buying a used hydrolift / hydrohoist. what to look for

[ehaze]

friends boat is more or less totaled and she is wanting to sell her lift. i tested it today and it was able to lift my boat out of the water, took around 10~15 minutes.

is there anything i should look for?
neither of us have a clue what the thing is worth...

example of lift

 

[JediJD]

Can't speak to the engineering, but as to value...I would look on Craigslist to get a general feel for the market. Last spring, the numbers I recall getting for a hoist for our 240 was running about $8-10k new and $2500-$4000 used in metro Atlanta. Yours looks more substantial, though.

 

[SeaRide]

Ehaze,

I also think craigslist, ebay and calling a few marinas owning lifts would give you a good idea regarding value. I sold my 6,000 lb H model well under $3,000. I owned one from 1994-2002. I upgraded the lift from 4,000 pound capcity to 6,000 lbs by adding a center tank in 1999 after I bought my 230. My boat has a dry weight of 3,800 lbs by the book. So I tried lifting the 230 in its earlier 4,000 pound configuration - didn't work. So I bought a center tank and the required hardware - no problems after the install.

It's obvioulsy been awhile since I have had the boat on the lift. However, it took less than five minutes to lift the boat out of the water. So you may want to check on the capacity of the lift you are buying. You would need a lift with a capacity in the 7 - 8,000 range for your 270.

Also, the newer hydrohoists have rectangular shaped tanks with all of the attaching/tank hardware above the waterline, which is an advantage. Mine had the cylindrical shaped tanks with upper and lower bands just like the ones in your picture. The disadvantage to this design is that the lower banks will eventually rust out. When I added the third tank in '99, I replaced the lower bands on the original tanks as their integrity had been compromised.

Good luck. Also, Hyrdohoist factory customer service has excellent. A phone call with any questions you may have would probablly be worthwhile. They provided me with the drawings for the installation of the third tank.