Marine Travelift has announced the availability of its variable width option for its lineup of mobile boat hoists.
The option is available on both the BFMII and C-Series mobile boat hoists and will better allow marinas to safely and efficiently optimize space for service and storage, the company said.
The first Marine Travelift model with the variable width option is a 75BFMII (75 metric ton lifting capacity) and was delivered to the Marine Group Boat Works, San Jose Del Cabo, Calif., location in March. The model offers 9' of width variability and can seamlessly expand and retract under full load in 60 seconds.
The variable width option can block vessels closer together in order to maximize space previously unavailable because of overall width dimensions on a standard fixed width boat hoist. That means marinas and service yards can maximize valuable service and storage space to serve more customers within their existing footprint, Marine Travelift said.
“The variable width machine allows us to utilize otherwise lost space with a traditional boat hoist,” Pete Horner, general manager at the Los Cabos yard, said in a statement. “It’s a two-fold solution for us as we can continue to grow our business in the same physical footprint and work on more boats at the same time, ultimately limiting customer downtime and maximizing profitability.”
The variable width option also allows the movement of vessels through a doorway that was previously not an option with the width of a standard machine sized to fit piers. This would eliminate the need to double handle vessels when moving them in and out of the building. The company said the design allows for handling a wider range of vessels, providing marinas and yards more flexibility to grow into different markets.
Whether an operator is storing boats indoors for the winter or wanting more space for hurricane storage, the width variation gives them the ability to fit more vessels in the same footprint without the use of yard trailers, Marine Travelit said. This allows the yard to reduce equipment and also makes the operation more efficient when time is of the essence.
“The variable width option provides the ability to handle a wider variety of hulls and without any major infrastructure changes. With the ability to vary the boat hoist width, you can not only lift wide vessels such as catamarans, but narrower mono hulls as well without exceeding recommended sling angles,” said Kurt Minten, executive vice president, Marine Travelift.
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