Steve'O
< see post 23, above >
DO NOT attempt to 'feather' your lift. Strokeville.
Launching: Drop the stern first - ALL THE WAY until the air stops.
Recovering: Raise the bow first - ALL THE WAY until bubbles appear. Close valves on front.
Raise stern ALL THE WAY until bubbling furiously. Open front valves until all are bubbling furiously.
Close valves ALL THE WAY. Or, you can find your boat fallen over sideways in the morning. TRUST ME.

Sounds like the Hydro Hoist is a pain in the a$$.
Check out sunstream web sight. I'm impressed
Tim, sorry I did'nt call today I got tied up. I'll
try you on Friday.

rouxsterre,
Thank you for the tip. I will give it a try. I am anxious to see what the owner has to say about bringing it up. He said to watch the pontoons and adjust valves accordingly to keep them even. He had all four valves on, turning one off here, then one off there. It looked even to me so I was wondering what he was seeing. Bu that was no boat on it either. Now I am scared to let him even run it with boat on it. Maybe I will go and try by myself and see what happens. The boat is very azz end heavy so I am concerned about taking on water. Your method sounds the the most logical and best so far. Whats the worse that can happen?

Now that Sunstream is my kind of lift. I can handle pushing a button down. Probably wouldn't even have time to take a swill off my beer before it was in!

Once again thanks for the advice. I feel a little better about attempting this again.

If you are doing this with a 32 Fever, use a couple beer-can coolers to block the blower outlets on the transom.
Otherwise, when the ass-end goes down, water will enter into the engine compartment thru the blower outlets. This kicks in the bilge pumps.
The bilge pumps can drain your battery, if you haven't been out for a while.
Anyway, follow my recommendations for launch/retrieve EXACTLY (including the beer-can coolers).
If you don't, you are just WAITING for the boat to fall over. It ain't worth the stress.
Again - TRUST ME. . . . BTDT (been there, done that).

I've had a Nymann lift for 10 years. I bought because the original marina I was in was state owned and wouldn't allow perminent lifts. It works "ok", but is no where near as good as my 4-post electric lift. The Nymann has limited lift range and corrodes since it is in the water all the time. Had to replace the caps on the lift cyls a couple years ago as they had corroded through. Luckily there was no boat on it at the time, it is a royal PITA to have to pull the lift cyls off with the weight of a still boat on the lift ... and my installer said he has had to do that several times. Be sure your friend replaces his lift cyls BEFORE they fail, every 3 years or so in the brackish water by me, probably sooner in salt water.

As to all the posts about floating lifts, I built one only to discover the need for the "end at a time" approach since when it is down it has NO stability ... and has a really high CG with a boat sitting on top of it. We called it the "failed physics experiment". Cut it up and junked it after 2 weeks of playing with it. They also need REALLY deep water at the dock which you just don't find much around me.

For my money the 4-post electric is THE solution. The one floating lift I might consider is the one that splits like a clamshell and rolls the lift tanks up and around the side.

-Greg

I agree that a stationary lift ( ...preferably in a boathouse ...) would probably be the best solution. But there are many times when you can't use one. Or (at an alarming rate) where the powers that be don't let you use one. Here in the Hamptons is a complete ban on any new lifts. Supposedly because their feet disturb the silt ... sure. Explain to me why leeching poisonous bottom paint into the water is more beneficial.

Anyway, no regulatory problems with a floating lift.

As far as draft goes: It's really shallow here. Shallow draft was a major factor when researching float lifts. Most floaters cannot handle shallow draft. The Sunstream can.

Not to pooh-pooh your engineering abilities, Greg, but it looks like a great deal of research and design went into the Sunstream Floatlift. A friend of mine is in the top management of a major German auto manufacturer, and he's an engineer. He came to visit a few weeks ago. He was very impressed by what he saw. I had to stop him from playing with the remote control ...

There is one thing you guys should brace yourself for with the Siunstream. And that is its price. The thing ain't cheap. Neither in price, nor in engineering. It it's the best floating lift all around.

It's pontoons are foam filled, no air to pump or to escape. It is operated by fast and powerful hydraulics. When it's in it's "up" position, it locks into place. A failure in the actuator will not threaten you boat.

Peconic - The Sunstream is the "calmshell" one I mentioned. My experiment was a rigid "hydrohoist" style and yes, even though I make my living as an engineer I didn't do enough reserach on that one first <LOL>.

-Greg

rouxsterre,
I sent a message to HydroHoist and they said to lift and lower exactly the way you described it. They sent me a elctronic manual describing how to operate the hoist and the proper use of guide ropes to hold the boat in the right spot. I have renewed faith and I think my heart has recovered from last week so we will see what this weekend brings.
If I was buying a hoist I would be looking at that Sunstream. When you buy right the first time, you only cry once!

Peconic, about how much did your lift go for?

10K, trucked and installed. For the 6000 lbs model.