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Lift problem!

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Luther Lovell

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I just bought a 22’ Bennington. My existing lift has two top rails that run parallel with the toons. Problem is that the very back of the transom mount is too wide to fit between the rails making it impossible for me to park the boat forward enough to fit the very last (rear) cross member on the rails. I’m worried that the weight of the motor on the rear will eventually bow/sag the rear since it isn’t supported by the rails. Is this a problem? (I’m new to the forum and relatively new to pontoon ownership and very new to lifts). Thanks for any help.
 
Maybe a pic would help? Since the boat shouldn't be wider in the back than the front, I guess I'm having a hard time picturing the issue.
 
Can't you just adjust the rail out in the rear? I don't thing the motor pod is wider than a standard toon.
 
I don’t have a lift but I think he is talking about the motor pod back end being too wide for the lift rails. That doesn’t allow the boat to move in far enough. The bottom of my pod will hit my crank up trailer’s cross member if I don’t position it exactly right if the trailer had been moved. This only happens on land when putting the trailer back under - after winter storage not in the water.
 
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Hopefully the pictures uploaded correctly, as this is my first time. As you can see in the photos, the transom mount gets wider, the further back it goes. The top rails on the lift are not wide enough to extend past the widest point on the transom mount. This leaves me about 1 foot short of having the entire pontoon on the lift. You will see in the pictures that a small section of the transom mount under the pontoon (on the right side) has a small bend in it. That is due to it sitting on the lift top rails before I noticed it didn’t fit.
 
Ok, I thought you had a vertical lift. Your's cannot be widened. How about adding 2x4's or some material that is the thickness of the motor flange to the rails except for the last 14" or so. This will allow the wood to lift the crossmembers and the motor pod will sit on the back without carrying all the weight.
 
lakeliving said:
Ok, I thought you had a vertical lift. Your's cannot be widened. How about adding 2x4's or some material that is the thickness of the motor flange to the rails except for the last 14" or so. This will allow the wood to lift the crossmembers and the motor pod will sit on the back without carrying all the weight.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I'm struggling to picture what you are suggesting. regardless of the height, the issue is I can't get the lift rails to go beyond the motor flange to reach the most rear cross member. If I bypass it with some form of cutout to miss the flange, I still have the very back cross member on the pontoon sitting on nothing. Am I misunderstanding your suggestion?
 
I am NO GOOD at creative DIY items. However, your pictures are outstanding at illustrating your concern. A big part of me says this isn’t a problem as it must be common, and these boats are built super well. However, I am so non-mechanical/non-insightful engineering and construction wise, my ASSumption is based on...well, nothing concrete. :confused:

Based on other people’s posts over time, it seems like Bennington is very good at replying directly to customers about these sorts of care and structural stability concerns. :)

Might I suggest reaching out to Bennington directly and asking them if your currently lift and situation will support the boat well enough, OR if over time that weight on the back will create the problems you are afraid of? Maybe its all to do about nothing due to how well these boats are built...? Maybe what you are concerned about is legit, and doing something about it is necessary...? No one will know better than Bennington directly. :cool:
 
Vikingstaff said:
I am NO GOOD at creative DIY items. However, your pictures are outstanding at illustrating your concern. A big part of me says this isn’t a problem as it must be common, and these boats are built super well. However, I am so non-mechanical/non-insightful engineering and construction wise, my ASSumption is based on...well, nothing concrete. :confused:

Based on other people’s posts over time, it seems like Bennington is very good at replying directly to customers about these sorts of care and structural stability concerns. :)

Might I suggest reaching out to Bennington directly and asking them if your currently lift and situation will support the boat well enough, OR if over time that weight on the back will create the problems you are afraid of? Maybe its all to do about nothing due to how well these boats are built...? Maybe what you are concerned about is legit, and doing something about it is necessary...? No one will know better than Bennington directly. :cool:
Click to expand...


Thanks..that’s a good idea and probably what I need to do. I just don’t want to send them a pic and have them immediately void my warranty
 
I think you got the jest of my suggestion. What that would allow is the boat to sit flat on the rails. That motor pod is stout and only bent when all of the boats weight was being carried by it, and the front crossmember. Once the load is distributed among all of the cross members(sitting on wood) and the back on the bare rail I think it would work. Getting the height of the flange to match the material added to the top rails would be key. Otherwise you might be looking for a new lift.
 
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