To lift or not to lift... that is the question

[Butchkid]

Lifts are expensive. I expect that next winter I will probably pull the toon out of the water and have the dealer winterize it before storing it somewhere nearby. If I got a lift I wouldn't have to pay for storage on land however. I can't make up my mind. Let's say I don't get a lift, then between now and winter, how often should I pull it out of the water and spray it down? How quickly does the algea build up, and will it do any damage?

 

[Geoffrey & Brenda]

Hi Butchkid, do you own a slip or dock, or do you rent one? If you own, then a lift makes more sense. As far as algea, it depends on your lakes water quality, so you will have to play by ear on that, i don't think it will do any real damage, but it will stain your toons over time. On our last ski boat, the previous owner had taken it to a lake in Oklahoma with muddy red water, stained it bad, he tried, i tried, no luck, it just would not come off! Maybe some Sharkhide? I'm still going to put it on ours before it goes in the water.

 

[Butchkid]

I rent in a marina so that makes this an even more expensive proposition since I don't get to keep it. I already paid for an extension to the dock that they can now collect money on from every person who rents the slip after I am gone. It is the worst case scenario, which is why I am wondering about how often I should maintain it if it sits in the water full time until winter. I could legitimately be on the water through November or maybe even December. I don't see a white Christmas very often in this part of the country. B)

 

[tkrein]

heres what you can do to help with the growth buy those yellow sponges with the green scrubber onone side and just jump off and scrubb the toons every now and then when it gets cold it will be harder but then you can pull it out but just scubbing with those scubbers will make a huge difference. just my 2 cents

T.Krein

 

[Clark]

Have you looked at getting sea legs for your pontoon. I just can't see buying a dock extention and a lift and leaving it with the marina. I leave my pontoon docked in a fairly clean lake and I have to clean it in the water with a long handle brush 2 times a season. The growth does not cause any damage, but it does slow it down.