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(754) 345-4515 Call dispatch · 7 AM–9 PM daily

Boat Lift Repair

4.79★ · $59 service call · same day

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Same-day slots most days, 7 AM–9 PM. 19 factory-trained technicians, 4.79★ across 1,300 customer reviews — the $59 service call is waived when you proceed with the repair. $59 covers the visit and diagnosis and is credited to the repair if you go ahead. If you don't, it's the only charge.

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Berne technicians

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Boat lift and jet ski lift repair on the canals of Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. Motors, start capacitors, gearboxes, GEM and TEC remotes, drum switches, upper limit stops and cables on four-post, elevator, davit and PWC lifts. $59 service call, waived when you go ahead with the repair.

(754) 345-4515 — Dispatch
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A lift that quits almost always quits at the motor end, and that end is the same hardware we have handled on 30,000 appliance calls: a 110 or 220 volt motor, a start capacitor, a contactor, a receiver board and a stainless drum turned through a gearbox. We diagnose at the dock and carry capacitors, contactors, toggle and drum switches on the truck. A motor, a gearbox or a remote receiver is ordered by lift model and lands in two to four days. If the fault sits upstream of the dock disconnect, in the house panel or in a buried feed, we say so on the spot rather than billing hours on it. That part belongs to an electrician.

Lifts we work on

  • Four-post cable lifts from 4,000 to 30,000 lb: Hi-Tide, Golden, Neptune, Hurricane, Deco, IMM Quality, Tide Tamer, ShoreStation, ShoreMaster
  • Elevator and beamless lifts bolted to the seawall along the Intracoastal
  • Jet ski and PWC lifts: single-pole, two-track elevators for one to three skis, drive-on floating docks with an electric winch
  • Davits: Davit Master and the older one- and two-arm units with the motor on the post
  • Drives: flat-plate open gear with a belt, direct drive with a sealed gearbox, chain drive on older Florida lifts
  • Controls: GEM GR2 and GR4, TEC remotes, Lift Tech Marine, toggle and key switches, Auto-Stop upper limits

What goes wrong on a South Florida lift

Motor hums, lift does not move
On a 110 V single-motor lift this is the start capacitor nine times out of ten. It is a $20 part that sits inside the motor cover and cooks in the sun. The other cause is a drum or gearbox that has seized, and you hear the difference: a capacitor hum is steady, a seized drive trips the breaker within seconds. We carry capacitors and test the motor before ordering anything bigger.
Nothing happens at the switch, breaker is on
The receiver board of a GEM or TEC remote, corroded contacts inside the drum switch, or a junction box that took water in the last rain. Salt air eats the terminal screws first, and a control that works only when you wiggle it is a control with a green terminal inside.
One motor runs, the other stays dead
Two-motor four-post lifts fail one side at a time: one capacitor, one contactor, or one motor with water in the windings. The cradle goes up crooked and the boat leans on a guide post. Stop the lift where it is and call; running it one-sided stretches the good cables and bends the beam.
Stalls under the boat or trips the breaker halfway up
Voltage drop on a long 110 V run to the dock, wire that is too thin for the motor, or bearings on their way out pulling extra amps. Hi-Tide requires 220 V for a lift with two 1 hp motors, and many older docks were never wired for it. We measure voltage under load before touching the motor.
Lift will not stop at the top, cable over-wraps
The upper limit switch (Auto-Stop) is stuck or its arm is bent. A cable that has wrapped over itself on the drum has to be unwound and inspected; a kinked wrap is a cable you replace.
Frayed cable at the drum, broken strands, rust bleeding
Cables go as a set, never one at a time, so the load stays even. Makers allow five years on stainless cable; on a salt canal three is the sensible limit, and the first strands usually break where the cable leaves the drum, not at the boat.
Grinding, squealing, a clunk at the start of every lift
Dry bearings and sheaves. Every grease fitting on the top beam and the pulleys wants marine grease twice a year. A sheave that has stopped turning saws through a cable in a season.
Remote works only from the dock, or not at all
Battery first, then a corroded antenna, then the receiver board itself. GEM boards are replaceable inside the same box; a wet box gets a new gasket while we are in there.
Gearbox leaks oil or clicks under load
Worn gears or bearings inside a sealed direct-drive box. Some can be rebuilt, most are replaced as a unit with the motor bolted back on. A flat-plate drive with a worn belt is a cheaper fix: belt, pulley, done.

What we do not do

We do not set pilings, install new lifts, build docks or seawalls, or pull permits for any of that. Those are marine contractor jobs and we tell you so on the phone rather than send a truck. What we do is the electrical and mechanical half of the lift, from the dock disconnect to the cable: the part that decides whether the boat comes out of the water today.

Boat lift repair pricing

Job Typical range*
Service call (applied to the repair) $59
Start capacitor or toggle switch replaced $150–$280
Drum switch or contactor $180–$350
GEM or TEC remote receiver, part and labor $650–$950
Motor replacement, 3/4 to 1.5 hp, 110 or 220 V $700–$1,500
Gearbox rebuild or replacement $900–$2,200
Cable set replaced, four-post lift $650–$1,300
Lubrication and inspection, both motors and all sheaves $150–$250

*Typical South Florida ranges, parts and labor. Written quote after the $59 service call, which is free with any repair you approve.

Before a hurricane, and after one

Raise the lift as high as it goes without over-wrapping the drum, strap the boat to the lifter beams and the beams to the pilings, then cut power at the house breaker. Motors and remote receivers that unbolt should spend the storm in the garage. After the water goes down, do not run a motor that was under the surface, even for a second; salt water in the windings shorts on the first start. Call first. We open it and dry it before it sees power.

Where we go

Fort Lauderdale (Las Olas Isles, Rio Vista, Harbor Beach, Coral Ridge), Pompano Beach, Lighthouse Point, Hollywood Lakes, Hallandale Beach, Golden Isles, Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Eastern Shores and Keystone Islands in North Miami Beach, the Venetian, Sunset and Palm Islands off Miami Beach, Coral Gables (Cocoplum, Gables by the Sea), Key Biscayne, Boca Raton (Royal Palm), Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Palm Beach and Jupiter. Same-day slots most days, 7 AM to 9 PM.

Frequently asked questions

Do you repair jet ski lifts and floating drive-on docks?
Yes. Single-pole PWC lifts, two-track elevators and the electric winch and remote on drive-on floating docks. We do not replace the float sections themselves.
My lift runs on 110 V. Is that why it stalls?
Often. A 3/4 hp motor on 110 V needs a 20 amp circuit and short wire; two 1 hp motors need 220 V. We check voltage at the motor under load and tell you whether the fix is the motor or the feed, and the feed is electrician work.
Can you replace just the motor, or do I need the whole drive?
Most lift motors are a standard 56C frame from Leeson, Lift Tech Marine or BH-USA, so a motor swaps on its own if the gearbox turns freely. We check the gearbox by hand before ordering the motor.
The lift went under water in a storm surge. What now?
Leave the power off. We open the motor, the receiver box and every switch, flush them with fresh water and let them dry before any test. A motor that was submerged for hours is usually a replacement; a receiver box sometimes survives.
How often should the cables be replaced?
Three years on a salt canal, five in fresh water, sooner if you see broken strands or rust at the drum. Cables are replaced as a set.
Do you work on lifts at condos and marinas?
Yes, with the property manager or dock master on the call. Shared lifts at a condo dock and PWC lifts at a marina are the same hardware as a private dock.

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Call (754) 345-4515