How Do You Keep Boat Lifts From Tipping Over?
The most common form of boat lift is the davit, a small crane that raises and lowers your boat into the water. To keep the davits from pulling themselves out of the ground when you lift your boat, the davits have to be secured to concrete foundations. Any crane–including its foundation–has to weigh at least as much as the object it’s lifting. Some time with a measuring tape and a calculator will tell you how large that foundation must be. Turn to the specifications page of your boat owner’s manual and find the weight of your boat. The foundation of the davits (the small cranes that raise the boat from the water) must weigh at least this much. The specifications for your davits will provide the weight of each individual davit unit. Record the weight of both your boat and the combined weight of the two davits. Add the weight of your boat and the weight of the two davits together with your calculator. If your boat weighs 2,400 lbs. and the davits weigh 300 lbs. each, then their total we
