C-Dory on a boat lift

H

Hunky_Dory_Little_Cayman

New member
Does anyone have any experience with boat lifts? I have Hunky on one and am wondering if I might be lifting it wrong. I have had two 18' boats on it in the past. I have a cradle type lift that has two cross bars to support the boat. At the rear, right under the fuel tanks, I have a flat area 6" wide and 24" long that the boat rests on. In the front, under about the helm, I have a small pad that the keel rests on. I'm wondering if I should have bunks running between the two rails (like on a trailer). The problem is these bunks will take away 8" of water depth when the tide is low and I'm close now.
Thanks!!
Craig
 
Let me start with " I am not an engineer" but my common sense tells me you will be just fine. As long as the boat is solid on it's perch and will not be shifted by wind it won't be much different then the attached picture.
DSCN1895.sized.jpg
 
If your supports on the lift are as far apart as the supports in that picture, I think I'd be worried about the stress on the hull over time, however well built the boat.
We've kept "Snowdon" on a lift for months at a time, summer and winter, supported by longitudinal bunks about 2 1/2 to 3 feet apart with no problems. But I think I know what you mean about needing more depth than might be available--at low tide we can get afloat but just by inches. Maybe by making the bunks thick horizontally you could keep 'em low. Ours are essentially 2x6's, on edge, carpet covered. Good luck. Bruce Holly
 
My 22' Cruiser was on a boat lift in Southern Maryland for 6 years. I had no problems with the boat now or then. My boat lift had two I beams going from left to right. One under the bow and one under the stern. On these I beams were two 4 X 8 pressure treated beams covered with carpet. These beams ran fore and aft so that the boat keel would be kept in the middle. I had 4 vertical PVC polls used to guide the boat onto the lift so that it was centered on the two fore and aft beams. I had two motors to raise or lower each I beam so I could kept the boat bow high and plug out so rain water would drain from the cockpit. I was on the Potomac River where we had a two foot tide. I left my boat on the lift year round even through the storms. I tied the boat to the pier pilings to keep the boat from swinging in the wind. The support I had on my hull was similar to that of a bunker trailer. I think I'd want more support under my boat for long term then what your describing.
My C-Dory ia another Hunky Dory. I know of another in the San Francisco area, another in the Maryland/Virginia area and I found another here in Maine. Good name. Fits the boat very well.
 
OK, how about a 16 Cruiser with a spreader and strap under the transom and a lifting eye off of and just aft of the stem? Would the boat sag or crack over time? Sorry, but the boat has not come yet and I can't open the electronic manual either, but should be setting up the boathouse.
 
I kept a Grady White 20 foot overnighter (heavier than the C Dory) for 5 years in "Strap" slings and had no problems. The aft strap was just foreward of the transom. The other strap was just foreward of the helm--probably a little aft of the helm in your boat.

Currently I have a 28 foot (31 foot LOA) express on a 10,000 lb lift with the I beams and fore and aft 4 X 12"--But for a C Dory you could get by with 4 x 4 easily! I would just be sure that the transom is well supported. The thing you want to avoid is a Hook in the boat due to lack of support of the transom.

When I get my Tom Cat 255, I will leave the bunks on the lift, and they will become the centering strakes, and I will use 2 x 12" on the flat under the boat--I may have to epxoy two together if there seems to be any sag. The Tom Cat trailers have the boats sitting on 2 x 10's--with supports every 2 to 3 feet.
 
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