Boat Lift Repair, Maintenance and Adjustment

A boat lift is a machine operating over salt water.  It is very important that the lift be maintained properly over its years of service.  We recommend that most of our clients have the lift serviced every 6 months.  We grease and lubricate the areas of the moving parts.  We inspect the cables, structure, and hardware on the lift.  If any additional repairs need to be performed we inform our clients.

Occasionally, boat lifts need more than some maintenance to keep them operating or operating safely.  Motors and switches can go bad, cables and sheaves need replacing, or even the lower cradle beams can become corroded and unsafe.  Ram Marine can perform service and repair on many brands of boat lifts.

Getting a new boat?  There is a good chance that the current setup on your boat lift may not work with the new boat.  Sometimes it is as simple as adjusting the width of the bunks and guide-ons.  Other times, you may need a new set of bunks for a completely different kind of hull.  We measure each boat carefully and try to adjust your lift to maximize your ability to get your boat off at low tides.  

Many people don't realize that your cables can wear down.  If your cables break, your boat falls. Regular maintenance can prevent damage to your boat as well as injury to those nearby.  It is very important that someone pays attention to the health of your cables.  

The sheaves are the pulleys that your cables move around on.  When your sheaves don't turn, the cables will rub on them.  That will cause rapid wear on your aluminum sheaves and puts extra strain on the cables that can shorten their life.  It is important that these are inspected and lubricated regularly.

Your boat lift is an electrical device working in a salt water environment. The failure of an electrical component is one of the most common types of failures that boat lifts will experience in their lifetime.  Fortunately, they rarely can cause damage to the boat or people.  Usually, the motor, the switch, the wiring, or something hinky in the power supply is causing the problem.  

Something go terribly wrong?  You wouldn't be the first person to experience a near failure or total failure of your lift.  We have recovered many boats and repaired the lifts from accidents and catastrophies.

The 30-day old boat in this picture suffered about $1500 in damages to it.