Moving a portable boat lift on the road.

[Wish]

Lookn to move a lift (shore station) about 8 miles on the roads. And not country roads either. Will encounter traffic and lights and multiple lain roads. We have the use of a Nautique trailer. Any suggestions for loading it safely and transporting would be very helpful.

[Andre]

Got ot move it on its side otherwise you're too wide...here anyway.

[Jmoski]

The shore station dealer (NH) I bought my lift from had a custom made trailer for transporting them assembled - minus the canopy. Maybe there is a dealer near you has one as well.

 

In my case they drove it to my property and 4 guys hand carried it off and down to the water. Had I been close to the boat ramp they would used floats to get it off the trailer at the ramp and moved it down the lake.

 

If you are close to a ramp, floating it over right onto the trailer would make easy work of loading. You then just need to strap it down securely and pull it out just like pulling the boat.

[nam1975]

I’ve used a crank up pontoon boat trailer before.You're pretty wide. My lift is 10’ wide.

[oldjeep]

Snowmobile trailer is how we moved my inlaws. Legs hung over the sides.

[jedgell]

I used a small flatbed trailer and hauled it on its side. Mine is a Shorestation rated for 3,400 lbs. it’s about 10’ wide and 8’ tall. Dealer told me to put it on its side. It seemed very sketchy but I hauled it almost 300 miles and it was fine. Just be sure to strap it down with heavy duty straps , but with only 8 miles I wouldn’t worry too much.

[skibrain]

Check your local oversize trailer regs.

[96SNEFI]

skibrain has my comment. I also used a snowmobile trailer. But it was too wide. I got a permit to haul it. Had to flag each corner. Learned afterwards that you're even supposed to get permits for towns you're going through. And from pick-up to drop-off. No stopping in between. Piffle. One permit was enough red tape for me.

For some reason, hauling this thing ... sucked... gas. I even ran out and coasted down a hill into a gas station. It was a 4 hour haul.

[oldjeep]

We were probabally over width as well, but on a sunday morning and only moving it 15 miles or so it wasn't an issue.

[strickmd]

I just moved a 2600# shore station with canopy this spring in Michigan. Put it on a car hauler with the fenders taken and the legs hanging off either side of the trailer. It just barely cleared the wheels. Moved it about 8 miles too. Just strapped it down and didn't budge on the trailer. We launched it off a pontoon trailer at the boat launch and floated it down to our lot on a couple 5x6 floats and some 2x6's.

[Wish]

@strickmd any pics of it on the trailer?

[jedgell]

Here’s my setup

[Wish]

@jedgell thank you for the pic. That helps a great deal as to how this could work and what we will be dealing with. Any tips for getting it on the trailer and getting it on its side like that. Any of the lifts cable mechanisms need to be strapped down or

[jedgell]

@Wish we had the use of a forklift to help getting it both the trailer. They’re heavier than you think, and awkward. Without a forklift I think you’d need at least 4 people. Basically get the trailer next to the lift and tip it up and let it down on its side in the trailer. Be careful because the legs will want to kick. Also. W sure to have the lift mechanism/wheel down on the trailer. That part is heavy so you don’t want it 10’ i the air. I did strap the moving part of the lift so it couldn’t move, but I was going almost 300 mi. With your move it’s probably fine to just strap the lift to the trailer.

[strickmd]

Unfortunately no pics. Mine was the 108" wide model, it fit just outside the trailer wheels with about 1.5" to spare each way

[harddock]

I strattled a car trailer with my Floe. The legs were outside the deck but not obnoxiously so. I too trailered it on back roads, and down Main St but on a Sunday morning and got through undetected. I did take the canopy apart and laid it inside the lift. Centered it was only 9" over on each side.

 

[Lars]

Not very legal (especially with the wheel kit) but here's how we moved a boat lift this winter. Went down a 2 late state highway for about 10 miles, had to hug the fog line to keep from going over the centerline.

 

 

I'll add even though it seemed very high, we easily cleared stop lights and power lines B)

[Bongo]

Choices: 1. Legal, 2. Safe or 3. Cheap. BTW, Legal doesn't necessarily mean Safe or vice versa.

 

I've moved two different 10' wide boat lifts on a scissor lift style pontoon trailer. One a ShoreStation and the other a ShoreMaster. Each some distance (e.g. 120 miles), but never through a lot of stop-and-go traffic. Legs stuck well wide of the trailer.

 

My keys:

1. Go slow. Especially around corners. Even slower yet. Top heavy on a narrow trailer induces a bit of a pucker factor.

2. Have at least one informal chase vehicle. In both cases, I had a good blocker. May have pi$$ed off the cars trying to pass, but he did a good job of blocking anything behind me so all I had to worry about was what was ahead of me.

3. Go during off-traffic hours but with some light. I know in the most recent case, I left just before dawn on a Saturday morning. Figured all the late-nighters would be done by then, and more of the early workers would at least get a Saturday morning late® start. Cement truck and a milk truck were about the only two where I had any concerns, and they likely saw me before I saw them.

 

No incidents at all. Nothing even close.

 

Good luck.

 

Oh yea, even slower. :-)

 

[2Valve]

Moved my lift on my motorcycle trailer.

 

Brought the legs all the way up and used large c-clamps to lock down the frame to the trailer railing. It was a tad wide so the 100 mile trip was somewhat interesting.

 

I had my buddy lead the way and if we encountered joggers, walkers, bicyclists, he would lay on the horn to get 'em to move over. :)

 

We made it, but heard a few cuss words directed our way. Shame, shame.

 

2 Valve

[strickmd]

I lied, I found a pic - if I know how to post pics