wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 19:43:55 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

Just seems like the weight of the beams should be enough weight. People
talk about adding weights so it must be the right thing to do...



When the beams hit bottom the cable goes slack.

What would be the point of lowering any further than that?

It is not usually intentional but if you don't have a lot of water
under the boat and you are trying to get out you might not know you
are bottomed until the cable slacks up. In this "mile wide and a foot
deep" area where I live it is not uncommon to have days you just can't
get a cradle lift down enough to get off. It won't take much slack to
jump a wrap and grind up the cable
They clamp a 3# to 5# weight a couple feet up the cable to hold it
tight.
I have lift rings on my boat so I just need to get the hull wet to go.

One of the first things I did was to carefully and deliberately "bottom out"
the lift and then mark that position on the 4 cables with several wraps of
electrical tape so that when I see the black tape come around and unwind I
stop right there before there is any slack in the cables. As I watch this
problem occur, it definitely only happens on the way up. It acts like a
stuck sheave but remember in my original post I stated that I checked the
sheaves and they spin free. In fact, I actually jacked all four corners up
with a come-along and removed and inspected the sheaves and then put them
back.

I can understand where the lift would bloat when still below the waterline
due to the buoyancy of the wooden bunks, but it happens above the waterline
as well. At that point I would think the weight of the cradle itself would
keep the cables taught. Someone said that 5/16 inch cables are known to be
troublesome, have a "memory" and don't like to play well when used with
small sheaves. This is really bugging me.

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:12:08 GMT, "Chuck" wrote:

Someone said that 5/16 inch cables are known to be
troublesome, have a "memory" and don't like to play well when used with
small sheaves. This is really bugging me.

If the cable has too much "spring" in relation to cradle weight it is
possible to envision something like that happening.

Does it happen with a boat on the cradle also?

If not, you can probably solve the problem by adding some extra weight
on each side of the bunk boards. An inexpensive way to do that would
be PVC pipe filled with concrete and/or rebar.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:12:08 GMT, "Chuck" wrote:

Someone said that 5/16 inch cables are known to be
troublesome, have a "memory" and don't like to play well when used with
small sheaves. This is really bugging me.

If the cable has too much "spring" in relation to cradle weight it is
possible to envision something like that happening.

Does it happen with a boat on the cradle also?

If not, you can probably solve the problem by adding some extra weight
on each side of the bunk boards. An inexpensive way to do that would
be PVC pipe filled with concrete and/or rebar.

OK. I guess I better end this. Sounds like adding a bit of extra weight to
the lift cradle will solve the problem.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

"Chuck" wrote in message news:YuUDg.895603

.... It acts like a stuck sheave but remember in my original post I stated
that I checked the sheaves and they spin free.

They may spin free when unloaded, but not under load. How long have the
sheaves been out in the weather?

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:56:51 -0400, "John Gaquin"
wrote:

.... It acts like a stuck sheave but remember in my original post I stated
that I checked the sheaves and they spin free.

They may spin free when unloaded, but not under load. How long have the
sheaves been out in the weather?

Around here you can tell which neighbor has ungreased sheaves by the
squealing noise when they operate their lift.

"John Gaquin" wrote in message
. ..

They may spin free when unloaded, but not under load. How long have the
sheaves been out in the weather?
That's something I hadn't thought of, and the answer is about 7 years. Lift
was very rusty and the sides of the cradle beams were flaking out (rust and
corrosion) and pinching the sides of the sheaves.