BOATS & GEAR Boat Lifting
Lift Off
Different ways to launch a boat or recover one from the water.
International Boatlift Exchange
ABS
This 200-ton Marine Travelift is one of several used boat hoists offered by the International Boatlift Exchange.
By Michael Crowley, Correspondent
I
f you operate a boatyard or are starting up a new one and need to replace the travel lift, International Boatlift Exchange may be a good place to start your search. “It’s a niche market and we are one of the few in the country doing it,” said James Alfieri, owner of the Seffner, Fla.-based company. The niche market he’s referring to is not just new travel lifts, but used travel lifts, as well. “I give you choices to find a good used travel lift and if there are none then offer up a new one,” said Alfieri, who is also the North American agent for Ascom, an Italian builder of new travel lifts. Alfieri has sold new and used travel lifts to boatyards as far away as Russia and Malaysia, since International Boatlift Exchange was founded in 1991. In mid-November, IBE listed seven used travel lifts on its website that hadn’t been sold. Most were in the 60- to 100-ton 52
range, which is generally suitable for most marinas. For builders and operators of boatyards that deal primary with workboats there was also a 200-ton Marine Travelift mobile boat hoist priced at $485,000 and built in 2001, and a 300-ton travel lift for $650,000 that was built in 2003. To replace the 200-ton travel lift with a new model by the same manufacturer, Alfieri estimates would cost between $900,000 and $1 million. That points out the major benefit of buying a used travel lift — price. Alfieri allows that there are not as many used travel lifts available for the workboat industry as for the pleasure boat market, but they are available. “I have to know a lot of people and do a lot of searching to find them.” Though just because the price is right for, say, that 200-ton used travel lift, it doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for your boatyard. For someone that hasn’t previously operated a travel lift or if the 200-ton travel lift is larger than the one currently being used, Alfieri likes to see an AutoCAD layout of the boatwww.workboat.com • JANUARY 2022 • WorkBoat
