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- The Trapeze
- The Winch Stand
- The Pivot Stand
6 feet tall...10 feet wide between stands...2610 pound capacity...
Each main part weighs approximately 70 pounds, heavy duty-not heavy
Before Fabrication; 64 accessory parts and 31 metal fabricated parts...
After Fabrication; 3 Main Parts with 75 drilled holes and 57 welds...
All built in accordance with Engineered CAD drawings...
MADE in the USA!
The Portable Boat Lift is...
- Easy to store
- Easy to transport
- Easy to set up and use
QUICK INFORMATION: the Winch and Pivot Stands are 6 feet tall each and the Trapeze is 10 feet wide between them when attached to the Stands. This width allows typical 8 feet and 8 feet 6 inch wide trailers to be pulled out from under the boat, between the Stands, and out from under the Trapeze with room to spare on each side. Each piece weighs approximately 70 pounds.
There are numerous adjustment holes in each Stand to accommodate a wide variety of Bow Eye heights. The Trapeze is hung from the Bow Eye on the boat with the supplied hitch pin. One end of the Trapeze is attached to the Pivot Stand with the supplied safety pin. The other end of the Trapeze is attached to the winch cable hook coming over the pulley on top of the Winch Stand. We recommend the Lift be used on boats that are 25 feet long or less.
The WLL (Working Load Limit) for the Portable Boat Lift has been Engineered to 2610 pounds; calculated with a 1.5 Safety Factor. This is usually more than enough as the weight at the Bow (Eye) is usually substantially less than half the weight of the boat.
All steel fabricated parts are manufactured in accordance with ASTM Standards. All welding is done in accordance with AWS Standards. All steel fabricated parts are fully welded at all contact points. All Lifts are fabricated at a Certified Welding Shop, locally, and all parts (except for the wheels) are made in the
No more crawling under the boat for me; No more costly trips to the Marina; No more bottle and floor jacks; No more searching for a handy tree limb; No more waiting for someone else to do it. It fits in the back of your pick up, stores in a corner, and sets up on any firm level surface!
It's Safer!!
How it Works:
The Portable Boat Lift works on the Principal of a 'Second Order Lever'. A second order lever has its fulcrum (the pivot point) and effort (the end that is lifted) at opposite ends with the load somewhere between the two.
The Trapeze acts as a second order lever because it is supported on one end and lifted on the other. It provides a pivot action which lifts the Trapeze up at one end (while attached to the bow eye) and tilts the boat up from the bow while the boat is supported under the transom with your boat stands. The boat is acting as a second order lever too. It is supported under the transom by your boat stands while it is tilted up at the bow.
You would rather tilt the boat up from the bow than try to tilt it up from the transom. It's simply going to be heavier at the transom. The farther the center of gravity is away from the effort, the side you are lifting from or the bow, and the closer the center of gravity or load is to the pivot point, the supported end at the transom, the more leverage you have.
The Trapeze, as a part of the totally Engineered Lift, has a WLL (Working Load Limit) of 2610 pounds (as previously mentioned) at its center with a 1.5 Safety Factor. The "bow eye attachment point" has to be at the center of the Trapeze for proper weight distribution on the two Stands. It also needs to be centered to have equal space away from each Stand to allow the trailer to be pulled out while centered between the two Stands.
EXAMPLE: If a boat that weighs 5000 pounds weighs approximately 2250 pounds at the Bow Eye (using 55% aft weight/center of gravity distribution (your boat might be designed with more or less)) then the "Effort" needed to Lift one end of the Trapeze would be 1125 pounds; simple second order lever principals. The Trapeze Working Load Limit with a 1.5 Safety Factor is 2610 pounds at its center. The winch and cable therefore only need to be rated at 1305 pounds. The Cable we use, 1/4 inch 7/19 galvanized, has a breaking strength of 7000 pounds and a WLL of 1400 pounds. The Winch used, Dutton Lainson DLB 2500 has a Working Load Limit of 2500 pounds. We use a 2500 pound vs a 1500 pound rated winch for the much greater mechanical advantage and ease of use it has when turning its handle.
The 1500 pound winch has a 5.4: 1 Gear Ration and a 36.8 Maximum Mechanical Advantage, whereas the 2500 Pound winch has a 17.3: 1 Gear Ratio and a Maximum Mechanical Advantage of 115.3. Conversely, the 2500 pound winch would be capable of lifting a 5000 pound load at the center of the lever we call the Trapeze. Its just much easier and that's why we use the larger winch.
Inboards and I/O's will still follow this pattern of usually weighing substantially less than half the weight of the boat at the Bow Eye. Outboards will actually lessen the weight at the Bow Eye as the boat will essentially have a counterweight aft of your boat stands, the pivot point you create under the Transom.
The Bow Eye of the boat actually rests on the Trapeze "bow eye attachment point". This attachment point does not lift on the bow eye nor does it come in contact with the bow. The Trapeze "bow eye attachment point" pushes up on the bottom of the Bow Eye, tilting the boat up and providing enough separation between the boat and trailer to remove the trailer.
The Trapeze uses three Safety Pins, one at the Pivot Stand and two at the Winch Stand.
It has one Safety Pin going through its Tabs and through the Pivot Stand, in one of its many height adjustment holes, providing the pivot point. The Trapeze also has tabs at its other end. A Safety Pin is placed through its holes in the tab outside of the Winch Stand Center Post, which encases the Stand between it and the Trapeze. The second Safety Pin, at the Winch end of the Trapeze, is placed through the first hole in the Stand under the Trapeze where/when the Trapeze stops lifting. Even though you're using an Auto Brake Winch, this Safety pin provides a hard mechanical point that the Trapeze cannot come down past.
These two levers, "the boat itself and the Trapeze", work just like a wheelbarrow. The handles of a wheelbarrow are lifted while the tire at the other end is supported by the ground; its load is somewhere between the two. Without the benefit of lever action it is unlikely you could lift the contents of a heavily laden wheelbarrow.
The Trapeze only needs to be lifted 8 to 12 inches at one end by cranking the handle on the Auto Brake Winch. It takes very little effort to gain the amount of Lift needed to separate the boat from the trailer. One half inch of separation between the hull and trailer is all you'll need to pull the trailer out from under the boat.
Call or write for how the 10 page PDF regarding the Safety Sheets, How To steps, and additional information can be sent to you...
Recommended Basic ‘How To’ Steps Call or Write to See all photos as an aid to the “How To” Steps
1. All written information must be read and understood before you proceed…
2. Always start by inflating the tires on your trailer to the maximum allowed on the tires’ sidewall…
3. Chock each of the boat trailer wheels, on both sides of the trailer, in front and in back of the wheels…
4. Lower the tongue of the boat trailer as low as it will go to raise the transom as high as it will go…
5. Set your boat stands under the transom and snug them up one turn past tight…
6. Raise the tongue of the trailer as high as it will go…
7. Hang the Trapeze from the bow eye with the provided hitch pin and secure it with its clip…
8. Attach the Trapeze to the Pivot Stand with the provided spring pin, preferably to the first hole above the Trapeze level position; it is beneficial to start the operation with the Trapeze slightly higher than level at the Pivot Stand…
9. Attach the hook from the Winch Stand cable to the eye nut on the other end of the Trapeze and crank the winch one turn past a snug/tight cable; both stands should have their back legs pointing out, away from the center…
10. Now install the provided safety chain around the base of each stand leaving 2 links of slack…
11. Lower the tongue of the boat trailer slightly to bring it down to lessen the bow end of the boats’ contact with the trailers boat hull supports while the bow is now starting to be suspended by the Trapeze…
12. Continue cranking the winch until the boat is separated from the trailer…
13. Use the raising and lowering of the tongue of the trailer and the lifting action of the Trapeze to accomplish the minimum amount of total separation needed from all trailer supports to safely pull the trailer out from under the boat. Check thoroughly that there is total separation from the front to the rear of the boat hull from all trailer supports before and during the entire removal of the trailer, Your boat trailer guides may need to be lowered or removed.
14. If your boat is on any incline the trailer will have a tendency to roll at this point. Be very careful when removing the wheel chocks and while pulling the trailer out so as not to have it jump right, left, backward, or forward while safely guiding the boat trailer out under the Trapeze and between the two Stands, and clear of the Boat Lift.
15. Install boat stands, as instructed by your boat stand manufacturer in accordance with their recommendations for your particular boat, as you pull the trailer out and before going under the boat…
As previously discussed, you can leave the Portable Boat Lift attached to allow you to slightly raise and lower the boat to reposition the boat stands for complete access to the boat hull where the stands were placed initially, or remove the Boat Lift while supported with your boat stands or dunnage.
As seen on "Ship Shape TV"
All parts, except for the wheels, are Made in the USA
Please call or write for more information, details, safety sheets, photos, or the complete "How To Use" instructions.
