Viking Boat Lift reviews

In all fairness to Viking Marine and it’s ‘one-man’ operation, I feel compelled to give an update on the state of our Viking boat-lift as of September 18 of 2017! We live on the shores of Okanagan Lake and this past Spring experienced the worst flooding in recorded history for the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia along with a number of devastating storms. How did our ‘Viking Boat Lift’ do given this unrelenting blast of storms, high waves, debris, etc.? Well, unfortunately we lost our entire dock.  Fortunately, the only piece left standing and totally intact, was our Viking-Bo-Built Boat Lift! I and three neighbours had purchased four (4) from Bo in 2003 and as a testament to their quality and Bo’s installation talents, they all remain as originally installed to this very day. The only unfortunate result of this past Spring Mother Nature Disaster is that all 4 people lost their docks which is an indication of just how miserable the conditions were and how (how) well-built/designed/installed the lifts were (,)  as they were able to survive the dastardly elements!

 Would I continue to recommend a Viking Marine ‘Bo-Built-Boat Lift’? ABSOLUTELY! For your choice of boat-lifts, a ‘Viking Bo-Built-Boat-Lift’ is the one & only to own! An investment that will last your lifetime and then some! IMHO!

  Respectfully,

  Dave

       [Please also see Dave’s review in this blog post where we the before and after pictures are shown]

I spent a lot of time looking for someone that could design a boat lift for a very specific application. The lake at my cottage is set between 2 dams and the water level drops 15′-20′ in the winter causing huge ice shelves to shift and would crush any normal commercial grade lift. So every year people remove their docks and lifts out of the water in the fall and put them back in the spring. With my bad back I was getting tried of doing this. I called around, had people come see what the application needed to be but no one could do anything for me. When I found Viking lifts on web by coincidence I spoke with Bo and explained my situation and he seemed positive he could help me. We made an appointment for him to come out all the way from Grimsby, Ontario to my place in the Ottawa area to see what he could do. After explaining the situation and studying the site, Bo assured me he could design a lift that could remain in the water all year long and could withstand the thousands of pounds of pressure caused by the ice. We came to an agreement on price in October and Bo said he wanted to install it before Christmas. Was he mad I thought, the ice was going to be coming soon and there was no way of installing a lift in the winter. 6 weeks later Bo and his crew were at my door ready to install the lift. It was -5 degrees and there was already 3-4 inches of ice formed over the lake. They quickly went to work removing the massive lift piece by piece from his truck like a giant puzzle, bringing it down to the water front and began assembling the bottom leg structure. Each piece weighed over 400 pounds, and there were a lot of pieces to this puzzle. Once the massive bottom plate was assembled they somehow managed to drop it right side up into the water, well, it was ice and the ice did not crack. Now came the task of getting onto the ice and chopping it with an axe to get the plate to the bottom of the lake. Even a dry suit in this weather didn’t look warm. Once the bottom plate was in place they dropped the main post onto the legs and screwed everything together, then dragged the lift out into position and assembled the dock. That was it for this year, now with the lift in place we waited to see what would happen in February when the water started to drop. As I write this on March 6, 2014, I am thrilled to report the lift hasn’t moved, and water level is down 20′ and the massive ice blocks pushing on the lift haven’t caused it to move even an inch. This lift truly is an engineering marvel and Bo held true to his word. I have included pictures to show the installation and the low water level with all the ice. I can’t wait for Spring to have Bo back to finish the install and set my brand new 2014 Monterey 268SS into place. Thanks Bo !