able to help.
Thanks PeteF and welcome.

[dockholiday]

As Pete said, they are heavy, that is about the only knock I have heard about them, well there is the cost factor. Seems like I heard you don't recoup much of their cost in resale, but I know there have been times I would have like to had them. Most people that have the sea legs seem to really like them.
Welcome to onthelake and Pete

[onthelaketwo]

Thanks PeteF for fast response.

Your 100% correct on the 2008 version. The motor is 50% stronger, no more wiring in the dash, and no under boat wiring. Thus better reliability. I see some dealers closing out Sea legs but my guess is they are pre 2007

I plan to use them in place of a boat lift. Thus they will have to hold thru storms and waves. If you have any comments on the types of storms or waves that your have been subjected it would be nice.

I read the installation manual, and feel that I can always move them to a new pontoon boat. So I don't care about the resale issue. Last time I checked resale on boats is not so good anyway.

Now for the fun part I have to pick out a pontoon boat to put on the Sea Legs.

Steve

p.s. Just an FYI... I posted the question on this forum because I believe if if feedback on Sea Legs is negative the admin will leave the post. Nice Site.

[agsbill]

Bill

[HandymanHerb]

Yea no information will be deleted, as that's how we all learn, we even leave up the wrong answer if were corrected half way through a post.

And the more things that are discussed pro and con builds our knowledge base here.

[onthelaketwo]

Ok I got the boat and sea-legs now. Had them for a few weeks.

The sea legs are great for getting the boat at same height as dock to board guests. The boat is stable for boarding and not moving with the legs.

So far I have taken a lot of older people out, who have not been able to boat due to difficulty boarding boats. One person with a double knee replace, one with a single knee replacement, on person in upper 80's. They were all thrilled, some had not been in a boat for years!!!

Happy so far, will post more after the first big storm, or a few months go buy.

[HandymanHerb]

Glad it's working out for you, get us some pictures of it in action and put your location in your signture, helps us in answering questions to know where you are.

[Fritz]

I wonder about the drag they would cause in the water?

[Boatally Insane]

Ok I got the boat and sea-legs now.

The best news is you can use them just about ANYWHERE where your located

Here's a pic of the LAST time I was boating in Wisconsin..

October, 2006

[onthelaketwo]

Well, I have had the sea legs for a full summer.

Summary: Fantastic

Last week we had 40 MPH winds with gust over 50MPH. I went out on dock to watch the wind and waves hit boat. The boat did not move.

[jim454]

Check the oil resevoir.

I talked to a guy that says he's having a problem with water getting in the oil tank.