Presto Marine Tender Lifts

There are three lengths of rail. Their 47 inch long rail best fit my boat.
I found out yesterday from the Rep that they changed the rail design. Now a single piece of machined stainless steel that looks like this extended, retracted, and lowering/lifting -
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Looks nicer as it covers the rails now. I have to measure where that puts it ion my swim step. I just hate having it there when I have deployed the jet ski or tender... But I agree with you beats having all that crap under the water line.
 
Looks nicer as it covers the rails now. I have to measure where that puts it ion my swim step. I just hate having it there when I have deployed the jet ski or tender... But I agree with you beats having all that crap under the water line.
I had a Hurley Davit on my last boat and that thing was a real pain getting a 200 pound dingy on the boat not to say it removed a couple of toe nails and other uncomfortable results that still show. I get it; when I bought this boat I thought the hydraulic davit crane was the answer, all tucked away and out of sight when not in use, but that thing is a high-wire act to hook up and use and has left several divots on the top of my head. Then as you allude the other option having all of the mechanism under the water especially in the Southeast I think would be a costly disappointment.
So I've pretty much landed on this solution. In the end when no tender or dingy those Presto J-brackets will be removed (simply pull a single pin) and the uprights will be laid down revealing tripping hazards only. Heck I'm stubbing my sensitive toes on the chalks installed today so why change anything.....
 
I had a Hurley Davit on my last boat and that thing was a real pain getting a 200 pound dingy on the boat not to say it removed a couple of toe nails and other uncomfortable results that still show. I get it; when I bought this boat I thought the hydraulic davit crane was the answer, all tucked away and out of sight when not in use, but that thing is a high-wire act to hook up and use and has left several divots on the top of my head. Then as you allude the other option having all of the mechanism under the water especially in the Southeast I think would be a costly disappointment.
So I've pretty much landed on this solution. In the end when no tender or dingy those Presto J-brackets will be removed (simply pull a single pin) and the uprights will be laid down revealing tripping hazards only. Heck I'm stubbing my sensitive toes on the chalks installed today so why change anything.....
LOL... I know what you mean. I busted my toe this week end on a dock cleat that has been in the same place for years, how my toe didn't know that I have know idea.... God damn getting old sucks.

Can't wait to see your install...
 
I went ahead and bought the Presto XL500 davits; they should be at my doorstep in a week or so. The Presto rails go right over the exist chalk rails on my swim platform which I want to remove . Looking underneath it appears each aluminum chalk rail is held with six bolts using 4200 or similar. Has anyone ever removed the OEM chalk rails? Are they seriously glued down?
IMG_5976 cropped.jpg
IMG_5964.jpg
 
I went ahead and bought the Presto XL500 davits; they should be at my doorstep in a week or so. The Presto rails go right over the exist chalk rails on my swim platform which I want to remove . Looking underneath it appears each aluminum chalk rail is held with six bolts using 4200 or similar. Has anyone ever removed the OEM chalk rails? Are they seriously glued down?
View attachment 111944 View attachment 111945

I haven’t but it looks pretty straight forward. Hopefully it’s not 5200. You might be able to use the davit to assist in lifting/ removing the tracks
 
Tom, I removed mine as the previous owner drilled through them and I was getting water inside. I used release with great results I sprayed it in the seams waited, pryied with a flat bar then sprayed in deeper. You can hear the caulk releasing as you go.
Caulk Removers for 3M 5200
debond3.jpg
 
Tom, I removed mine as the previous owner drilled through them and I was getting water inside. I used release with great results I sprayed it in the seams waited, pryied with a flat bar then sprayed in deeper. You can hear the caulk releasing as you go.
Caulk Removers for 3M 5200
debond3.jpg
Perfect! Exactly what I needed. Boatlife Release right? Thanks!
 
Tom, I removed mine as the previous owner drilled through them and I was getting water inside. I used release with great results I sprayed it in the seams waited, pryied with a flat bar then sprayed in deeper. You can hear the caulk releasing as you go.
Caulk Removers for 3M 5200
debond3.jpg
Great info! I have quite the mess to remove what was left behind after removal of my davit support structure. What did not stick to the steel to the steel base plate styed adhered to the deck so I need something to help soften and remove it. I was going to just use rags soaked in MEK to see if that would do the trick but I may need to buy some Re-Mov to try.







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Tom, I removed mine as the previous owner drilled through them and I was getting water inside. I used release with great results I sprayed it in the seams waited, pryied with a flat bar then sprayed in deeper. You can hear the caulk releasing as you go.
Caulk Removers for 3M 5200
Were your rails completely coated with adhesive underneath? Or, just around the thru-bolts?
Wondering if I need 5 gallons of Caulk Remover or just a spray can....:rolleyes:
 
There was a few beads that ran the length of each rail I bought a small spray bottle as recommended by the sail boat supply store nearby and the guy was correct it worked great I didn’t not need any larger to remove both rails. In fact I had some left over if you spray it in and hold pressure with a wunder bar you can feel it start to release.
 
Look what showed up this afternoon. I completed the purchase on the 9th and it's here today on the 13th; from Sweden no less via DHL. I'm impressed. I'll say also the build quality looks to be excellent.
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I'm excited for you Tom, After speaking with Mark up in Gig Harbor about his and seeing up close pics and videos I see very little compromise in this system. Gotta say though, I contacted the distributer 3 weeks ago and have heard only crickets so I'm using the inspiration of the system to fabricate my own. I have become very easy to alienate lately:confused::confused:
Carpe Diem
 
We bought "Lifes' Good" from Mark, LG111, and have been enjoying the boat and personalizing it. I also send pictures to Mark so he can enjoy our journey and live vicariously from the desert!

I am looking to redo the tie down method on the tender with the Presto lift. Right now there is a lot of reaching under to clip straps on to the eye bolts at the center of the chalks (davits?) at the centerline of the supports.

Anyone have a slick way of strapping down the tender? The Presto Lift is really fast to lift the tender but the strap down process is too long the way it is.

On the previous SR 380 Sundancer, we had an Olson crane type lift. The cables were a pain to hook up and the tender wood swing Port to Starboard with any kind of speed or chop. Olsen's recommended strap system is two lengthwise straps and two crossway straps. This made the boat super solid and had the additional benefit of transferring the bending moment load of the tender and crane to the transom cleats. This stops the tender and lift from trying to bend the swimstep off of the stern. Obviously, you cannot see the tender and lift weight moving the swimstep but the load is there. If there was too much load you would start noticing stress cracks and other failures where the swimstep joins the transom.

The swimstep design is different on the 42 DB but the load is still there.

The straps on the old boat were only in place once we were out in the deeper water where we would run the speed up. They were essentially blocking the swimstep but nobody was hanging out there at speed.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Doing my best to resurrect an old thread!
 
Well I understand your displeasure. There should be 2 motion control valves hard plumbed directly into your hydraulic motor ports that make the davit rotate left and right. First you can try to reduce the holding pressure slightly to create a deceleration ramp as the swing stops. If this does not meet your expectations you can change the valves out to a self compensating valve that is made by SUN Hydraulics in Sarasota, FL.

Sealift makes a very simple reliable stern platform Lift with adjustable chocks. Everything outside is #316L stainless steel. Super simple system with high load capacities. Contact Stephen Johns at +1(321)638-0301 cell. Good luck, Frank
 
Well I understand your displeasure. There should be 2 motion control valves hard plumbed directly into your hydraulic motor ports that make the davit rotate left and right. First you can try to reduce the holding pressure slightly to create a deceleration ramp as the swing stops. If this does not meet your expectations you can change the valves out to a self compensating valve that is made by SUN Hydraulics in Sarasota, FL.

Sealift makes a very simple reliable stern platform Lift with adjustable chocks. Everything outside is #316L stainless steel. Super simple system with high load capacities. Contact Stephen Johns at +1(321)638-0301 cell. Good luck, Frank
I'm not sure you are talking about the Presto product which @Bruce SEA 993 has on their boat. I had a multitude of discussions on that Presto Marine lift with the previous owner and they were very satisfied with it. I'm super happy with the performance and ease of launch and retrieval. The hydraulic components of the lift are top quality albeit European spec. The hydraulic system is split using a gear-rotor flow divider keeping the flow equal between the two cylinders. Cylinder directional control is from a Bosh Rexroth solenoid valve. There are no counterbalance valves in the system. My only issue is the hoses on the cylinders are very flexible and tend to kink if you don't watch when moving the lift in and out. Here is the installation specifics for mine. - http://clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/presto-xl500-davit-lift-installation.107917/
Now, regarding the Sea Lift product. They are local to me here and we went back and forth on the product then they failed to follow up with me to view a test they were doing on one they were fabricating. Plus there were some structural issues they were dealing with on the arms. It was about that time I found out about the Presto Product and decided to go that route. One big difference is the Sea Lift and the other platform lifts have all of the mechanism under water whereas the Presto had nothing in the water; that's a big deal in the area we live. The down side is there are some mechanisms on the swim platform but they really aren't that intrusive or large.
 
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We bought "Lifes' Good" from Mark, LG111, and have been enjoying the boat and personalizing it. I also send pictures to Mark so he can enjoy our journey and live vicariously from the desert!

I am looking to redo the tie down method on the tender with the Presto lift. Right now there is a lot of reaching under to clip straps on to the eye bolts at the center of the chalks (davits?) at the centerline of the supports.

Anyone have a slick way of strapping down the tender? The Presto Lift is really fast to lift the tender but the strap down process is too long the way it is.

On the previous SR 380 Sundancer, we had an Olson crane type lift. The cables were a pain to hook up and the tender wood swing Port to Starboard with any kind of speed or chop. Olsen's recommended strap system is two lengthwise straps and two crossway straps. This made the boat super solid and had the additional benefit of transferring the bending moment load of the tender and crane to the transom cleats. This stops the tender and lift from trying to bend the swimstep off of the stern. Obviously, you cannot see the tender and lift weight moving the swimstep but the load is there. If there was too much load you would start noticing stress cracks and other failures where the swimstep joins the transom.

The swimstep design is different on the 42 DB but the load is still there.

The straps on the old boat were only in place once we were out in the deeper water where we would run the speed up. They were essentially blocking the swimstep but nobody was hanging out there at speed.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Doing my best to resurrect an old thread!
I am faced with the same challenge getting the dinghy tied down. I have one connect point at either end on the swim platform. The bow is easy but the aft takes some gymnastics. I'm using the same tie-downs I had before the Presto setup. They are stainless ratcheting tethers that hook on the stern and bow of the dinghy; three total, two for the aft and a single on the bow. The dinghy weighs about 450 pounds and I use the straps simply to keep it from sliding back and forth; I really don't crank it down. Now, crossing to the Bahamas I'll probably also tie to the the lower aft cleats for insurance.
 
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Well I understand your displeasure. There should be 2 motion control valves hard plumbed directly into your hydraulic motor ports that make the davit rotate left and right. First you can try to reduce the holding pressure slightly to create a deceleration ramp as the swing stops. If this does not meet your expectations you can change the valves out to a self compensating valve that is made by SUN Hydraulics in Sarasota, FL.

Sealift makes a very simple reliable stern platform Lift with adjustable chocks. Everything outside is #316L stainless steel. Super simple system with high load capacities. Contact Stephen Johns at +1(321)638-0301 cell. Good luck, Frank
You are right. I am in my wrong mind (Left Handed). The Presto Davit looks really nice. We actually stock a kit for our pumps that convert the pump to a vertical orientation. He did a good thing. I like the Bosch valve. It is an ISO-3 size Industrial directional valve and is very high quality. I do believe I have one on the shelf from some years back. It is probably 24Vdc though. Thanks for the reply and interesting site. I love to see other inventions out there. Have a great week, Frank
 

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