boat lifts-new or used-hydrohoist or shoremaster

[DT216]

I am in the market for a lift for my 216. I would appreciate any advice on this subject. I have not owned a lift before and I assume there are some things to consider before making the purchase. It appears that I will be stuck with my choice for many years, so the more info the better. Is there any used market that is worth checking out before going with a new one? At the marina where I am looking the owner has several that are in the $2000 range but they are more than 20 years old,although he claims they have been refurbished.
Also, does anyone have thoughts on hydrohoist or shoremaster? I have been told that they work in an almost identical manner. Both sell right @ $5000 new. --I am on lake Ray Hubbard just outside of Dallas , Tx. Any comments are appreciated.

[SGY]

RE: boat lifts-new or used-hydrohoist or shoremaster

We have a Shorestation--very similar to the Shoremaster. Works great.

[jeffsv211]

RE: boat lifts-new or used-hydrohoist or shoremaster

I have a shorestation (2003 model) with cover... works great but I have to lower the tower everytime I go in... but i still think its worth it, the marina said they could raise it so the tower would fit, but then it wouldn't do a lot of good to have a cover then!

[GRskinautique]

RE: boat lifts-new or used-hydrohoist or shoremaster

My advice on buying an old lift is beware. I bought one from a neighbor for about $2,000 and ended up putting another $900 into it having the gearbox and cables replaced. The thing still creaked and made all kinds of noise when using it. So much so my wife was afraid to use it. I ended up biting the bullet last year and buying a brand new one. I did a lot of research and ended up buying a Floe lift. You might want to check them out as they have some very cool features. I got one with VSD which uses a ball screw mechanism to raise and lower the boat. It also has legs that are adjustable using a cordless drill. I am very happy with it though it was more expensive than the others...but like you I figured I will have it for 15 to 20 years.

[Miljack]

I just purchased a used Hydrohoist lift, and after a little research, they seem to be a good company to deal with. Parts are available, and they have good distribution throughout the country. Their newer floating lifts now have the rotocast plastic tanks which should last a long time, they are "lifetime" warranty to the original purchaser. I also notice that they have nice polyurethane pivot bushings, and the newer models are designed so none of the steel is in the water.
FYI, I was able to walk in to a Hydohoist dealer and purchase the bands that surround a fiberglass tank from their stock. Pretty good support in my opinion. I can't even get stuff from dealer stock on my nautique! but that's another story.
Jack

[Quinner]

I have a shorestation w/canopy and motor, works great for me. I have my canopy high enough so I can get the boat in and up out of the water with the tower up. With the tower down you can of course get the boat much higher and tight to the underside of the canopy. This works well for me specifically if I am coming in for a while I can leave the tower up, bimini up and boards/ski's in the clips.

[bkhallpass]

HMMMM. I'm not terribly familiar with Shorestation, but I thought their lifts sit on the bottom. I know hydrohoist pretty well, but in my area all models are floating lifts. Don't know if Hydrohoist makes a bottom installed, or if Shorestation makes a floating lift. So, just curious, are you comparing apples to apples? BKH

[jonfo]

In WA many use one of these two lift companies, Nyman or Sunstream. They each make all aluminum bottom or floating lifts powered by hydraulics. They are both super high quality and prices start around $5K for a 4K lbs lift. I have one of each of these brands bottom installed at my house on Lake Sammamish. I have personally worked with Basta and they are very knowledgeable about every kind of boat lift, not just the Nyman ones they make. They both have a good website so you can see them and i think they should be light enough that they could be shipped anywhere.

http://www.gobasta.com/index_lifts_select.htm

http://www.sunstreamcorp.com/

[DT216]

Thanks for all the input and references to websites. I will be needing a floating lift, and most feedback seems to point to hydrohoist. The one thing that does suprise me is the lack of a "used" market. I would have thought people would be selling these things all the time and that a used one could be picked up pretty cheap. Either I am not looking in the right place or this is not the case. Anyway, thanks again.

[bkhallpass]

Don't know where you're located. In Northern California there is a good market for used
hydrohoists. I have a polylift which is very rigid. I really like it. Other floating lifts in the
area are galvalift, and econolift. Might want to check them out. BKH

[foiltravis]

I have had three floating lifts over the years, a Galvalift, a Boat floater and Hydrohoist. The Boat Floater came in a slip I bought and in my opinion was a piece of junk, I used it for a couple of years and replaced it with the HydroHoist. The Galvalift and HydroHoist are both excellent lifts, almost identical in design, the Galvalift I had used galvanized tanks vs. the fiberglass tanks on the HydroHoist (new ones now have plastic tanks). I have had many friends with the fiberglass tanks and over many years they tend to get small leaks, normally not serious just have to add some air every month or so, I don't remember exactly when I bought my lift (3 or 4 years ago) but so far no leaks. Here in Austin there are normally used lifts for sale, they normally sell for around $2000-2500. I bought my Galvalift for 2k and sold it five years later for 2k. They are normally advertised in the local newspaper or sometimes the lift dealer has one. If you find a used one on your lake you can fill it with air, block off the airline and float it to your dock, just make sure you have some method to put more air into it in case it starts to leak down while you are traveling.