PWC lift or floating dock

bradpins

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I’m loving my 2021 Bennington! I also bought 2 Yamaha wave runners. I’m sure many of you out there have wave runners. I’m on the main body of a lake in Illinois. It can get a little rough at times. I’m torn between getting a lift vs a floating dock port. Does anyone out there have experiences with these two types? What do you recommend? What brands do you like? Thank you!
 
We have a cove that gets nasty in the winter with the NW winds. We have the wave runners on a lift/cradle. Get it up and out ofthe water.
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If you have to remove for the winter, the floating ones are a PITA to remove....very heavy.
 
I’m loving my 2021 Bennington! I also bought 2 Yamaha wave runners. I’m sure many of you out there have wave runners. I’m on the main body of a lake in Illinois. It can get a little rough at times. I’m torn between getting a lift vs a floating dock port. Does anyone out there have experiences with these two types? What do you recommend? What brands do you like? Thank you!
I was wondering the same thing and have begun to notice that the folks on the lake by and large seem to have lifts whereas those in the canals tended to have the floating ports. Bill's statement above makes a lot of sense. I ended up snatching up a couple of used lifts for about the price of a single new one. Both new and used seem to be hard to come by here in northern Michigan.
 
+1 on the comments above. New Sea Doo last month ourself. I wasn’t sure about which to go with, but was told the floating PWC ones were challenging sometimes to get in and out seasonally due to weight and what not (in Michigan, same lake as Steve above).

Also, I kind of liked the idea of a more traditional looking lift anyway in getting it totally up and out of water in case things get really rough - which our lake can get pretty bad sometimes. We went with a lift as a result.

BIG advantage: PWC lifts are pretty light. Very light. Even the more robust ones. Ours is rated for holding up to 1200 lbs but only weights 135lbs itself. I put mine in, arranged it, and changed - all solo.

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I have two wave runners with individual lifts. Neighbor has floating lift for his PWC. It is easier for his wife to use vs. cranking up a lift. Floating lift has the benefit of being able to walk around it to put the cover on. Crank up lift has the benefit of allowing water to pass through, floating lift can trap floating weeds. Some floating lifts on lakes don't have to be removed, just turned sideways at the shore. Both have their + and -'s.
 
We get large waves on our lake and had our sea doos lifted off of lifts and banged up, so we know have floating ones and it doesn't happen. They are more expensive and more of a pain in the ass to move, but more secure and they are out of the water. It's also easier for wife and kids just to drive them on instead of cranking.
 
I've had drive on lifts / floating docks for my PWC's for the last 23 years. I prefer driving on and off very much to the crank style. I can also walk around 3 sides of the PWC to cover it or do minor service. In the cooler months when my Waverunner is on the trailer, a friend uses my EZ Dock floating lift as her kayak launch. It works perfectly. But I live in SC and don't ever have to remove them.
 
We have 2 platform lifts made by by Polylift on LOTO. I'm not sure where your located or if they even sell all over the country. Not cheap, but they are great, very easy to use, walk around the skis and made for rough water.D7K_2437.JPGD7K_6041.JPG

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I have a full ezdock system and love it. You can watch videos on youtube showing its rough water performance. We live on big water and have been completely satisfied.
 

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I personally like the drive on PWC docks or jet ski docks better. Easy to use. Just drive on and push off. No electric or anything to maintain. The only reason I would suggest using a hoist if you have rough water.

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Lift for sure. We are on a pretty busy cove, and the wake boats can really get things moving. Even with our PWC all the way up on a floater (which takes two people to push it off), one day we came over to the jetski half off the float and only held by the backup rope I had in case that happens. We never have rough water issues in a lift.
 
We're looking at lifts too. As Trippernsc said it takes 2 people to get them off the floaters or 1 person with risk of hernia.
Our issue is the slip we keep the WaveRunners in is 11' deep so the hand cranks won't work. I got a bid for a double hydraulic lift and was quoted $24,000, so not sure how to make a lift work. Definitely not going to pay that ridiculous amount.
 
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