Boat Lifts, Opinions.
 

Anyone have a boat lift made by Sunstream?
They make what appears to be one fine boat lift...
They build two different styles (Floating, and bottom)
They had a very nice display at the Miami show that showed their FloatLift in action.

Looking for your opinion on these lifts. Do you own one? Or, have you considered them before?

Thanks:fish:

I don't know much about the lifts, but I saw that MYCO is making cradles now. If you think about how much time a boat spends on a lift, I would think a MYCO cradle would be a VERY wise investment.

I had a 10,000 lb lift put in at my lot in Ft Myers last year, no house yet, but I got the dock in before the Manatee dock ban!:D

I had Hickcox Brothersof Ft Myers put it in and althought I do not know the brand, it is wonderful. A cable lift type with great bunks for my Scarab.
Whatever you do do not use carpeting on the bunks because they rot in that environment.

mY LIFTS ARE hi_tide CABLE LIFTS AND WORK FLAWLESS ! i BOUGHT A 12K POUND 12 YEARS AGO AND WORKS GREAT ,BUY A BIG ONE TO TAKE CARE OF BOAT GROWTH ,A BUDDY OF MINE IN CHARLOTTE GOT MYCO TO DO THE CRADDLES THEY THOUGHT HE WAS NUTS BUT IT REALLY SUPPORTS BOAT PROPERLY

I'm looking for a good deal on a lift period....I need 12K lbs...Any good links?...

Lifts
 

Reckless-
Take a look at Sunstream at sunstreamcorp.com

They build several different lifts. They appear to be built better than anything else out there.
You'll pay abit more than those elevator lifts, or the cable style, but they'll last.
A lot of people in S. Fl have trouble with the cable style lift...

Give Sunstream a call at their Florida office. Ask for Debora (954-340-5170) Be sure to tell her that Tim Gallagher sent you..

They were running some boat show specials that you may be able to get your hands on.

"A good deal on a lift period" may leave you stranded and not being able to use your boat or worse yet severe damage to your boat. I've seen lifts fail to work, fail structurally and drop the boat - luckily no one was injured, and got many calls to service lifts that were installed improperly. Manufacturers, there are many good manufactures out here, I like Hi-Tide the best. I liked them so much that I became a dealer for them in 1990 and finally sold the biz in 01. I personally own 3 of their lifts. They are first rate and you won't have a problem with them. If people swear by their older lifts wait until you see the new stuff. Nothing short of amazing. Also you want to find someone with a good dealer network. Some manufacturers, unlike Hi-Tide, will make every marine contractor in a particular area a dealer. When dealers from the same manufacturer compete against each other you get a cheap lift price with usually very poor installation. They need to cut corners some where to make a profit.

Things to look for:
Warranty - at a minimum 10 years on the structure and 2 years on the motors.
Either direct gear drive or gear/chain drive. You don't want a worm gear drive.
4 post cradle lifts require the least amount of maintenance and will last the longest since there is no metal in the water.
If you decide on a elevator lift you need to install a complete disconnect switch, in addition to the power you need to disconnect the ground. Otherwise corrosion will kill it rather quickly. Hanging zincs will definately help.
Finished product insurance. If your lift fails you don't want to sue the company to get the money to have your boat fixed. I've seen hi-tide pay for damage caused by an over loaded lift.
Check out the design and how much over the rating they can carry. I know some of the hi-tide lifts can actually carry 50% more than their rating. I have a friend that has a 45 Sonic on a 12,000 lift. I think he is crazy but..........
Go for the biggest lift you think you'll ever need. In most cases a 16,000# or a 20,000# will be fine. At least on the Hi-tide lifts the 20,000# lift has a triple part line, you can double part it to make it run faster, don't put more than 16,000#s on it.

I took a look at the sunstram site, interesting idea.
First, if you can get everything out of the water you are much better off, no corrosion. I couldn't find any warranty info on their site, what is the warranty on these things? Also it looks like the application of Sunlift, it max lifting height is 60". In my part of NJ that wouldn't be enough to get the boat out of the water at high tide. Personally I need the 15' of travel that my cradle lift gives me. In a lake this may be OK and it would be easy to move the lift as lake levels drop.
Second, I'll take a shot at the floating type lifts. These include the suntream and others like Hydrohoist. If you can not drive piles and/or you don't have a bulkhead to install a lift then these are the only option. If you can drive piles then a 4 post cradle lift is the only way to go. The floatable lift is "another boat" that you need to maintain. You can't do this with a floatable lift.

http://firststepp.home.att.net/Winter2.jpg

I have a Lifetime Boat Lift, it was designed by Life Time Dock in Summerland Key fl. It is rated at 15,000 lbs. picks up the Top Gun with no problem. I also had Myco build me one of their cradles and it works great.