Here, the www.LiftsLaddersAndDocks.com (Kalamazoo, Michigan) crew is demonstrating how to use TWO of our 5'x6' closed-cell foam floats (one cut into halves for ease of installing the dock, the other one cut into 7 strips solely for the boat lift) and our boat lift crane to do the heavy lifting for us to get the lift onto the halves and assist over seawalls. For docks and lifts without a seawall, the best method is to use strips the entire way around the lift and ratchet strap them in a bundle to install the dock. Some people opt to leave one float whole (makes it incredibly unstable and not advised), and cut the other into strips, that way they can use the whole float as a swim raft the rest of the summer, it will just require you to use the crane off to the side rather than right in the center as shown.
In the spring, some people try to use two floats cut into four halves to install the lift, but it is nearly impossible to get the entire lift back up onto four halves for removal, since once the shore side is floating, when you try to lift or use the crane on the rear end, the lift simply floats away and the crane tips over. Some people in shallow water have managed to do it with a few people holding the lift in place, but it is far more trouble than it is worth, hence the strips, which eliminate the lifting and balancing, and using strips the entire way around is the most stable and versatile, easiest to store and can also eliminate the need for the crane unless you need to get over a large seawall. The lift in this video is is quite lightweight since there is no motor or canopy, so we did not have to use all 7 strips in the rear, but this same system works on lifts up to 1,200 lbs. or more. On the heaviest of aluminum lifts with canopies, even if you do not get the lift fully buoyant on the water's surface, it is still reducing nearly all the weight of the lift and allowing the user to easily push the lift to shore. Once at the shoreline, get a buddy or two and use old steel dock poles with augers as a giant pry-bar lever underneath the bottom spreader bars of the lift to scoot the lift onto shore, or transition to a wheel kit if you prefer to roll the lift far up into your yard and out of sight for the winter.
Thank you for watching, please check out our website, below, for more information! We are located in Schoolcraft (Kalamazoo), MI and serve all of Michigan and Northern Indiana with innovative and quality products and advice!
www.liftsladdersanddocks.com/...
www.liftsladdersanddocks.com/...