According to the specs the dry weight for a 38 Special is 9500 but with fuel and gear I am wondering if my 12,000 lift would be big enough. Any thoughts??

knotbad,
I weighted my a few years ago...full tank of gas, water tanks full, coolers,tools and everything we always have on board.This is with an aluninum trailer, so I would say 12000lbs lift would be fine.

Get a 14,000#. They seem to be more readily available. Unless you have one lined up already. Your cutting it close with a 12,000.

Do you have a cable lift or a hydrohoist type lift? If it is a cable lift you can probably go with bigger cable (call the manufacturer) it is a pretty cheap upgrade. If it is a hydrohoist or similar, You might have to put the boat away with less than a 1/2 tank every time you put her up... I had a 8K lift and it struggled with my 30, then I got a 342 and it left the belly in the water so I added a 12 foot tank under the middle and it worked great.

The lifts are actually tested for more than there rating too, I would think you would be fine with a 12,000 but as Redbud said, a 14,000 may be easier and less expensive to find.

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like the 12,000 would work, expecially with 1/2 tank of fuel, although a 14,000 would probably give me a better piece of mind.

When I had my 38, I had a cable break on my 12,000lb lift so I would recommend you go with the 14,000lb lift.

Don't know your location, but try dockrealty.com Dave has alot of lifts for sale. There are a few 14,000# for sale around $6-7000.

12k min,,,,,, 14k is preferable,,,,,,plus that gives you room to upgrade !!!