Boat lifts for 34-36' good & bad?

[Bill Richards]

Let hear the good and bad about using a boat lift for the 34 -36' Express Cruisers?
I currently have my 1996 29' on a lift but the lift only has 12,500 lbs capacity. Should I spend the $ on a larger capacity or leave the next larger boat in the water?
Bill Richards

 

[dpmulvey]

IMO, the only thing better than a lift is a lift in a boathouse. If you can afford the lift, go for it. No bottom paint. Stable at the dock when you are working on her. No worry about people who don't know the definition of "No Wake Zone". Virtually impossible to sink at the dock. Easy to bypass the AC pump and have here air conditioned out of the water. Etc.......

 

[docofthebay]

"Easy to bypass the AC pump and have her air conditioned out of the water. Etc....... "

I keep mine on a lift and wondered how to run the a/c while up in the air. How do you do this??

 

[blescallett@verizon.net]

I am intrested in running the a/c on my boat wile on the lift also how do you bypass the pump?

 

[srt8mag]

"Easy to bypass the AC pump and have her air conditioned out of the water. Etc....... "

I keep mine on a lift and wondered how to run the a/c while up in the air. How do you do this??

How'd you do this?

 

[dpmulvey]

Sorry for the delay in responding and thanks to docofthebay for the PM asking me to post. I have been out of the loop for a couple of days with no internet.

For the AC to work, you only need water flow. There are two ways to get that. Connect the dock water to system. This is not the recommended way but that's another story.

The other way is to pump the water beneath the lift through the system.

I am providing the basics here. I have seen the very simple to the very elaborate but the end result is the same. The only commonality is the need to insert a switch to cut the AC seawater cooling pump off when the boat is raised on the lift and you want to run the AC.

Insert a Forespar (mfg name) 902007 or 902008 "Y" diverter valve after the AC cooling water pump.

Hang a submersible pump with approximately the same GPH as the seawater cooling pump off the stern.

Connect the submersible pump output to the remaining "Y" valve input.

Turn the handle on the "Y" valve to accept input from the submersible pump.

Turn off the power to the seawater cooling pump in the boat.

Plug in the submersible pump.

Turn on the AC.

Again. I have provided the basics. How elaborate one wants to get with the install is an individual decision and is precicely the reason I did not go into great detail. I would be happy or offer my opinion to anyone who asks.

HTH.

 

[docofthebay]

Thanks! That's makes a lot of sense.

 

[NoThanksDad]

While were on the subject of AC & Pumps. Is there any reason why I couldn't replace the existing (inoperable) AC seawater pump with a Sureflow pump with the same gph flow rate, as opposed to spending the big $$$ on replacing with the exact pump the mfg recommends?

Thanks

 

[dpmulvey]

While were on the subject of AC & Pumps. Is there any reason why I couldn't replace the existing (inoperable) AC seawater pump with a Sureflow pump with the same gph flow rate, as opposed to spending the big $$$ on replacing with the exact pump the mfg recommends?

Thanks

It's not only the GPH rate, it's the durability and voltage. I didn't know they made constant use pumps. If they do and they are ABYC rated, I don't see why not. A lot of the better pumps expense is the construction and how they cool themselves.

I'm sure some with more smarts than me will chime in.

Keep us posted. Those things are expenive.

 

[tobnpr]

That's an interesting idea for operating the ac unit while the boat's on the lift.

I'm not sure why you'd want to go through the hassle of doing all that though, when you can push a button and just drop the boat into the water, and turn on the ac... (?)
I must be missing something...

 

[dpmulvey]

Dehumidification 24/7

 

[casey344]

Happy to help with boat lift advise/recommendations.

We are a Poly Lift and Galvalift dealer and have travelled into your area with our floating lift business. These floating style lifts work best if you have a u-slip.

We sell cable lifts too but are limited to the Carolina lakes where we have our pile drivers.

In a couple weeks we will be installing a 15,000 lb. Poly Lift here on Lake Norman.