HOW TO BUILD AN AFFORDABLE FLOATING BOAT LIFT


My name is Monte and I’m going to show you how to build yourself a simple, easy to use “floating boat lift” to secure and protect your boat. My method requires no welding and you can build this air actuated lift in a weekend. I will make available the instructions and a materials list so you will have step by step guide on how to build a lift that will safely and securely get your boat out of the water.

So if you are tired of having to scrape and scrub the algae off your boat once or twice a year, after leaving your boat in the water at your lake property, this is for you. If you don’t want your boat’s performance to be hindered by the gunk that grows on the bottom of your investment by leaving it in the water, then you must have this book now. You won’t have to pay $4,500.00-$14,000.00 for one of those commercially sold boat lifts that are out there on the market. You can build one yourself for a fraction of the cost. I will show you how! BUY THE BOOK NOW!

Let me first tell you a little about myself and how I embarked on this project. About four years ago my wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to purchase a small cabin on a lake in western Montana. It is an absolutely beautiful spot, lightly forested and at the end of a small cove where the water is always calm. The lake itself is a 30-mile long reservoir built on the Missouri River for irrigation and flood control. It is a wonderful spot and we go there as often as we can.

After a couple of years of experiencing life on the lake, we noticed that this lake in particular had some issues that we were going to have to deal with. As it is a large reservoir for irrigation purposes the water level is constantly changing. This means that we are constantly either pulling our floating dock in toward the bank (usually in the spring until early July) when the lake is filling or letting it out as the lake goes down in late summer. The cabin came with a 12x16 foot dock that was basically a platform with Styrofoam underneath for floatation and green indoor/outdoor carpeting on the surface.

The dock was in o.k. shape and served its purpose pretty well for the first couple of years. Then one day it happened. We hadn’t been able to get to the lake for a couple of weeks and the water was going down. The dock, being held close to shore by two ropes tied off to some nearby trees, had pulled apart on one corner. The weight of the dock without water under it was just too much and the dock was nearly destroyed. It was at this point that I decided it was time for a new dock.

There were other issues with having a place on the lake, many of which don’t matter for the purpose of this book, but one that I found significant and would need to be addressed. You see, when you have a place on the lake, it means you don’t have to pull your boat in and out of the water all the time (one of the things we love about our cabin). You can just leave it tied to your dock all summer and it’s ready to go when you get to your home away from home. Here in lies the problem. Algae and other gunk collect below the water line of your boat. It is not only an eye sore but it also hinders your boat’s performance and is extremely hard to get off at the end of the season. So, not only did I need a new dock, but I also wanted to incorporate some kind of air lift system to get my boat out of the water at the end of the weekend.

My search began, as you can imagine, on the Internet. Obviously, it has been the same for you. Thank God, or you would not have found this site, which is going to save you an immense amount of time and frustration. I promise you. There is an enormous amount of information out there on a multitude of products that you can buy for the purpose of getting your boat safely and securely out of the water. But you will find nothing on how you can build one yourself. No plans, no diagrams and nobody to help, until now.

The problem with the commercially made products I found was that they are all EXPENSIVE! And I am CHEAP! In my book you will find instructions on how you can build a safe, secure boatlift to attach to your floating dock for a fraction of what it would cost to go out and buy one.

Let’s first take a quick look and see what is out there and some of their costs.
One of the first floating boatlifts I found was EZ Dock www.Ez-dock.com. It is a very nice set up and one I had seriously considered. They have several different sizes and they are expandable. In my particular case, I was looking for a system that would hold an 18’6” Glastron weighing in at 2750lbs. This would require me to purchase their largest, well not their largest, rather the “smallest” that would float my boat, so to speak. This is their Style K system, a 16’x20’ model. Total price…about $14,000.





Again, I liked this product because it had a lift (center section) and around it is enough space to be used as a dock and it’s expandable. It does, however, need to be held in place by some sort of post or other means. I needed something I could more easily move in and out with the dramatic changes in the water level at my cabin.

Next we have Jet Dock www.jetdock.com, which is a similar system to the EZ Dock but is put together in cubes. I did not consider this one even though I liked that you could drive your boat right up onto it, again, requiring it to be anchored. Also, note the color! Pretty hot on bare feet in the summer I would imagine.





As I mentioned before, I was not only in the market for a boatlift, but I also needed a new dock. I decided I was going to build a U-shaped dock big enough to put my boat and lift in the middle. This required a dock that would have a minimum of 8’ in between the “legs” so the boat and lift would fit. You may want to go a bit wider depending on the size of your boat. The following picture is similar to the one I built. It is very sturdy, as the framing is 4x6 treated fir around the outside, with a 2x6 running down the middle to support the 5/4x6 cedar decking. Each section is 4’x 16’. I used plans, floats and hardware which all came from Scottco Marine out of Idaho. They were extremely helpful and knowledgeable about dock building. Check out their website at scottcomarine.com.





Now, back to my search for a floating Boatlift. The next commercially made boatlift I came across was this one by Hewitt. It consists of a frame, bunks (like on a boat trailer), float tanks, an air pump and extend arms to attach the front to a floating dock. The attachment at the front of the lift is hinged to allow the boat and lift to go up and down in the water. This one is perfect, I thought! Simple, functional, and I can attach it to my new dock. I called to get a price and it wasn’t really all that bad, about $4,500.00, compared to the rest. However, unlike the others this one did not come with any space to use as a dock. So my total cost for a lift and dock system would be in the neighborhood of $8,000.00. (Cost of Hewitt’s Boatport and the materials for my 16x16 u-shaped dock).





This really started my wheels turning and is what inspired me to build my own boatlift. I started gathering materials and all the components I would need to make it work. I put it together and now I have a boatlift to be proud of by building it myself. Not to mention that it would be protecting my investment while I was away. Oh, and did I mention, it only cost me about $2800.00. Now I’m offering my experience and expertise so you to can make your own boatlift, which will save you thousands of dollars and hours upon hours of scrubbing and scraping. When you purchase my
E-book “How to Build an Affordable Floating Boatlift” you’ll be on your way to a more enjoyable boating experience and have more time for play because you won’t be scrubbing down unsightly algae all the time. Order it online today for just $9.95 On Sale! (reg. $24.95)


BUY THE BOOK NOW!


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