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Lifting a Bennington

K

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Greetings. I am new to this forum and not yet a Bennington owner but hope to be soon. Your experience and suggestions are most appreciated.

Here's the situation. I am fortunate to have a boathouse in which to store a pontoon boat. The boathouse has an electric lift which is currently fitted with steel cable and wide canvas straps which lifted my SeaRay from beneath. I want to lift the Bennington as well but am not sure what my options are. So here are my questions:

Can the boat be lifted from beneath with straps (properly spaced)? Weight is not an issue as the Bennington is lighter than the SeaRay.

Can the boat be lifted from the top of deck or from the pontoons (or both) assuming proper hooks or lift points were installed?

Can the boat be lifted from between the pontoons -- lengthwise and if so, what concerns should I have?

I will post this on the the other forum also in case this is not the correct one.

Thanks,

Steve
 
I can't answer your question, but some thoughts came to mind...

Straps, used like a sling, would put some interesting forces on a pontoon boat. Your SeaRay is no doubt much better shaped to spread it's weight onto a couple slings. But with a "square" boat, like a pontoon, it would be much different. Which is probably why you are asking in the first place.

One thing to consider is where the center of gravity is on your boat. A large motor and full tank of gas can weigh upwards of 1000 lbs, so your center of gravity could be close to 1/3rd the distance from the back of the boat. Where are you planning to place your slings? My guess is your rear strap would be pretty close to the center of gravity, and so it would be supporting the lions share of the weight. Given that the aluminum tubes are about 1/12th of an inch think, I would be concerned about damaging the tubes. You no doubt are.

The slings would also "pinch" your tubes toward the center of the boat. Not sure if they are designed for that, but it seems that similar forces hit the tubes in a hard turn, so that may not be as much of an issue.

You really need to talk with Bennington about this. There are probably several safe ways to do this, but there are probably some catastrophic ways of doing it too! This is one of those things you definitely want to get right...

If you could rig something rigid (that resembled a pontoon trailer's bunks) and hooked your straps to that, the boat would be much better supported. Again, I would talk with the Bennington factory to find out what they recommend. My guess is something along these lines is what they will tell you. Let us know what they say!

Anyway, enough from me. Someone else here has probably dealt with this.
 
I just did a Google image search on "pontoon boat lift". EVERY picture that came back (first page of results anyway) shows a rigid support system. No straps... That should be a clue...
 
Kayaker said:
Greetings. I am new to this forum and not yet a Bennington owner but hope to be soon. Your experience and suggestions are most appreciated.

Here's the situation. I am fortunate to have a boathouse in which to store a pontoon boat. The boathouse has an electric lift which is currently fitted with steel cable and wide canvas straps which lifted my SeaRay from beneath. I want to lift the Bennington as well but am not sure what my options are. So here are my questions:

Can the boat be lifted from beneath with straps (properly spaced)? Weight is not an issue as the Bennington is lighter than the SeaRay.

Can the boat be lifted from the top of deck or from the pontoons (or both) assuming proper hooks or lift points were installed?

Can the boat be lifted from between the pontoons -- lengthwise and if so, what concerns should I have?

I will post this on the the other forum also in case this is not the correct one.

Thanks,

Steve
Click to expand...
Please do not lift the boat by any point above the deck or try to use cleats to lift. Please contact a qualified lift maker to look at options. The tubes must be supported properly (at bulkheads) and weight balance is crucial. You must be careful with straps, as they will have to lift straight up the side of the tubes...any variance could damage the tubes. Please seek the advice of a qualified lift maker! Good luck with the project, TB
 
Team Bennington said:
Please do not lift the boat by any point above the deck or try to use cleats to lift. Please contact a qualified lift maker to look at options. The tubes must be supported properly (at bulkheads) and weight balance is crucial. You must be careful with straps, as they will have to lift straight up the side of the tubes...any variance could damage the tubes. Please seek the advice of a qualified lift maker! Good luck with the project, TB
Click to expand...
Oh boy! I took a ride to a Bennington dealer an hour or so ago and he walked me around the 20 footer I am interested in and said they CAN be lifted from the top. Specifically, from the tips of the pontoons (where the holes are) and from near the stern where there are metal "rings" attached to the decking. We measured the distance from bow to stern and these points are 20' 4" apart. He said they lift their boats this way all the time. He also said not to use the cleats which I already surmised. Now what should I do?

Don't mean to start a dispute but this is important!
 
Kayaker said:
Oh boy! I took a ride to a Bennington dealer an hour or so ago and he walked me around the 20 footer I am interested in and said they CAN be lifted from the top. Specifically, from the tips of the pontoons (where the holes are) and from near the stern where there are metal "rings" attached to the decking. We measured the distance from bow to stern and these points are 20' 4" apart. He said they lift their boats this way all the time. He also said not to use the cleats which I already surmised. Now what should I do?

Don't mean to start a dispute but this is important!
Click to expand...
I would have to disagree with lifting at the front of the pontoons, I had mine out today 2012 24' SF and tied an anchor rope off to this same point and noticed it said right on the pontoon "do not lift"

with running a strap under the pontoons and the weight then supported by the pontoons you stand to crush the pontoons
 
I'm glad you found a solution you your problem!

But I can't help but make an observation here, and this is meant to be helpful, not insulting. Your dealer told you what you want to hear. The factory said the opposite. Think about who you REALLY should believe here.

Also, is this the same dealer who is trying to sell you the boat? Think about that angle too (is he just trying to sell you a boat?).

When he said they do this "all the time", does that mean once in a great while when one comes in on a special truck and they have no other way of getting it off the truck, and it's the ONLY time they lift that particular boat, or does it mean they leave them hanging out in the warehouse like a side of beef for months on end (like you will be). My guess is "all the time" may be a stretch...

Again, these are just some observations from the outside. I know nothing about the situation other than a couple paragraphs. Be honest with yourself and step back and think about it. You may be about to damage a brand new boat...

I'd verify what your dealer is telling you with someone else. "Seek advice from a qualified lift company" like Bennington said above.
 
Steve,

Don't lift your boat from these pontoon eyes. Contact your local lift companies that have done pontoon lifts for options. You can also look up Doozie lifts as they have lifts designed for pontoons.
 
Most overhead lifts around here use two 4x6's on edge to pick up a barge. I had a two tank lift that I extended to match my barge and used five pieces of 3" channel cross ways. I bolted 2x4's flat to the top of each one. My slip is 10 feet wide and I made my boards 9 feet. If the boat is in the slip, it's on the lift. Good luck with yours.
 
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