vertical boat lifts

[Neutron68]

Has anyone changed from a cantilever boat lift to a vertical boat lift?

example:
http://www.boatliftwarehouse.com/boat_lifts/shoremaster/3000-vertical-lift-dvs-30966.php

The central Minnesota lake where the cabin is had wild level fluctuations this summer.  In the spring, there was flooding and high water levels, that swallowed the beach.  After June ended, so did the rain.  The drought caused the lake level to fall almost 2 feet from July 1 to approximately September 14.  During that time we pushed the cantilever boat lift further out into the lake 2 times.  We had to stop when we reached the end of the dock.  I pulled my boat out at the end of August for maintenance and and didn't want to risk getting it stuck on the lift after the repair was done.  So, I just rolled it into the garage.

With the low lake levels, many people around the lake had their boats stuck on the boat lifts.  A guy at the local marine shop said they were helping people get their boats off the lifts using come-alongs.  Finally, some rain fell on the weekend of September 14 and the lake rose about 2 inches.

I'm told that with the vertical lifts, you won't need to move the lifts around much during the summer.  They can stay the same distance from shore nearly all season because, you can lower their cradles down to within 6-8 inches of the lake bottom (perfect for low water conditions), and can raise the boat up higher above the water than a cantilever lift can (perfect for the spring high water situations)!  From what I see, a vertical lift will extend the boating season by a matter of weeks!

[thedeuceman]

I got a shore station lift for free last year With intention on using it for our pontoon. But after hauling it decided it was going to be too heavy for us to get in and out of the lake. The people I got it from on Lake Minnetonka said they had to hire a crane to move it every year.
I thought about putting wheels on it so I could use a come along or a winch to roll it in and out, But that adds another foot of height to it.

[Neutron68]

I'm looking at a Shoremaster vertical lift.  They offer a retractable wheel kit which allows the lift frame to rest on the lake bottom.  When you want to move it, you lower the wheels and roll it.

http://shoremaster.com/product/wheel-caddy/

[thedeuceman]

those are nice, way lighter than the one im talking about.

[aquamaniac]

The vertical lift has much more vertical travel than the cantilever lift. 60 inches vs 34 inches, so yes you wouldn't have to move it as often. They do lower a little further than the cantilever so you might be a little better off in shallow water but the real advantage is the high lift so you can start in deeper water.

The down side to the vertical lift is a lot more cable to maintain and more care is required adjusting the feet to keep the lift from twisting and binding.

I have the wheel kit on my cantilever shoremaster and I can put the lift in, and take it out solo.

If you're in central minnesota, check out Hansen's Sports for good prices on Shoremaster.

[Silver GT-150]

 The vertical lift is great all around lift and accomodates deep, shallow and fluctating water.  As mentioned above the drawback is the vertical has more moving parts.  However, on the ShoreMaster all the pulleys are brass and ride on stainless steel bushings and all the cables are stainless steel so it is a very durable maintenance free design.  The wear item is going to be the winch cable as it is wraping and un-wraping on the spool of the winch and this is true for both a vertical and cantilever lift.  It is the easiest cable to replace, it simply runs from the winch down though the rack (bed) beam and anchors back up on the opposite side.  Dean at Hansen Sports is a great recommendation.