Dingy Lift Install Cost for 1500lb lift in 54ft boat

Hi,
It's looking like a retrofit of my current mast/boom lift system may be very pricy and I'm starting to think about a dedicated lift (electric or hydraulic). For those of you who have installed lift arms what was the ballpark cost?

Thanks.
AC

1,500 lbs lift capacity? Wow, that is way beyond what 99% of this forums members have. It represents a 14' fiberglass runabout with a 50 hp engine on it.

This will take some boat specific engineering to make work and I am sure any answer you get from us will be a shot in the dark.

David

Arthurc said:

Hi,
It's looking like a retrofit of my current mast/boom lift system may be very pricy and I'm starting to think about a dedicated lift (electric or hydraulic). For those of you who have installed lift arms what was the ballpark cost?

Thanks.
AC

Click to expand...

I am considering the same to be able to put my 15' AB RIB with 60HP on the back. My boat is going to the yard mid-July for some work and they are going to look at it for me.

The worrying question which they may not be able to answer is - what does it do to the balance of the boat to have such a weight across the stern. One other option is to have the RIB sit north-south instead of east-west, but then I lose a lot of my open boat deck.

No idea of cost yet.

Right now I have a 12' rib and 40hp and a 11.5 bullfrog w 30hp... would like to get the bullfrog 13 w 50hp next summer.

I'm lucky that my 54 will take up to a 13 sideways on the bow in front of the pilot house and lower center of gravity.

menzies said:

I am considering the same to be able to put my 15' AB RIB with 60HP on the back. My boat is going to the yard mid-July for some work and they are going to look at it for me.

The worrying question which they may not be able to answer is - what does it do to the balance of the boat to have such a weight across the stern. One other option is to have the RIB sit north-south instead of east-west, but then I lose a lot of my open boat deck.

No idea of cost yet.

Click to expand...

Arthurc said:

I'm lucky that my 54 will take up to a 13 sideways on the bow in front of the pilot house and lower center of gravity.

Click to expand...

Like this?

yep

Where would you set the davit so that the mast won't interfere?

Was thinking on top of the pilot house, to the side (positioned so the post could run through both decks to the hull (about 12" in and 4-5 ft back) The only catch is the arm would need to be able to extend a bit.
Early thinking as the estimate to redo the boom rigging could be over 5k.

I think your boom rigging is going to be a fraction of the cost of the new davit, but would be interested in the estimates.

Also I am not sure of how it will impact the look of your boat having a davit up there?

Did you ask on the KK Owners forum if anyone has done this - or asked KK themselves?

As to the question of balance, the original owner of my boat installed a crane to lift the 12' center console RIB with 30 hp engine. The boat had a definite list to starboard (the side where the 30 hp was). To level the boat I moved the house batteries to the center line (from the starboard side), put two dive tanks and about 60 lbs of dive weights on the port side to get things even.

When I pick the rib up and swing it over the side it REALLY makes the boat heel over. More dingy than I would have gotten but it came with the big boat so.... and my wife likes the electric start, so everyone is happy.

Arthurc said:

yep

Click to expand...

Arthur

I do believe I saw your vessel at Philbrook's last week. Is that the group that would install your davit?

Yep that's her, at least will get a quote from them, a bunch of other stuff happening now. The k54 has a ton of lead in the keel so doesn't seem to be as affected by the dingy, she has a rib with a 40 on her now.

Hmm, All this is very interesting. My boat came with the davit, zodiac, engine, etc. I had a starboard list from where the engine sat. It was from water collection after a rain even though it stays covered. A small clear tube and the siphon effect solved that problem. Previous owner took care of putting heavier equipment on the opposite side in the engine room. Works great!

Arthurc said:

Hi,
It's looking like a retrofit of my current mast/boom lift system may be very pricy and I'm starting to think about a dedicated lift (electric or hydraulic). For those of you who have installed lift arms what was the ballpark cost?

Thanks.
AC

Click to expand...

I'd contact Nick Jackson Company and talk to them. They're in your neck of the wooods. We have one of theirs and at the time it was about $10k installed.

http://www.nickjacksonco.com/1200 LP and 1500 LP PDF Back.pdf

+1 for Nick Jackson. He just did some repairs on our davit, and knows his stuff. And- he's local (Redmond).

We have a 13' Whaler Sport with a 40hp Merc that weighs in at approx 900 lbs. Our davit is rated for 1500 lbs.

With your requirements to have the davit extend, a $10k budget is not unreal.

+2 for Nick jackson....I have really combed the woods on most all the davit manufacturers & I had the best response from Nick Jackson. He actually answered the phone when I called!

+3 on Nick Jackson. But, the support structure and FRP work are yard related and can approach cost of davit

Easier method for 300b ribs

I mounted a 3500b reversing Badland winch ($140) and used Schaeffer wire blocks and 3/16 wire. Found the blocks on ebay, and changed the sheaves for bronze bushed. (Superior to the teflon? ball bearings) Total cost was around $350. Been working fine for the ast 4-5 years. Did post this info some 2-3? years ago after I did the upgrade.
I have a 10ft 6in AB Rib and 18hp Tohatsu.

I currently have a 14' Edgewater all fiberglass dinghy. Specs say 580 lbs. the 40 hp 4 stroke Yamaha adds another 210 lbs for a total of about 800 lbs. The Edgewater is an awesome dink. No more flat infatables!
My 1500 lb crane Davit on the flybridge handles it with ease.
But, if I had my drouthers, I'd have a heavy duty Fork Davis on the transome. Really easy to launch and retrieve. I had that on my last boat and loved it! It was a Nick Jackson fork davit.