Prior Lake and the south metro lakes
Dock and Boat Lift Repair and Leveling
A lift that will not come down, a cradle that sits crooked, a dock that rocks when you walk it. Blake comes out, finds what is actually wrong, and fixes that. A look-over is $25. Common lift service has set prices you can see before you call.
5.0 on Google from 100+ reviews. The owner is on every job.
- Inspection
- $25
- Lubrication
- $50
- Screw jack legs service
- $150 to $200
When to call
The problems that actually get called in
Most repair calls sound like one of these. None of them fix themselves, and every one of them gets worse under a boat.
The lift sits crooked, or the boat rides high on one side
One leg has settled into a soft spot, or the whole thing has shifted. Left alone, the cradle twists and the boat takes the strain.
The lift will not go down, or the winch groans doing it
A dry chain, a frayed cable or a tired winch. All three are cheaper to catch now than after the cable lets go with the boat on it.
The dock rocks, sags, or a section sits lower than the rest
A post that dropped, a bracket that let go, or decking that has given up. A wobble is a warning, not a feature.
The water dropped and the boat is stuck on the lift
Prior Lake moves a lot from year to year and inside a season. A lift set for May can strand a boat in July. That is a height adjustment, not a new lift.
It keeps going out of level no matter how often it is adjusted
Then the equipment is not the problem. The bottom is. On muck, the legs keep sinking, and the honest fix is a firm base under them. Lake and muck mats do that.
You are not sure what is wrong, only that something is
That is what the $25 inspection is for. Blake looks the whole setup over, tells you what he found, and what it would cost to put right. Then you decide.
Two things that are not this page
A storm moved it, bent it or broke it loose: that goes through storm recovery, and it goes ahead of routine work.
Fall removal and spring setup: that is the seasonal service. Anything the crew spots while it is out can be fixed on the same trip.
Repair pricing
Price your lift service in about a minute
Three things have a set price. Everything else gets a number once Blake has looked at it, and goes on your list so the crew shows up with the right parts. Nothing here is a commitment.
Repair and leveling
Two jobs that usually show up together
01
Repair: the parts that wear out and the ones that let go
A lift is a winch, a cable and a cradle standing in water all summer. The cable frays, the chain dries out, the pulleys seize, the bunks rot. Most of it is cheap to replace and expensive to ignore, because the failure happens with a boat in the air.
- Cables, straps and winch rebuilds
- Lift motors, wiring and switches
- Cradle bunks, carpet and guides
- Bent legs, posts and brackets
- Dock decking, hardware and wheels
- Canopy cover replacement
Any brand. Blake has worked on Beach King, ShoreMaster, Dockrite and most of what is on these lakes. If you know the make, put it in the request; if you do not, a photo does the job.
Canopies are their own page
02
Leveling: getting it to sit right, and stay there
Nothing on a lake bottom is flat, and nothing stays where it was set. Ice pushes, water drops, one leg finds a soft pocket. Leveling is putting a level on it, adjusting the legs so the cradle carries the boat evenly, and setting the height for the water you actually have this month.
When a lift keeps drifting out of level, the fix is not another adjustment. It is a firm base. On soft or mucky bottoms, a lake mat under the legs is what stops the sinking, and it is usually less money than the third re-level.
Why setups go out of levelHow it goes
From the first call to a lift that works
No surprise invoices. You hear a number before a wrench comes out, and the owner is the one holding it.
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Tell Blake what changed
Use the calculator above, the request form, or call. Say the lake, what you have, and what it is doing now that it did not do before. Photos help more than anything.
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Get a price, or a $25 inspection
Set services are priced on this page. Repairs get a number from photos when that is enough, or from an inspection when it is not. You approve it before anything is ordered.
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The crew does the work
Blake works alongside the crew he trained. When a job needs the lift suspended, the barge comes, and he is the only one who runs it.
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It gets leveled and checked before they leave
A level on the cradle, the height set for today's water, the lift run up and down with someone watching the cable. Then you get told what to keep an eye on.
Repair calls, in their words
What people say after the lift works again
5.0on Google from 100+ reviews
Blake responded promptly to my voice mail message and listened to my unusual winch problem. He and his team drove, by car, to our home, fixed the winch, plus replaced a broken lift cable and did a tune-up on the lift in less than 24 hours after my late afternoon initial voice mail.
This year has been particularly dry and our boat got stuck on the lift in mid-July! Blake and his crew were out within 1 day and helped us get our lift height adjusted saving our summer.
Blake and Brian did an amazing job at replacing the cable in my Dockrite vertical lift. If there is a homeowner on a lake that needs any type of dock or lift repair I recommend Big Wave. They know their stuff and are reasonably priced.
Questions
Before you pick up the phone
Not answered here? 952-687-1349 gets a BigWave specialist, not a call center.
What does the $25 inspection get me?
Blake comes out and goes over the dock or lift: legs, cradle, cable, winch, connections, how it is sitting on the bottom. You get told what is worn, what is fine, and what each fix would cost.
Why is my lift no longer level?
Usually one of three things. The water level changed and the lift was set for a different depth. Ice or a storm moved it. Or one leg has sunk into a soft spot on the bottom. The first two are an adjustment. The third comes back every year until the leg has something firm under it, which is what a lake mat is for.
Is it a repair or a leveling job?
Often both, which is why they are on one page. A crooked cradle can be a sunk leg and a stretched cable at the same time. Describe what you see and let Blake sort out which is which. You do not need to diagnose it first.
Do you work on every brand of lift and dock?
Yes. Put the make and model in the request if you know it. If you do not, a photo of the winch and the nameplate is enough to get the right parts on the truck.
Can this wait until the lift comes out in the fall?
Lubrication and screw jack legs, yes, and they are easier then because the lift is already on the bank. A frayed cable, a lift that will not lower, or a boat riding crooked should not wait for fall. Those get worse with every use, and the failure happens under load.
Is a storm-damaged dock the same service?
No. Anything a storm bent, moved or broke loose goes through storm recovery, which is set up for that kind of damage and the urgency that comes with it. If you are not sure which it is, call and say what happened.
When does it stop being worth repairing?
When the frame itself is going, or a repair costs a real fraction of a new unit and there will be another one behind it. Blake will tell you that straight rather than sell you a repair that buys one season. The repair or replace guide lays out how he thinks about it.
A crooked lift does not straighten itself
Price the set services on this page, or send Blake what is going on and get a number back. Based in Prior Lake, working the south metro lakes.