I have a hydraulic lift for my pontoon boat, it lives in fresh water all year as I store my shrink wrapped pontoon on the lift in the winter also as do many of my neighbors. I love the hydraulic lift vs my previous cable lift. So much faster, no cables to worry about and the key fob remote along with battery operation charged by a 20 watt solar panel.

The downside? I blew a hydraulic hose after only 3.5 years of operation. Three year warranty. Dumped over a gallon of "environmentally friendly" oil in the canal on which I live. Fortunately it happened in the evening and by morning the plume was gone. The hoses above water looked almost new, below water they were just covered with bumps where the outer casing bubbled. One of the bubbles was where the leak occurred. No previous sheen to indicate a leak.

Anyone with a working knowledge of hydraulic hoses used underwater? My local hydraulic shop said he has replaced the hoses on many lifts and didn't believe anyone makes hydraulic hoses with stainless steel interior braid. He does have SS fittings which I intend to have him use. But picking apart a few bubbles didn't reveal any rust on the interior braid. I don't know the mode of failure, could it have been the interior lining failing? We do have zebra mussels which were attached to the hoses, but I don't believe the bubbles were necessarily located where the mussels attached themselves. Wondering if covering the hoses with corrugated electrical automotive wire loom would help?

The lift manufacturer said he never had a hose failure before 5 years and has many lifts out there with 10-15 YO hoses. Of course. Fortunately we have a local outfit that will pluck the hoist out of the water with a pontoon based crane for $125.

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