Anyone installed an electric PWC dock hoist?

[dannyual767]

I'm thinking about buying a used 1000lb capacity Dolphin brand PWC hoist for my dock. I spoke with Dolphin and they said that there are no installation instructions because it's usually boat lift contractors that do the installations. The owner of the lift is having it removed by a local boat lift company from his dock.

I'm a DIYer but this may be above my abilities. Has anyone installed anything like this?

 

[SkaterRace]

I would ask to go inspect how it is put on and take a ton of pictures if you want to do it yourself. I do know that almost no one puts it on themselves.

 

[dannyual767]

Yes, the owner is happy to let me come look at the lift. The more I research this, the more I think that this is a job for the boat lift pros.

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, it looks like it bolts to a single piling. If so the most critical point is the size of the piling, so it doesn't deflect too much under the weight of the load..

I have a single piling mount 1500# swinger lift. Simple to install. The piling will deflect some with the PWC on the lift. You may want to compensate when installing.

I can't believe the OEM does not provide installation instructions.

 

[dannyual767]

I called the manufacturer yesterday and they told me that there are no instructions. It does bolt to a single piling and they did tell me that during the installation you do want to compensate for the deflection with the PWC's weight on the lift.

Chris, did you install yours yourself or did you pay the pros to do it?

 

[Mo1]

I wonder how much it would cost to have a pro install it?

 

[alldodge]

As with most things, they are not difficult. Lifts like hydohoist take some doing. I figured out how to do a hydrohoist just looking at it, then watched the pros just showed the little things that make it easier. If you can figure out how it's done then it should be easy enough, but if you have concerns how it's done I would have it installed.

 

[dannyual767]

I waited too long. I called just before lunchtime yesterday to go take a look at it and the owner said that someone came over first thing in the morning and paid cash for it :grumpy: .

This isn't the first PWC lift that I've been interested in so there will probably be another available on craigslist again.

All this information is good because I'm still very interested in doing this myself. I did make a phone call to a big boat lift installer in my local area and they said they charge $100/hour and it would probably be from 2 to maybe a maximum of 5 hrs to install. They were thinking more on the low end.

 

[alldodge]

Never found someone which does work wind up on the low end. Being an hourly rate I would rather tell them I'll pay 500 to install then have them tell me later, well it took longer then expected

 

[dannyual767]

Another much smaller lift got listed several days ago on the same community neighborhood website. I didn't wait long and I jumped on it! It's a Lil Lifter 750lb capacity PWC lift. Unlike the Dolphin lift that I was originally interested in buying, this lift doesn't swing over the dock. It only goes up and down with no swivel capability.

Because of that, it's much smaller and lighter. My wife and I were easily able to remove it from the previous owners' dock, load it in our truck and bring it home! It's quite simple and shouldn't be too much trouble to install.

I plan on storing my small, lightweight 1994 Yamaha WaveRaider on it. The ski weighs 387lbs dry. Fullly fueled (10gals) it'll hit about 450. This lift will be plenty adequate for this small ski :chuncky: .

 

[alldodge]

Sounds good, time to go play