Boat Lift Guide-Ons/Bumpers

[YellowRegal]

We recently purchased a vertical boat lift for our 19 foot bowrider. As our water is a wide river with sometimes a fairly quick current, it is sometimes difficult to get the boat into the lift without hitting the lift's columns on the way in.

For now, I've temporarily affixed swim noodles to the columns to cushion any blows, but am abviously looking for a permanent fix. I've done some research and see that you can get vertical or horizontal guide-ons which normally have some form of soft cushioning. Does anybody have any experience with these?

Does anyone recommend any other options?

Has anyone developed a "do it yourself" method that works well?

Any imput would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pine island fred]

Re: Boat Lift Guide-Ons/Bumpers

Am familar with ACE and BOAT LIFT US but all lifts are about the same. All mfgs. should offer adaptors for installing guides, in most cases 2 or 2 1/2 in ABS plastic pipe schedule 40. If they will take a lot of abuse, consider sliding smaller diam. thin or thick wall metal elect. conduit inside the plastic for added strength. FRED

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Boat Lift Guide-Ons/Bumpers

It may take you a while to locate this, but a friend and I did his lift posts and entry columns in 1/2" old conveyer belt rubber. We used oversized thickness ty-wraps, normally used on air conditioning duct work to hold these strips of material vertically along the posts. It had been in for about four years when I left that area.