Good point that going down might be less load.
A friend told me they just bought a Yamaha 2200 generator and will bring it over to test on the lift. That should either solve the issue or eliminate that size of generator.
Thanks.

Well thanks for trying. A+ for effort!
A friend just informed me they just bought a Yamaha 2200 generator and will bring it over for me to try on the lift. Real life test.
Thanks again!

Thanks for that suggestion. I will check with the electrician if a portable generator up at the cottage can be fed into the panel at the shore which feeds the lift. A whole home generator, like a generac would be nice. Friends have one, but there wasn’t much change from $20K once all the installation of propane tank, electrics etc was done.

That’s a good idea. I’ll look into that.
Thanks!

That would be an awesome test. Thank you!

Thanks. I was looking at the Honda’s or Yamaha’s 2200 which would be ideal as far as size and weight, (I can semi manage getting up/down the 50 stair from cottage to dock, but I am not sure it’s powerful enough to start the motor.

If the motor is 120v x 15amps = 1800 watts to run it, but, I keep being told to actually start the motor it could take double that. So probably need a 3600-4000 watt generator – which get pricey, and heavy. It would end up only being used at dock level, as I would have no way to carry it up/down stairs.

It then seems pricey to sit at the dock for one or twice every couple of years experience, and have to keep it maintained. So, that got me on the track of maybe battery powered or solar solutions.

Or I can just keep crossing my fingers that when the power goes out, I don’t have a fall/ have an illness, or there isn’t a forest fire I need to escape from. I can be inconvenienced by outages, its the safety factor driving this.

It’s made by a local dock & lifts company who does much of the work around Lake of the Woods, so not a ‘brand’ per se.

Thank you. West Hawk Lake, Manitoba.
My brother built it, he does nice work!

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Sadly (or luckily depending on how you look at things) I have only one neighbor close by, who is only here seasonally; while I am here almost year round, and they don’t have one. A few people further away I know who have generators,it’s probably much easier for them to just give me a boat ride out, than it is to haul a heavy generator over here. It just so happened when the power went out, none of them were around so figured I better find a backup solution.

Thanks for all that info. It’s perhaps a more complex solition than I anticipated. I have back up batteries on my sump pump so just assumed it would be easily doable. Never assume!

You would think there should be a manual release, but in talking with the lift people, they say there is not.
Thanks for your input!

Thanks for the suggestion, it looks like that would attach to a hand wheel. Mine is mounted overhead and electric only, no manual.

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So the motor is mounted overhead, with no way for me to reach it. I need something that can plug into the box on the post that controls it.

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