Is it ok to store my boat like this?

[WREKS]

@oglear What is model of your Hydrohoist?

 

[msavold]

Update [HASH=461]#3:[/HASH] I've now by flipping the boat managed to completely take the back out of the water since this side of the lift works better, only thing is that now the boat is facing down as shown in the pictures

Much better for the nozzles IMO but one question that comes to mind with the boat 'leaning' forward: how waterproof/watertight is your cover? I know your boat isn't that old and cover looks in great shape but I foud that even when we got a new cover it needs fairly regular waterproofing. I'd keep an eye on things if you don't use the boat for a while and there's been heavy rain... Might make more of a mess inside than you'd like.
Certainly a good interim solution though.

 

[Dough]

Seek professional help. Talked to a welder yet? No way that tank can't be patched.

 

[VaMarine]

So its Salt water (I boat in salt water) do not leave in it if at all possible. By leave it in I mean more than a week or so at a time.

1. Salt water destroys the metal parts (anode helps slow it down).
2. If your dock has electric potential for a stray current to got to Anode and decrease the amount of time to corrode.
3. Barnacles - They grow on Gel Coat, are a pain to get rid of (acid, putty knife, elbow grease) and have the chance for catastrophic damage (i.e. redo all the gel coat)

My suggestion - pull the boat and put on trailer until you fix the lift. While changing how the boat sits on the life (raising the metal out of the water) fixes issues 1 and 2, it allows for 3 to take over at the bow of the boat.

 

[oglear]

@oglear What is model of your Hydrohoist?

I believe it is the 4400 lbs model.

Much better for the nozzles IMO but one question that comes to mind with the boat 'leaning' forward: how waterproof/watertight is your cover? I know your boat isn't that old and cover looks in great shape but I foud that even when we got a new cover it needs fairly regular waterproofing. I'd keep an eye on things if you don't use the boat for a while and there's been heavy rain... Might make more of a mess inside than you'd like.
Certainly a good interim solution though.

Certainly something to keep in mind will make sure that the cover is always very tight it's proven to have been very waterproof last year in the rain season with not much of rain water getting into the boat when the cover was on after hours of rain, and thanks I'm glad is working out so far

Seek professional help. Talked to a welder yet? No way that tank can't be patched.

I've been wanting to who should I look for? a regular welder? the problem is that most likely the job needs to be done on site since pulling a tank out of the water would be very difficult and trouble some. I've already took apart 1 tank twice when I was trying to repair it myself and it really was something I'd rather not do ever again.

So its Salt water (I boat in salt water) do not leave in it if at all possible. By leave it in I mean more than a week or so at a time.

1. Salt water destroys the metal parts (anode helps slow it down).
2. If your dock has electric potential for a stray current to got to Anode and decrease the amount of time to corrode.
3. Barnacles - They grow on Gel Coat, are a pain to get rid of (acid, putty knife, elbow grease) and have the chance for catastrophic damage (i.e. redo all the gel coat)

My suggestion - pull the boat and put on trailer until you fix the lift. While changing how the boat sits on the life (raising the metal out of the water) fixes issues 1 and 2, it allows for 3 to take over at the bow of the boat.

I appreciate the advises, but I'm not sure if you looked at the picture of how the boat is sitting now? here are some I just took please let me know if everything you said still applies, thank you

 

[oglear]

I have only unplugged twice in 2 years lol. To be fair, again, fresh water here.

sweet these are great news.

 

[VaMarine]

I believe it is the 4400 lbs model.

Certainly something to keep in mind will make sure that the cover is always very tight it's proven to have been very waterproof last year in the rain season with not much of rain water getting into the boat when the cover was on after hours of rain, and thanks I'm glad is working out so far

I've been wanting to who should I look for? a regular welder? the problem is that most likely the job needs to be done on site since pulling a tank out of the water would be very difficult and trouble some. I've already took apart 1 tank twice when I was trying to repair it myself and it really was something I'd rather not do ever again.

I appreciate the advises, but I'm not sure if you looked at the picture of how the boat is sitting now? here are some I just took please let me know if everything you said still applies, thank you

Is the Bow and Keel completely out of the water? I had seen your pictures, but it appeared (at least to me) that the keel line at the Bow is in the water, and would assume that travels back part of the way as the Stern is completely out of the water.

IF the entire boat is out of the water you are fine. IF there is any part of the boat is not out of the water, I would suggest pulling it out to prevent barnacles. I also do not know where you are at, but would assume barnacle build up is a potential issue for you as you are in salt water.

 

[Julian]

My only concern with being bow down is water build up in the bow. You could pretty easily install a bow located bilge pump to counter this....you wouldnt even have to plumb it in if you didn't want to. With heavy rain that bow will keep going lower and lower.

As @Dough says....those tanks have to be sealable! My airdock is not rigid...so totally different material.

Attached is a pic of my old boat on the airdock....was the first one I found....

 

[NewBoater]

Will you be able get cover over back middle of boat and ratchet it down? Or you have get wet to get middle part right? Good luck with everything!

 

[tdonoughue]

My concern with the bow down is similar to @Julian 's. But a little more: water is heavy. If you get water in there, it will accumulate in the bow. That will cause the bow to be heavier and heavier. And it will cause more and more weight on the faulty lift--maybe putting the whole boat in the drink.

I agree that what you have now is better than it was. But that is not to say it is good. I will second the motion for professional help.

Sorry. Wish I had a more optimistic answer...

 

[Julian]

Will you be able get cover over back middle of boat and ratchet it down? Or you have get wet to get middle part right? Good luck with everything!

He should be able to ratchet it down without getting wet. I do it every time on my boat. You pull it down over the corners while kneeling on the swim deck, I leave the far side ratchet at the same tension, and then use the dock side ratchet only to tighten it up. Pretty easy really.

 

[Betik]

Without trying to be judgmental here, it looks from your environment( and the boat) that you can afford a new lift. If your existing one is not restorable to almost new condition there is no point of dealing with it next winter. For a week or two the bot will be fine , but you don’t want to keep thinking about it for the next months if your bot is okay or not. The idea of the boat is to help you relax not keep you on your toes

 

[oglear]

Without trying to be judgmental here, it looks from your environment( and the boat) that you can afford a new lift. If your existing one is not restorable to almost new condition there is no point of dealing with it next winter. For a week or two the bot will be fine , but you don’t want to keep thinking about it for the next months if your bot is okay or not. The idea of the boat is to help you relax not keep you on your toes

I think you're right and It's really getting to that point It just feels kinda bad since this one did not cost me 2 pennies and I bought it just a few months ago but I guess the bad shape of it and the inexperience of myself made it even worse , just found one used which looks much better for $8000 we'll update If I ended up buying it or not.

 

[tdonoughue]

Sometimes @Betik speaks truth very well.

 

[Betik]

Sometimes @Betik speaks truth very well.

It has gotten me in trouble more than I want to remember. Glad y’all are open minded

 

[Dean P]

I think you're right and It's really getting to that point It just feels kinda bad since this one did not cost me 2 pennies and I bought it just a few months ago but I guess the bad shape of it and the inexperience of myself made it even worse , just found one used which looks much better for $8000 we'll update If I ended up buying it or not.

That's about what it cost to put a 10k lb lift in. On the other hand, could you possibly wedge it up in place? I'm not familiar with your lift but, you stated the air leaks. Maybe get it high enough to help support it from underneath??? Keeping the boat in the water for long periods of time, in salt water will only cause MAJOR issues. Besides unwanted growth you'll be dealing with mechanical issues too.

Best case is to get it out of the water till it's fixed. Do you have a trailer? If you want you can borrow mine. Would you have a place to store it?

I'm in the Saint Petersburg area. PM if interested.

 

[Julian]

@Geoff Cooper and his bands of merry tinkerers would have that lift shining and operational in no time for $50! LOL

I'm a tinkerer too, and would really try to determine how you seal a hole on one of these - it HAS to be doable. But if the structure is brittle and more holes are inevitable due to its age and deterioration...sometimes it is best to just walk away. So I'd still try and get a hold of the manufacturer to see if it IS repairable...they may say...nope...."that plastic is delaminating and will never hold a weld", or they could say "that plastic is bulletproof...we can send you a weld kit"....I suspect it might be the former....that UV kills these tanks after 20 years.....but who knows. It comes down to....how much is your time worth?

 

[oglear]

That's about what it cost to put a 10k lb lift in. On the other hand, could you possibly wedge it up in place? I'm not familiar with your lift but, you stated the air leaks. Maybe get it high enough to help support it from underneath??? Keeping the boat in the water for long periods of time, in salt water will only cause MAJOR issues. Besides unwanted growth you'll be dealing with mechanical issues too.

Best case is to get it out of the water till it's fixed. Do you have a trailer? If you want you can borrow mine. Would you have a place to store it?

I'm in the Saint Petersburg area. PM if interested.

I'm renting so better for me to buy a floating lift since no permits are needed and I could take it with me if we had to move, and I do have a trailer however it is extremely nice of you to offer me yours I appreciate it that mine is also available if you ever need one I'm located in pompano beach.

@Geoff Cooper and his bands of merry tinkerers would have that lift shining and operational in no time for $50! LOL

I'm a tinkerer too, and would really try to determine how you seal a hole on one of these - it HAS to be doable. But if the structure is brittle and more holes are inevitable due to its age and deterioration...sometimes it is best to just walk away. So I'd still try and get a hold of the manufacturer to see if it IS repairable...they may say...nope...."that plastic is delaminating and will never hold a weld", or they could say "that plastic is bulletproof...we can send you a weld kit"....I suspect it might be the former....that UV kills these tanks after 20 years.....but who knows. It comes down to....how much is your time worth?

Well they said it could be welded after a lot of thought I realized how the weather is getting better every day and soon will be boating season again so I wanna have my boat out there to be able to use it often how I like it, so I decided to go ahead and buy the used but in much better condition lift that there is for sale and eventually get the old one out of the water find a professional plastic welder (there has to be one somewhere), have it repaired, cleaned and sell it so I can get must of my money back I'm currently selling it as it is It looks like it could be able to actually lift a smaller boat out of the water completely in it's current state or even 2-3 jetskies too, that would be fun to see

 

[oglear]

btw I have now installed mooring whips to further prevent more damage I believe the first leak was made because of all the bumping against the docks last year, If I would've knew these things exists before It would've saved me so much trouble.

 

[oglear]

well after some thought I did some digging and called the head quarters of hydro hoist, these guys are true professionals they quoted me for 3 tanks and few days later them were delivered to my house. I called a buddy of mine who's a boat mechanic to ask him for help, and after a couple days of hard work here are the results, I'm now a happy boater