Lift and Lower Your Swim Platform
“NAUTICAL-LIFT” - HYDRAULIC TRANSOM LIFT SYSTEM
The “Nautical-Lift” is a unique transom-lift apparatus, manufactured from 316-L alloy stainless steel, and designed to transport a vessel’s swim platform in and out of the water. The lift structure ‘Hides’ below the swim platform, out of direct view while the swim platform is raised. Its stainless steel structure and hydraulic components, naval bronze bushings and anodic protection ensure that it will offer years of sea duty living at the waterline of the vessel.
When the swimplatform is raised in the stowed position, a pair of secondary hydraulic latches ensures that it will stay up in the worst sea conditions. When the lift is lowered, the latches hydraulically retract and the swimplatform is lowered with two stainless steel hydraulic cylinders driving the pantograph lift structure. Once in the water the operator can drive the tender off of the swimplatform, and using the RF remote controller return the lift to the stowed position.
The “Nautical-Lift” Hydraulic Transom Lift is engineered and manufactured for boat builders, and typically developed for the vessel’s unique transom configuration. One-off lifts are available for custom builders, in lift capacities from 600 pounds to over 4000 pounds. Pre-engineered Nautical-Lifts are available through select dealers for a large variety of production-built yachts. Often an existing transom-lift design may be configured for your vessel with minimal modifications required. Please call Nautical Structures to discuss how we may adapt a Nautical-Lift for your yacht.
Tilt-Lift Nauti-Lift Transom Lift System
There are applications where the vessel's transom shape and/or distance the swim platform can be raised above the waterline prevents the platform from being raised clear of the vessel's wake while underway. This is an undesirable condition for the transom lift as creates drag on the vessel and produces a significant turbulant roostertail behind the vessel. Nautical Structures has developed a proper solution for this situation; the Tilt-Lift. The Tilt-Lift System adds an additional axis of actuation to the swim platform. The Transom Lift will raise and lower the swim platform in a typical level position. This ensures that the tender can be safely launched and retrieved, and people can use the swim platform for water access while the vessel is at anchor. Once it is time to get underway the swim platform may be hydraulically actuated to "Tilt" up, raising the aft-edge of the swim platform and enhancing the platform clearance out of the water. Details of this lift are shown in the photo gallery below.
Sizing and positioning Personal Watercrafts and Tenders on Nautical Structures Transom Lifts. Below is a short version of the items that we believe are most important to remember when conveying the capacity and capabilities of the systems?
Safe Working Load Capacity:
The capacity of most transom lifts is described as a Total Safe Working Load, with a maximum of 70% of the SWL applied on any one lift-arm. This is the total load that the customer can safely put on the platform and has nothing to do with the platform weight itself. The platform weight has already been factored in.
We are capable of building systems with virtually any capacity. Building increased capacity in stainless steel is relatively simple. Capacities are recommended by the boat manufacture to protect the transom structure in rough weather and so as not to adversely effect trim and performance.
Sizing the Tender or Personal Watercraft:
When determining the anticipated weight of the tender, please remember to factor in the additional weight of fuel load, water (in tanks and bilge), anchors, safety equipment, etc. It is important to remember that the capacity of the platform lift is rated with the lifted weight at the center of the platform. When positioned on a swim platform, a personal watercraft is typically centered both longitudinally and athwartship on the platform. We find the most common error in sizing a tender for this type of lift is to overload one arm. This is easy to do with some of the large hard bottom Inflatables (HBI’s). The center of gravity of most HBI’s is located close to the stern of the tender. Thus one arm takes most of the load. Further exasperating the situation regarding large HBI’s is the fact that the load is shifted quite far aft on the arms, as apposed to a typical wave runner. The beam of the HBI is so great that that in order to fit it on the platform, the chocks are shoved far aft of the center of the platform. Often the customer actually cantilevers the tender and chocks over the aft edge of the platform to accommodate the beam of the tender. Ideally the tender should be located on the swim platform as far forward as possible, and with the load as centered as possible.
Be Aware!
It is important that the customer use this product in relatively calm waters, and does not leave the platform in the down position while using the tender. The platform can act as a huge stabilizer to the vessel; resisting pitch and roll. The force generated in rough water can be enormous and will be transferred directly to the transom. Potential damage to the swim platform and lift structure may result.
FAQ: TRANSOM-LIFT NEW INSTALLATION QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions about Hydraulic Transom Lifts
