Boat lift in muck for new Bennington

[harse]

We got a vertical lift for our new Bennington tri toon. Where I have to put the lift the out side legs will be in the muck. Has anyone have any good ideas on how to keep the lift from sinking in the muck? The lift has to be taken out in the winter so it can not get stuck in the muck. Trying to get everything ready for spring and how to make it work

 

[lakeliving]

Tom on here gave me a tip a while back and used steel lids from a barrel to get a bigger foot print. I think he lived on a soggy bottom canal at the time and that was his fix. I think the main thing is getting a bigger foot print similar to snow shoes for the snow. Obviously you'd want to make sure the pad would support the weight of the lift and boat/gear. Good luck and keep us updated. Curious to see what others say as well

 

[TomS]

Yes, we used the plastic lids from industrial 55 gallon chemical barrels. They had 1 hole in them as supplied, and we drilled a second across from that one. The muck sort of oozes through those holes and locks them in place. We first sunk them with weight of the legs on the lift, then carefully set them with the boat on, re-leveled the legs, and they were solid as a rock for many years.

 

[guardrail22]

depending on who owns your lake and what they will and will not permit, you might consider a floating lift tethered to your dock. Depending on the "muck" it will be hard to make the footprint big enough.

 

[Bill N]

Here's another route;

Take 1/2" plywood & cut into 2' squares (one for each leg)

Drill through the mud pad and the plywood - one hole 3/8 dia & fasten with bolt & nut. NO WASHERS

The reason for no washers is when you want to remove lift, the bolt will pull through the plywood leaving the plywood stuck in the muck and the lift removes easily.

 

[harse]

I asked engineer what he thought would work good in the muck. He came up with take a 55 gallon barrel and cut it in half. Then drill a few holes in the top to let water out and sink it with the sides first and the flat part as the top. It will do the same as the lids like you guys have said but should hold it in place and not sink as much I hope. We will see this spring if spring ever comes.

 

[TomS]

I asked engineer what he thought would work good in the muck. He came up with take a 55 gallon barrel and cut it in half. Then drill a few holes in the top to let water out and sink it with the sides first and the flat part as the top. It will do the same as the lids like you guys have said but should hold it in place and not sink as much I hope. We will see this spring if spring ever comes.

We tried that first and the legs tend to slide off the flat bottom part and it's really hard to get them level and keep them there. The plastic lids by themselves have a little 2" or so lip it keeps that from happening even if they are a bit uneven. The muck also won't push the sides in like it does on a half barrel. Just my 2 cents, but mine were solid for the 10 years we lived there.

The plywood suggested above delaminates in a matter hours/days underwater so I'm not sure that's going to be a good approach.

 

[SEMPERFI8387]

How deep is the water? Would it be feasible to get some 2" thick 2' x 2' paver blocks and place

2-3 stacked (so they don't crack like a single one would) at each leg spot. They could be left in place, and they are cheap. They have them at Lowes for like $8 each ?? (I think)