Boat lift required for a Yamaha 242?

[YamaWylie]

We are looking at getting a lift for our new (to us) Yamaha and have found a slightly used floatair that is rated for 5000lbs. I feel like it should work but I see many people get lifts that are rated at 7000lbs. and more so I am a bit nervous getting a 5000lb. lift. Any thoughts on this?

 

[swatski]

@YamaWylie That should be fine.

I have had a Rhino/ShoreMaster lift installed for two seasons working great (with some minor electric and hose clamp leakage issues that I was able to fix myself - posted somewhere) - rated for 4,400lbs? No issues holding the boat and pulling it up even loaded.

Here it is in action:

https://jetboaters.net/threads/new-dock-dry-slip-w-rhino-lift-hands-free-operation.17544/

Here is the link to the lift manufacturer:

Floating Boat Lift: HydroHoist Floating Dock Boat Lift | ShoreMaster

View and learn more about the ShoreMaster Floating Lifts. Find out how you can safely and easily protect your boat. Visit our website to get started.

rhinomarinesystems.com

And here is what we paid, I don't remember if all of the install/delivery was included or not in that quote, but gives a general idea:


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[tabbibus]

I have 7#. But many in my dock have a 4ish # one. No issues

 

[brokitansky]

I’ve used a 5000# lift for the past couple years on a 242x. Zero issues.

 

[Chief]

I use a 4500lb lift for my 2016 242 LE...no problems...But with a full tank of fuel and me and my wife sitting on the back end it will slowly go down.

 

[swatski]

I use a 4500lb lift for my 2016 242 LE...no problems...But with a full tank of fuel and me and my wife sitting on the back end it will slowly go down.

That would worry me.

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[RadioWaves]

We had a 4500# Polylift at the last house and it worked fine. At the new place we checked with the local dealers and they recommended going with at least a 6000# if your dock will be in rough water. Makes sense because with heavy wave action the boat will bounce up and down dramatically. I saw it a few times on mine when it got really rough.

 

[biffdotorg]

5000lb here for two seasons. Since ours doesn't hit 5000lb wet with trailer, we felt that was a good starting point for this boat. If I had ordered it new, I may have considered a 6000lb lift, but have never felt it was under rated.

That being said, don't even consider lifting with ballast filled. But that is a very obvious point. I do fill my ballast while at the dock, but I lower my boat to floating, while filling the ballast, so the lift is only holding the boat in place while filling.

I am also very cognizant of how many are getting on the boat while on the lift. If more than 6 start jumping in, I start lowering it. No need to strain it.

 

[tabbibus]

5000lb here for two seasons. Since ours doesn't hit 5000lb wet with trailer, we felt that was a good starting point for this boat. If I had ordered it new, I may have considered a 6000lb lift, but have never felt it was under rated.

That being said, don't even consider lifting with ballast filled. But that is a very obvious point. I do fill my ballast while at the dock, but I lower my boat to floating, while filling the ballast, so the lift is only holding the boat in place while filling.

I am also very cognizant of how many are getting on the boat while on the lift. If more than 6 start jumping in, I start lowering it. No need to strain it.

I keep seeing people talk about folks inside the boat when lifted... Do y'all keep the boat low on the lift? Have ladders? A trampoline to jump from the dock to the boat?

I have to lower the boat to half way down to get in and continue the prep. My people don't get in until the boat is in the water.

 

[biffdotorg]

I keep seeing people talk about folks inside the boat when lifted... Do y'all keep the boat low on the lift? Have ladders? A trampoline to jump from the dock to the boat?

I have to lower the boat to half way down to get in and continue the prep. My people don't get in until the boat is in the water.

I have a Floe Aluminium Vertical Lift here in MN. We have to use portable lifts, as they come out of the water each winter. So it's a tough comparison to those that have permanent lifts, or floating lifts.

A Vertical lift is like the hanging cradle lifts seen in boat houses where we lift it up fully for overnights, or weeks at a time, so the tower, windshield and most of the hull is tucked up under the canopy. And the hull, engines are totally out of the water and only within reach of the tallest waves. When loading, I lower it down so that the swimdeck is level with the dock. It's an easy step across and folks load from the rear.

When fully lowered, a person can jump over the side, but most will go to the stern. I don't want to lower it too far, as then folks start jumping on the seats rather than the flooring. Our SeaDoo X20 had Hydro Turf covered steps mid-ship. So getting in and grabbing the tower was easy from the dock. With the 242, most will go to the bow or stern.

I hope to buy "wedge" pieces for my dock this summer. So that the bow will be surrounded by dock, so loading from the bow may be an option as well. It will change it to more like a boat shaped slip, than just a lift next to the dock.

 

[jsg73]

I keep seeing people talk about folks inside the boat when lifted... Do y'all keep the boat low on the lift? Have ladders? A trampoline to jump from the dock to the boat?

I have to lower the boat to half way down to get in and continue the prep. My people don't get in until the boat is in the water.

We lower the lift until the boat is a few inches out of the water then board and begin prepping to leave. When ending the day, I raise it a few inches out of the water for us to unload and such. Once fully unloaded, I raise it on up to storage height. We do the exact same thing with the fishing boat on the other lift.