I am in fresh water but I have a second hand Hydro Hoist and it has been mostly maintenance free. A couple of air pumps in 10 yrs. It is 18K.
Friend built it in 2002 I think, for his T/S Gun. He also had a 47 Lightning on it with no problem. it is the fiberglass tubes.
Now they are a poly or something and much nicer.

Thanks for all the input. Going with Harborhoist.

Old thread but...
I’m looking for a lift for a river/lake place in north idaho. Here in fl 99% of the lifts are cable hoist with pilings like in this pic.
They are what I’m used to and seem to be the best value in terms of capacity per $$.
Why are they not widely used in the north or west?

In the North, possibly due to ice jacking of the pilings? I have a new IMM on the way to replace my 18 yr old Magnum

I think it might be a permitting issue. The pilings are considered permanent and might even deduct from the allowable dock sq footage, which usually gets maxed out before the lift is considered.

In clear lake everybody uses timber pilings and cable lifts like Florida, more slings than cradles here due to skinny water which is why you don’t see hydrohoists.

our extended fam has a place on LOTO, with a hyrohoist. They are $$ but I would never use a cable lift If I had deep enough water for a hydro hoist style (hinged). I don’t know why Florida doesn’t use them in protected canals and harbors, I would guess water depth.

The states environmental agency/laws could be a problem with fixed pilings and possible dredging.
HOA's = NIMBY

Could be something like that, I’ll find out tomorrow. Just don’t want to send something out there and find out later it’s unusable for some reason. I have a semi trailer load of irrigation equipment going from FL to ID in two weeks and have room to include a cable lift, just need someone to set the pilings later.

This is why I love Idaho.
A single 3 minute call to Dept of Lands, no permit needed if lift is within footprint of the dock.
if you choose to go outside the footprint it’s 400$ and 2 wk process time. He sounded apologetic about the process time. Type of lift not an issue.