Pontoon boat lifts can cost a lot of money, with the prices ranging from $1,500 to $12,000 depending on the type you buy. But what if you already have a boat lift, and you want to convert it into a pontoon boat lift? Is it possible and how would you do it?
It’s not a project that I have done, or am planning on doing soon, but was something I wanted to research into a little more after a conversation this weekend at the local marina with another pontooner.
These notes I have collated below are what I have discovered so far on converting a boat lift to a pontoon lift, so hope that they help you and give you more information on what your options are.
Converting a Boat Lift to a Pontoon Lift
There are a couple of options here. You can either complete your own DIY project, building and creating the required parts yourself or pay someone to do it.
It’s also possible to buy the pontoon boat lift conversion equipment from manufacturers that have been designed to do the job, but those will be expensive. I will come onto where to buy the equipment from lower down the page.
There are some things that you should be aware of before you even attempt a pontoon boat lift conversion yourself.
Firstly, it’s likely that your existing boat lift should be able to handle the weight of a pontoon boat, but double check the lift capacity first, as well as understand how much your actual boat weighs.
The area of concern though, will be how you support the pontoon logs so that they don’t become damaged and deformed when supported by your converted lift.
Pontoon boats will require a lot more support on the lift structure than simply wrapping some carpet around any new or existing cross beams that you add.
Also, think about how much weight is going to be on the pontoon whilst in the newly converted lift. For example, if passengers are coming on and off, how is that weight distribution going to affect potential stress on the boat and structure?
Another aspect that people often disregard when doing their own DIY boat lift to pontoon lift conversions is how the pontoon boat is going to position. For example, how will you get it onto the lift far enough before the actual lifting takes place?
With these comments in mind, I personally would not attempt to do my own conversion job as I am not an engineer by any stretch.
Would I want to risk damaging my pontoon which runs into the thousands of dollars? No, and instead I would take the hit in either buying a specialist lift or paying for converters from a manufacturer and having them properly fitted by someone who knows what they are doing.
But if you do want to do a pontoon boat lift conversion yourself, read as many forums as you can and ask for advice from people who have done it before.
Below I have condensed just a few notes that I have seen online during my research.
Pontoon Boat Lift Conversion: How to Do it Yourself
There are plenty of conversion projects available to view online in the various pontoon boat forums, but one guy who has had a lot of success and no problems bought 6 garden timbers and positioned them across his existing boat lift.
He then strapped them down securely using heavy wire strapping, and his pontoon sat over the timbers with no problems for years.
This method of using lumber beds and bunks spanned over the steel beams appears to be the most popular approach, but there is often confusion on how far apart the timber bunks should be spaced.
From what I can gather, the spacing between the beams and the length and width of your lumber beds will typically be 9 feet apart.
In terms of how to do the boat lift to pontoon lift conversion, a common process goes tends to be making two timber bunks to fit the pontoons at 2×6 set in a V pattern for each pontoon. This pattern will mean that the weight load is supported better with no stress.
Most conversion projects then use carpet over the bunks to offer protection to the pontoon logs, with some DIY projects using rubber.
However, there is a different view that no cover protection is needed on the timber, particularly if southern yellow pine is used. I would err on the side of caution though and use carpet to stop scratching and damage occurring.
Bear in mind, that the majority of weight in your pontoon boat is in the last third, as that’s where the storage locker, motor, and battery is. You need to be aware of this and accommodate for this uneven distribution.
Where to Buy Conversion Bunks
Most of the boat lift manufacturers will sell conversion bunks and kits which let you change a standard boat lift from one that works with v-shaped hulls to a pontoon lift.
Depending on how your existing lift is configured you might need to add hull pads that work with both pontoons and tritoons.
By all accounts, doing the conversion work yourself isn’t that hard once you have bought the specially designed conversion bunk kits, or if you are not confident you can pay someone else to do fit and install it. There are plenty of people on websites such as Craigslist who should be able to help out.
How Much Do Pontoon Boat Lift Conversion Kits Cost?
ShoreStation is one of the leading boat lift manufacturers, and I took a look at their website to see how much it might cost to buy the lift conversion bunks and kit.
The ShoreStation pontoon boat lift conversion kit that you can buy online.
The prices tended to average out around $1,300. That seems quite expensive to me, but at least you would have the peace of mind in knowing they have been designed especially for pontoons. If you want to buy it, you can see the product listing on their website including the latest prices. I have no affiliation with ShoreStation.
Here’s a video of their conversion kit in action:
How to Dock a Pontoon Boat onto a Boat Lift
Practice makes perfect, and even if you are an experienced pontooner, you are still probably going to have the occasional ding when docking onto your lift conversion.
It should not be a problem in a sheltered area with no cross winds, but if you’re in an exposed and windy area, it’s going to be a lot harder.
It’s not something that I have done before, so I would advise checking out a few docking tutorials on YouTube. Here is the best one that I have found.
Conclusion
If you want to know more about how to convert a boat lift to a pontoon lift then do your research.
For the mechanically-minded boat owner, it could be a very successful DIY project, but I do believe that the risks in creating your own lifting system are probably out-weighed by the cost of your boat, and whether you want to take that risk.
Boat lift manufacturers do sell specialist conversion kits and bunks, and if I was ever going to consider converting a boat lift for my pontoon, I would buy the proper kit.
