Swim step dinghy mount?

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ancora

ancora

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Dec 16, 2007
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Reached a point where I can no longer haul my Zodiac dinghy over the rail onto my foredeck without difficulty. Lookin' to use one them dinghy davit set-ups to store the thing on the swim step. Any recommendations out there? Don't need one that has the motor mounted as that is no issue.
 
I'm considering the same mod, ancora. Got a picture of your dink so we know the type and length? What's the weight? Does the swimstep require reinforcement or support the weight?
 
Seawise, Weaver, Hurley, Jatco, etc.

Ours is one of the latter (Trillogy) but our dinghy is likely heavier, we haul with motor mounted, cantilever so the First Mutt could traverse the swim platform, etc.

-Chris
 
I think Weaver davits would be the easiest and least expensive if the weight is not too much. I think Seawise is the way to go if you need a winch to tip it up. That's a more expensive solution, though. We had Weaver davits until we modified the dinghy and added quite a bit of weight to it. Then we switched to Seawise.
 
We used to have Weaver snap davits and it worked great for a light dink with out the motor. Pulled it up a line in the middle. You could also mount a small winch and crank it. Since our set up now is 320lbs. We installed a SeaWise system, also had to re-enforce the swim step to handle the weight.
 
Our Mercury 10', inflatable weighs about 100#. Carries easily on Weaver snap davits. 8hp Tohatsu is carried separately on a transom mounted bracket. For use we employ a St. Croix Jr. crane to swing the motor down to the dink's transom. Whole operation takes 15 min at most; w/minor, if any, back strain & aggravation.
 
We carry our dinghy on the platform with Weaver snap davits. When lifting we attach the Weaver bow and transom arcs to the davits. No weight is carried on the tubes. The 15 hp out board is carried on a Weaver Lever that has a vertical support to the platform for the engine weight. The picture will show the Weaver hoist attached for lifting from above. I have just installed a Weaver hydralic hoist for easier lifting. Not cheap, but less that Seawise. Seawise has a good system that I would also recommend.

I have never received any better customer service than what Weaver offers. They are good people.
 

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There is just one issue with the snap davits, I found this out when we gave away the stern mounted davits, (a fellow marina occupant knocked one off in a botched docking), and that is if being added to an older inflatable, there can be issues getting the glued on dinghy parts to stay glued on. It was not helped by the fact my particular dinghy tends to go slowly down in pressure because of dodgy mushroom type valves, so the Zodiac might well be ok. I've certainly seen plenty of them successfully using the Weaver snap davits. But be sure to get the shop to put them on the dinghy for you, so you have some comeback there. The swimstep parts are easily fitted, and you really need them on the dinghy first so you put the other parts in the corrrect position. Try to do the mount so the bow of the dinghy is as far away as possible from whichever side the transom door is, but without the butt (stern) sticking out beyond the boat's side of course, so you can still step in and out without too much trouble.
 
Peter B said:
There is just one issue with the snap davits, I found this out when we gave away the stern mounted davits, (a fellow marina occupant knocked one off in a botched docking), and that is if being added to an older inflatable, there can be issues getting the glued on dinghy parts to stay glued on. It was not helped by the fact my particular dinghy tends to go slowly down in pressure because of dodgy mushroom type valves, so the Zodiac might well be ok. I've certainly seen plenty of them successfully using the Weaver snap davits. But be sure to get the shop to put them on the dinghy for you, so you have some comeback there. The swimstep parts are easily fitted, and you really need them on the dinghy first so you put the other parts in the corrrect position. Try to do the mount so the bow of the dinghy is as far away as possible from whichever side the transom door is, but without the butt (stern) sticking out beyond the boat's side of course, so you can still step in and out without too much trouble.
Click to expand...

Pete, that is exactly why the bow and transom arcs should be used to carry the weight. It can be too much for the tubes and glue connection. As for docking mistakes, any davit system that hangs over the stern could be damaged. I think every system has its pluses and minuses. Here is a better picture of how the arcs work to carry the load of my dinghy.
 

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I probably shouldn't admit it but I just put my dinghy tube on the platform and tie it good.

If my dinghy was a little bigger I'd probably go with a Weaver system. They're easy to install and they work. Like Don said, the Weaver folks are real nice to deal with.
 
Parks, what size dink are you using? I have been doing that with my 9.5 ft Achilles soft bottom. Doing this for a couple of years hasn't caused any damage to the tubes but has caused two straps holding the D rings to break. So now I have to replace those. (Topic for a new thread.)

I recently got a 2-stroke 15HP motor that's screaming for a RIB. If I upgrade to a RIB, I'll need a davit system. I like the way Moonstruck's system protects the tubes but the price is steep. I also like the Dingy Caddy that Portuguese linked, but am concerned about the wear on the tube against the arc of the davit.

(for some reason, I can't seem to get sound from this video.)


I'm starting to explore a webbed system to cradle the dink like this sling, but doubt it's strong enough for a RIB.

davits, davit systems for inflatable boats
 
Fly Wright, my dinghy is a little soft bottom Avon and my engine is a little Lehr 2.5 hp.

If it was bigger and heavier I'd use the Weaver Snap Davits. I had a 10 foot Rib that I towed with a 9.9 2 cycle on it. I had to tow that and the engine was about as heavy as I wanted to lift.

Weaver also makes a fancy electric arm that will pull the dinghy up for you and combined with the Weaver Lever like Don has, you don't need to remove the engine.
It's an expensive rig but really nice.

 
Ancora,

I installed the Trick system which is very similar to the DinghyRamp Portuguese mentioned. It was covered extensivly about a year and a half ago. Great company to work with, all the usual disclaimers.

Have all the shots of the install but none of the complete job. We are in Alaska (!) for our 25th anniversary/ my retirement. Will post photo of final resuly on return if there is still interest. Their website has a good video

Rob
 
I use the Weavers for my 10' Zodiac hardbottom. When you pull it up, be sure to use correct posture. I ended up having a herina procudure a month ago and I'm sure lifting the dink contributed to it.
 
FlyWright said:
I recently got a 2-stroke 15HP motor that's screaming for a RIB. If I upgrade to a RIB, I'll need a davit system. I like the way Moonstruck's system protects the tubes but the price is steep. I also like the Dingy Caddy that Portuguese linked, but am concerned about the wear on the tube against the arc of the davit.

I'm starting to explore a webbed system to cradle the dink like this sling, but doubt it's strong enough for a RIB.

davits, davit systems for inflatable boats
Click to expand...


FWIW, we have the original Trillogy system with a manual winch; see here (with some additional scenery -- manual wench? -- standing next to it): JATCO Marine Products - Online Catalog

When we changed recently from the 46-lb motor to the 106-lb motor... I didn't even notice any difference in loading.

Our swim platform is designed for no more than 500-lbs live weight, but that's sufficient for our 241-lb dry weight dinghy/engine. Still, we installed additional braces from cantilevered mount down to the transom, below the waterline, for additional reserve capacity. See HD-600.

There are pros and cons with this kind of transom mount. Following seas. Back wake, when we come off plane. Crossed stern lines sometimes an issue. Port side loading (in our case; that's user choose-able) means we're sometimes blocked from loading/unloading when in a slip.

-Chris
 
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Swim Step dinghy mount

We have had our 100# RIB on Weaver davits WITH the 10hp four strike outboard for at least 25,000 miles with no problems. We leave the motor attached to the dinghy, but it can only be turned up on the one side; some motors are different. We use a small line looped over the handle to keep the motor from swinging, and it has to be in neutral or it will swing up. Disconnect gas. We pull it up with a pulley hooked on the end of the boom. It uses the glue on pad for the forward connection and the Weaver arc bracket to hook on the transom. This is the best and one of the ugliest ways to use a dinghy on a trawler, but by far the easiest to deploy.
 
Hello All,

My Dad is selling his 10' Avon hard bottom Dinghy, Weaver Leaver set up and 2007 Yamaha 2 stroke 15hp for $2,800 all in. (he purchased a Boston Whaler) Located in La Conner, WA. This is not junk, everything is in excellent condition. If anyone is interested, let me know. I'll also set something up in the classified section.

232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3B26%3Dot%3E9558%3D636%3D348%3DXROQDF%3E28535585%3B5257ot1lsi
 
jjanac This is the best and one of the ugliest ways to use a dinghy on a trawler said:
So true. It pains me to swing the dinghy up on Moonstruck's pretty stern. It ruins the lines and covers the name lettering. However, a good dinghy is worth that much to me. It is just hard to cruise without one. We use our RIB with 15hp engine like a runabout. It will really cover some ground.
Click to expand...
 

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Adelaide said:
Hello All,

My Dad is selling his 10' Avon hard bottom Dinghy, Weaver Leaver set up and 2007 Yamaha 2 stroke 15hp for $2,800 all in. (he purchased a Boston Whaler) Located in La Conner, WA. This is not junk, everything is in excellent condition. If anyone is interested, let me know. I'll also set something up in the classified section.

232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3B26%3Dot%3E9558%3D636%3D348%3DXROQDF%3E28535585%3B5257ot1lsi
Click to expand...

That looks like a very good deal. The Weaver Lever and transom are are about $700.00.
 
Adelaide said:
Hello All,

My Dad is selling his 10' Avon hard bottom Dinghy, Weaver Leaver set up and 2007 Yamaha 2 stroke 15hp for $2,800 all in. (he purchased a Boston Whaler) Located in La Conner, WA. This is not junk, everything is in excellent condition. If anyone is interested, let me know. I'll also set something up in the classified section.

232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3B26%3Dot%3E9558%3D636%3D348%3DXROQDF%3E28535585%3B5257ot1lsi
Click to expand...

Pm sent re: lever and arc.
 
I'm pretty satisfied with the plain-Jane Weaver. I anticipated that the alignment of the inflatable with the female (swim platform) would be troublesome - not so - if you mount them correctly. In my case, it took the better part of a morning to get that right. I used the Weaver adhesive and ignored the part about low humidity and get far away from the water (I'm in south Louisiana, ain't happening) and 2years later, everything is fine. Still need to (I guess) paint the vessel name on the bottom of the dink. The qualifier here is that the dink is 10.5 feet and we pull the motor before hauling the inflatable to the stowed position.
 
The photo is my buddies Camano Troll with Weaver davits. We have the same dinghy. Are the stand-offs necessary?
 

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I bought the standoff and later discovered I really did not need it. The dink rides slightly over-center and I installed foam chafing guards where it snugs up against the rail stanchions. Depends entirely on how the boat stern (transom) and swim platform are configured.
 
I e-mailed the Craig's List guy with the Weaver davits and still waiting for a reply.
 
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