Hey All,
I am looking to buy a lift for a 42 footer I am about to purchase. I want to back into the slip, and I'm concerned my center drive will not clear the lift I am considering. So my question is, if I raise that center drive only, can I still steer at idle speed into the slip or will the steering linkage arms be all bound up? Appreciate any advice!! Thanks Tom

is there an internal tie bar? is there an external tie bar? i would think it would bind up and try to pull the outside drives in like an extreme toe out situation. but it all depends on how far up you raise the drive..

Yes, externally there are tie bars between the outside drives and the center drive. Understand what you mean - and that's kind of what I thought. I also found out the power steering is on the center engine so that rules out tilting the center outdrive up while maneuvering the boat... Then I had a conversation with another person who drives a lot of these boats and his advice was to NOT drive backwards onto the lift. He said backing into a slip is one thing, but backing onto a lift is not a lot of fun. If you get off course you can hit a guide pole and bend a prop, if the wind is blowing you the bow can pull you off course etc... He said make life much easier on yourself and drive straight in. I'll be the only boat in the marina facing in instead of out, but I don't want to worry every time I return to the dock either...

Is this a cruiser ?? Depends on how long the dock arms are, I always backed all of my boats into the slip, granted they are twins not trips........if your concerned about hitting the lift just line it up, shut it off trim all the way up and walk it into position

No, it's a 42' cigarette-style boat - but it's 12,500 lbs dry so my fear is waves or wind or something pulling me off track. Understand I can shut it off but with my luck I will be alone in it and somehow end up dinging the paint or a prop or something. I think I'll just be the non-conformist and face the wrong way!!

Many people back on lifts. Most lifts have guide poles to keep you centered. I don’t think you can bring it all the way up but some trim shouldn’t hurt

Ask the manufacture of the lift and get the specs. They know how deep it will drop. In most cases you can get extensions which will drop it lower (like hydrohoist). I needed longer arms to drop mine down further. I draft 42 inches.

I'm sure you could raise all of them a tad to get more clearance and still have maneuverability. With boat on the trailer, see how much you can raise the center before there is an issue with steering just to get an idea

Stupid question, if space between props allows it, could you run a 2” shorty just on the center drive? Always wondered if it would help performance getting that drive that’s so deep a little higher up.

I really like the backing onto a lift setup, but mine has hoses floating up there.

When you raise the center drive it will pull the outer 2 in. Make sure the props don’t hit each other.