Boat Lift Distributors, Inc. - beam lift vs boat house lift

I have four pilings driven for a beam lift (planning a 10,000# lift). I have 4 additional pilings driven that I could use with the lift pilings to build a 40 ft boat house, ie 2 rows of 4 pilings each, 13 ft apart & 10-12 ft on center. All the pilings are tall enough to easily add the beams & joists for a roof. For now, all I want is the lift.

Do boat house lifts lack the weather protection to withstand rain, salt, wind load, etc that beam lifts need?

What are the pro/cons of installing a boat house type lift but without the roof?

What am I mssing? Thanks

Great question..

You can use a 4 piling aluminum top mount lift & side mount the unit to the pilings. In doing this you'll get full protection from the elements & you can add in you roof structure at a later date. The disadvantage of this is that the lift is much more costly than a regular boat house kit. So in the long run you'll spend +/- $2,000.00 more with a 4 piling side mount kit.

The boat house kit is extremely economical & in my opinion the workhorse in the boat lift industry. If you wished to go with the boat house & add a roof at a later date you might run into an issue with the cover that protects the motor. The cover is not meant to attach to a gear plate that's fasted to a wooden joist, nothing would align properly. However, you can add spacer or washers to move the gear off the wooden joist to ensure a good fit.

Both are great lift & viable options. If you wish to go with a side mount lift I'd like to see your pilings spaced at 11'6" center to center running the length of the boat & 12' center to center running the width of the boat. If you're not aligned properly we will have to do some customizing to get am aluminum side mount lift to work. The side mount kit uses (2) motors whereas a boat house kit runs (1) motor. If you have a long electrical run a single motor is much more efficient than a dual motor.

Bottom line if I was in your shoes I'd go with the boat house style kit & save the cash. You can protect the unit just as well as the aluminum lift & once you add the cover it will be completely protected. I hope this helps & if you would like to discuss further send another post, or call, we're here to help.

Tight Lines,
Michael Fulweber
Boat Lift Distributors, Inc.
800-657-9998
www.liftboat.com (http://www.liftboat.com/)

Sir, Thank you

I couldn't get a an informed opinon from several Lift installers that I've asked the same question. They all recommend what they sell/install. Can't fault them. They install & service what works for them after some trial and error.

That's the good thing about us, we sell all the different styles of lifting equipment & can give you the pro's & con's of each. I'm glad that helped, if you have any further questions or just simply want to bounce ideas off of us, just let us know.

Thanks,
Michael Fulweber
Boat Lift Distributors, Inc.
800-657-9998
www.liftboat.com (http://www.liftboat.com)