Stepped hull boat lift bunks

[HillbillyDeluxe941]

Has anyone had any experience with their stepped hulls and boat lift bunks? Custom bunks vs regular bunks?

[lookinforsnook]

I have a 26TRS. I asked my dealer, MBG and the Marine contractor about bunk spacing and angle of bunks so I could setup my new lift before delivery. For my particular model Skip said he would like to see 14' long bunks, 38" center to center spacing on the bunks, which puts them just outboard of the first set of lifting strakes and under the middle of the stringers. Neither the Marine contractor doing the lift install , MBG, or my dealer thought anything special had to be done with the bunks due to having a stepped hull. Also I do have a pre set 20 degree canter to the bunks which I was told would be fine. 

[SCFD rtrd.]

Supporting every inch of a stepped hull boat may not be that important, but I'm the kind of guy that wants things done right, just incase it is important. My 23 HPS has one step. The height of the step is 1 1/4". So, I removed the last 8 ft. of rubber padding from the aluminum bunk and added 8 ft. of synthetic wood after running it through the table saw to make it 1 1/4", then replaced the padding. Now, every inch is supported and it makes me feel better. 

In the case of a boat with one step like mine, and sitting on straight bunks, all the weight of the boat, motor, fuel, batteries and gear was being supported by four small areas. The last 12" of the bunks (near the transom) was supporting half of the weight and the two steps was supporting the other half of the weight. About 90% of the boat was not being supported by anything. 

[HillbillyDeluxe941]

@SCFD rtrd. do you have any photos of your setup and is it pretty easy to get it lined up every time you put it back on the lift?

[SCFD rtrd.]

Will try to get pics tomorrow. No problem lining up the hull with bunks, as long as you stop the boat in the same place every time. I have about 12" of variance just incase. Just find a point on the gunnel or rear deck (like a cleat or rod holder) and line that up with the rear piling. It will make more since when you see the pic. 

[SCFD rtrd.]

Ok, hope you appreciate the fact that I got wet twice trying to get these pics. Just kidding, whatever it takes to help. Anyway, you can see that the original aluminum bunk remains intact and not modified. All I did was remove the rubber hull protector from the last 8 ft. of the bunk, add the necessary spacer or riser and replace the rubber hull protector on top of the spacer. If you have two steps, you would have to do this twice. 

You can see where I left the riser about 12" short of the step. That is to give me some leeway so I don't have to be exactly precise when parking the boat.  Sorry about the stained hull (tannic acid from all the rain), was in the process of cleaning it this morning, but got rained out. 

[SCFD rtrd.]

100% supported. It may not be necessary, but it makes me feel better and it's not that much work. 

[smooth move]

OK, i'll ask. what are the spray nozzles? never seen that before.

[SCFD rtrd.]

Rinses salt water off the bottom. I installed 12 sprinkler heads. Four on the outside of each bunk and four down the middle (keel). They are on separate valves, four heads operate at one time.  If you don't rinse the salt off, it will start to build up. Have you ever left salt water on the sides of your hull for a few days in the summer? It dries hard and looks like ten million tiny fish scales. It keeps building up until it's the size of your little finger nail. Sometimes it's hard to see on a white hull, but you can feel it. I use a sponge and vinegar to remove it from the sides of the hull. Once it dries, nothing on the market will remove it, nothing but vinegar.