floating boat lift

[3card]

Oh, Jonscx, I tried a leaf blower and it did not work. It worked, as did a 2psi rafter inflater, for lifting the unit itself, but did not have enough pressure to raise the lift with the boat on it.
That was one of the hardest and frustrating things to figure out!!

[gregs]

So in the interest of the few people here that have been thinking and dreaming of building something. What did you use for the blower?

[3card]

I was so frustated after trying my raft inflater, compressor(doesn't move enough air), and the leaf blower that I called the Manufacturer of the tanks I used. "Guess what...He couldn't tell me either." (that is a quote from my e-book by the way). He did, however, have one of his clients call me and I wound up buying a blower from him(Redline Supply in Missouri) which he said would lift 6000lbs, more than enough for my boat.
I have since been trying to study the motor to see if I can figure out what it is in order to maybe help people save a few more bucks.
Mine cost $235.00 with the valves.

[gregs]

I appreciate your time. I think at $235 that is reasonable for a blower in the whole cost of things. Would you mind giving me the specs or numbers for it as I may order one to give it a try. I think you did a great job building your lift and it looks very profesional and at $2800 thats very reasonable. I am still going to try and build something using the poly barrells that I have rounded up, since for me its hard to spend $2800 on a lift for a $1500 boat.

[3card]

Gregs,
You could buy my e-book and get that information.........., but I'm feeling generous today. I don't have the number in front of me but if you google Redline Supply you should be able to find it or do a white pages search for Redline Supply in Missouri. I believe the guy I spoke with was Neil.
Please pass the word around about Liftnlaunch.com. There is a lot of useful information in the e-book

[RivrLivn]

greggs,
I just picked up an old PWC lift made from 4 55gal drums mounted to a steel frame (got it free off craigslist).
The barrels have about 3" diameter holes cut in the bottom and have a 3/4" hose fitting mounted in the top side of each. The hoses from the fitting were connected to a manifold/splitter and powered by a shopvac motor.

Guy said it worked good for 2 PWC's.

[gregs]

3card
I appreciate the info and I realize your trying to recoup your time and talent thru the book. I may order the book but I am really going in a different direction with the construction of my frame and tank system. I was just wanting to know if you had any more info on the pump so I would feel a little smarter when I called them. (I didnt see a website for them)

By the way, about how long does it take to raise the boat out of the water?

Thanks

RivrLivn,
Thanks for the reply. I used a shop vac for my test with the 2- 5gal buckets and it about shot them out of the water so it will probably work well for the set-up you got. I was looking around for something more designed for the application and the number of barrels I am going to use. But it sounds like a great deal you got.

[masalai]

Something like this is popular around SE Queensland http://www.airberth.com/how-airberth-works.html

[3card]

Gregs,
I understand, and thanks for thinking about buying my book. I honestly do not have any specifics on the blower. When Neil called me and said he had a blower complete with valves that would lift a 6000lb boat for $235 I just told him to ship it out. Redline's phone # is (816) 765-5046. They do not have a website to my knowledge.

[3card]

Gregs,
Oh and it only takes about 3 minutes to lift the boat out of the water. Yours should be less. If you get the right blower they say about one minute for every 1000lbs.

[Ratch]

Could you have a hose at the top of the container above water level to let air in/out and a hose at the bottom with a pump to pump water in/out? Pump water in and it sinks and out it floats or am I missing something?

[gregs]

3card,

Thanks again. Just a couple more quick questions please. Did the blower have any manufacturers information on it? What type of connections for the hoses are there and the hose size? Is it 110v AC or 12v DC? What are the valves? (some type of check valve?)

Greg

[3card]

Gregs,
I took off the cover trying to find a manufacture myself. I too wanted to know what exactly the motor was but had no luck finding any identifying names or numbers.
The valves are just levers you would commonly see for plumbing. All they have to do is allow the air to go into the hose which lead to your barrels, alternately they need to stop the air from coming out. It had a 1" fitting at the end to plug your hose into and I believe it was 120v ac. I will use a converter with mine to run it on DC.

[3card]

Ratch,
All you need are air hoses at the top and a hole in the bottom. When you blow air into the top it forces the water out the bottom hole and raises the boatlift. Conversely, if you then let the air out of the hoses at the top, the water will flow back in sinking the lift

[rwatson]

Originally Posted by 3card

Ratch,
All you need are air hoses at the top and a hole in the bottom. When you blow air into the top it forces the water out the bottom hole and raises the boatlift. Conversely, if you then let the air out of the hoses at the top, the water will flow back in sinking the lift

In this scenario, you describe air hoses on the top and bottom.

You dont let water out through the bottom air hose surely.
If you say you are blowing air into the top, and letting it out of the top, why an air hose at the bottom?

Do you mean blow air in the bottom, and release it at the top perhaps?