Every boat owner needs to get familiar with the concept of boat lifts. This is how you get your boat in and out of water. It’s how you keep your boat safe, as well as how you perform maintenance and inspections on it.
However, the twist of irony will have it that the boat lift needs maintenance as well. There are some things you need to check periodically in order to ensure that your boat lift works as intended. With that in mind, here’s what you need to check.
- Check Cables
From the very start, you need to accept that the cables are under a lot of physical stress. They’re doing the bulk of lifting, meaning they’re under a lot of wear and tear. Sure, you’re using thicker cables for heavier boats, but the increase in cable resilience is seldom proportionate to the weight of the boat. Sure, they can handle it, but they get less and less reliable with each use.
A cable snapping can be more costly than a cable replacement, seeing as how your boat might get damaged or tipped if it falls into the water from a great height, not to mention the damage to any equipment or valuables you have there.
The most important thing about this is that you don’t have to be an engineer or a boating specialist in order to conduct a successful inspection of the boat lift cable. A visual inspection is all you need. You just walk up to the cable and look for visible signs of damage.
All you need to do is visually inspect the cable and periodically replace it.
- Inspect the Motor and Gears
According to specialists from Tonkalift.com, motors can wear out over time, drastically reducing your boat lift’s efficacy. It will, eventually, cause it to fail if not maintained, and it may fail at a critical moment. Most boat lifts cannot be operated without the motor (any lift that’s not manually operated), which means that the boat lift will be completely unusable. For most larger boats, you won’t have another way to get them out of the water or lower them into the water.
Lubrication helps extend gear life because it prevents friction and damage that it causes. You see, motors have a lot of moving parts, and friction erodes them over time. With adequate lubrication, the effect will be a lot lower.
You have to listen for unusual noises during operation in order to notice signs of motor trouble in time. Grinding or whining indicates there are problems, and when you hear them, you need to get a specialist on the task ASAP.
You also need to check for signs of rust or corrosion, which can be done visually and doesn’t require any mechanical expertise. Rust is easy to spot and it can ruin anything from a water heater, all the way to a boat lift motor.
- Examine the Lift’s Structure
You must look for signs of rust on metal parts, seeing as how rust compromises the integrity of the structure, making it unstable for use. Sure, the boat is lifted with the help of cranks and levers but the structure still supports the brunt of the weight. Even if there’s no damage on the boat, the damage on the lift will make it difficult to repair.
Rust is not the only threat you’re facing; you also have to inspect for cracks or weaknesses in the frame. You have to check if there are some serious issues since these can cause a serious problem the next time you try using the lift. The thing is that you don’t have to go actively looking for them. Just walk around the lift a bit and take a look at the structure before using it.
You must also ensure that bolts and fasteners are tight. Over time, they will get loosened, which could result in an increased instability of the structure. Lastly, you should also check for wear and tear in the moving parts.
- Test the Lift’s Balance
One of the most important tests that the majority of boat owners overlook is making sure the lift is level and stable. A properly balanced lift ensures that your boat is supported evenly, which will reduce the risk of boat damage and catastrophic failure of the lift itself.
If you notice any uneven lifting mechanisms, you have to do your best to adjust them. The longer this keeps on, the more pressure (that your lift wasn’t made for) will take place, which will damage the structure and cause some of the problems we’ve discussed in the previous section.
You also want to check for signs of strain on one side. An imbalance (especially when not noticed for too long) will cause strain on one of the sides. This means that if you inspect the lift from just one side, everything will seem fine.
Most importantly, you want to rebalance your lift, as necessary, after repairs or adjustments.
- Review Electrical Components
Ultimately, hydraulic lifts and all complex lifts (non-manual) have electrical parts. So, you want to inspect all wiring for wear or damage. Naturally, if you notice any wear, discoloration, odd smells, or sparks, you should call an electrician right away. This is not a repair that you should attempt to make on your own.
You also want to ensure connections are secure and dry. As you can guess, this is not nearly as easy to pull off on the electrical components.
You also want to test the control switches and remotes. These are often not seen as a part of the lift, but they’re something that you can’t really control without.
One of the things you should also do is replace any frayed or outdated cables. This should be done periodically, even when the signs of damage are not yet visible. It’s a cheap replacement, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Wrap up
Remember that no matter how serious we sounded, these boat lifts are quite robust. In other words, rust, cracks, or damaged cables won’t happen overnight. They won’t even happen every year. This, however, can also be seen as a problem. After all, it could make you feel complacent and make you skip an inspection, then two, and then develop a habit of not checking the boat lift at all. Before you know it, you’ll be in serious trouble.
