Mastering the Marina: The Marine
Travelift Story In the unforgiving winters of the Great Lakes,
leaving a heavy vessel in the water is a death sentence; the brutal November
freeze can quickly form foot-thick ice capable of crushing a fiberglass or
wooden hull like an eggshell. In the late 1940s, removing large boats from
the water relied on rudimentary, highly challenging trailer systems or
dragging them onto dry docks. Recognizing the need for a faster, safer, and
far more capable method, an inventor named Baudouin working at the Yacht Club
of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, engineered a radical solution: a steel-framed,
gantry-type crane mounted on four truck wheels that utilized chain blocks and
straps to safely hoist a boat directly out of the water. By combining the words "travel" and
"lift," a new industrial term was coined. In 1954, Marine
Travelift was officially established. What began as a localized solution to
beat the Wisconsin freeze would systematically evolve into the undisputed
global standard for maritime material handling. The Birth of an Industry Standard Marine Travelift didn't just build a new machine;
they essentially invented the modern marina operation. In 1957, they
engineered their first self-propelled, straddle-type mobile boat hoist with a
7-ton capacity. Shortly after, they revolutionized the design again by
introducing an open-end style unit, allowing for the rapid handling of
sailboats with towering masts and yachts with high flybridges. The machinery proved so incredibly effective and
structurally reliable that the name "Travelift" became an
industry-wide proprietary eponym. Today, virtually any mobile boat hoist on a
global waterfront is colloquially referred to as a "Travelift,"
though the true trademark and engineering pedigree belong exclusively to the
Sturgeon Bay manufacturer. Engineering Colossal Capacity As global shipbuilders engineered larger, heavier,
and more complex vessels, Marine Travelift systematically scaled its
hydraulic and structural muscle to match. Over the decades, they consistently
broke their own world records for lifting capacity: 1970s: Built a 250-ton capacity mobile boat
hoist, the world's largest at the time. 1980s: Launched the highly innovative BFM
(Beam Forward Machine) Series, radically improving the balance and clearance
for modern shipyard lifts. Late 1990s: Delivered a massive 800-ton mobile
boat hoist. 2010: Shattered previous limits by delivering
a colossal 1,000-metric-ton mobile boat hoist, re-establishing the absolute
ceiling for heavy-duty marine lifting. A Full Arsenal of Boat Handling Equipment Today, Marine Travelift’s engineering footprint
extends far beyond traditional straddle cranes. To maximize the operational
footprint of crowded boatyards and shipyards, they engineer a sweeping lineup
of highly specialized maritime machinery: Heavy-Duty Marina Forklifts: Ranging up to
52,000 lbs in capacity, these specialized forklifts feature advanced
hydrostatic drives and negative-lift masts designed to quickly plunge heavy
center-console boats directly into the water from towering dry-stack storage
racks. Self-Propelled Hydraulic Transporters: Designed to work in tandem with the hoists, these low-profile machines
maneuver massive vessels into tightly packed indoor and outdoor storage
configurations, drastically improving space utilization. Variable Width Hoists: A revolutionary modern
option allowing the width of the hoist itself to expand and retract, enabling
marinas to pack vessels closer together on the hardstand. Refusing to rest on a 70-year legacy, Marine
Travelift is also pioneering the future of zero-emission shipyards, recently
debuting massive 700-volt battery-powered Electric Series mobile boat hoists.
With over 4,500 units operating in the harshest saltwater and freshwater
environments across the globe, Marine Travelift ensures that whether a vessel
is a 15-ton pleasure craft or a 1,000-ton commercial barge, it can be pulled
from the water with absolute, uncompromising precision. |
|
Year
Founded: 1954 |
|
Main
Products: Boat Hoist, Marine Forklift,
Hydraulic Transporter |
|
Brand: Marine Travelift |
|
Country of
Origin: USA |
|
Facebook
Account: https://www.facebook.com/marinetravelift1 |
|
Website: https://www.marinetravelift.com |
|
Address: 49 E Yew St, Sturgeon Bay, WI
54235, United States |
|
Contact No.:
+19207436202 |
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