6
LIFT CAPACITIES
It’s recommended that the total loaded weight
of the water craft doesn’t exceed 75-85% of the
total lift capacity. The total capacity of a lift is the
combined capacity of each of the boat lifts two
main lifting beams.
Never exceed the weight capacity of either main
lift beam. For instance a 5,000 lb capacity boat lift
is limited to 2,500 lbs for each main lift beam. It is
very easy for a 4,000 lb boat to exceed the capacity
of a 5,000 lb boat lift by not parking on the lift in
the correct position.
BEFORE PUTTING A BOAT ON THE
LIFT YOU NEED TO KNOW THREE
VERY IMPORTANT THINGS:
1.
Determine the total loaded boat weight?
Weigh your boat loaded with fuel, water and
everything in that you could ever have in it when
it is parked on the boat lift. Not all manufacturers
published boat weights are accurate because they
don’t account for motors, gear, fuel, water, etc.
2.
Determine the boats center of gravity or CG?
A boat’s CG is the location under the boat hull
which the boat will balance if sitting on a narrow
object (Illustration A). Your dealer or the manu-
facturer of the boat should be able to help you
locate the boat’s CG. Be sure that the motor and
gear weight have been taken into consideration.
Never exceed the lift’s rated capacity. Doing
so could cause structural/mechanical failure
and serious injury or death.
WARNING
3. Determine that the boats center of gravity (CG)
is centered between the two main lift beams.
• The boat should be parked so that the boat’s
CG or balance point is centered between the
two main lift beams (Illustration B). Each of the
lift beams should be supporting the same
amount of weight.
Once you know that your boat is well within the
boat lifts rated capacity and the location of the
boat’s CG develop a positioning method that will
ensure that all users of the boat lift will park with
the Boat’s CG in the center of the lift. Here are a
couple of suggestions to do this consistently:
• Use a motor stop.
• Note the proper location of the boat on the lift
and use some sort of marking system or labels.
• If equipped with canopy, center the canopy
over the boat when the boat’s CG is in the
center of the lift, park with the boat centered
under the canopy.
• You can even hang an object such as a
tennis ball so it just touches the windshield
when the boat is properly positioned.
If your boat is not positioned properly, you
can extremely overload one of the main lifting
beams (Illustration C).
Illustration A: above shows the boat’s balance point of
center of gravity (CG).
x
Illustration B: shows the boat’s center of gravity (CG)
centered between the two main lift beams – each of the
lift beams is supporting the same amount of weight.
Illustration C: shows a boat’s center of gravity (CG)
improperly positioned so that it extremely overloads
one of the main lifting beams.
To Next Page
Loading...
