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Dry Dock Question

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AmmoVan

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Hello everyone New guy here :) .  I just purchased a Bennington 211 RL (deck boat).  It is a 2004 and in great shape.  I wanted to put it in a boat slip (fresh water) and dry dock it for ease of access.  The mechanic at the dealer said picking the boat up by 2 straps underneath will cause damage since the boat is not being picked up by the pressure points like on the trailer.  He said the straps would cause the boat to warp because it would squeeze the boat ( I guess the best way to put it) and the doors etc wouldn't shut right.  I never looked at dry docking a boat before so anyone have any experience with this?  Thank you
 
You would need a lift and the easiest would be a bladder type with a air pump. Is there power at the dock? BTW, Welcome to the forum and pics are nice. I've never seen a Bennington deck boat.
 
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With the dry docking they are lifting the boat to put it on a rack.  Somebody just posted that their toon was drydocked in Fl.  That marina must not use slings.  I could see that tweaking the toons.  Like to know the equipment they use to move the boats in FL.
 
Apparently Bob's Marina is doing it with a huge forklift....just did a google search and this is the only image I could come up with
 
If you have lifting strikes be careful. If the forklift is not positioned properly it will bend them or even break them off. My marina will not dry store pontoons due to this.
 
I assume you're talking about a fiberglass hulled deck boat.  They're fine to use a set of straps on.

But you would never want to use straps on an aluminum hulled pontoon boat as they'll eventually put a dent in one or both of the toons.   If one was using inside storage on a pontoon boat, you'd need to have a rack fabricated that looks like a boat trailer minus the long tongue and the wheels.  Using one of the huge forklifts to "fork" a pontoon boat from the rear (under the deck) is just asking for dents and problems.  Someone makes such a rack commercially.
 
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