Grady White Sailfish 282 Boat Lift Size

CaptDan-ce

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Just curious if anyone has any experience sizing a boat lift.

Expecting ~10k lbs fully loaded. Looking at getting a 13.5k lb lift. Wondering if I need to go bigger.
 
Probably not. Especially if fully loaded means really fully loaded with full tanks and several passengers. You do need to be sure though that your estimate for fully loaded is accurate.
 
I have a 12k lb Hi-Tide lift and kept a Back Cove 29 on it for a few years. Boat was 10k lbs, 9’6” beam.
I think lifts have an amount of safety factor built in to their ratings and should hold their rated capacity.
When I was selecting my lift there were small price increments by upping motor hp, wire size, etc., but when you went up enough to require bigger winder and cradle beams, the price increase was substantial.
 
What's the reasoning behind why you are wondering if the 13,500lb lift isn't good enough? It's already about 3,000lbs over your boat's weight. Unless you're planning ahead for your next boat?
 
I'd want to derate the max load by 20% for safety, but that's me. There is always 2-footitis that is a dangerous boaters disease so always good to go bigger.....
 
Something else to consider is where you live. If it is possible to get a hurricane or bad storm consider the amount of water that may be in the boat doing a bad storm. If the price difference is not bad I would go
with as big as you can afford.