Choosing a PWC Lift for Your Lake Minnetonka Waterfront

If there is a jet ski or wave runner at the cabin, it needs its own lift. Tonka Built sells RGC PWC lifts on Lake Minnetonka, and the choice is simpler than it is for a boat lift.

Tonka Built is an authorized RGC dealer. RGC builds the lifts in its own manufacturing shop, and Tonka Built sells them, assembles them, installs them and services them on Lake Minnetonka. The docks are the other way round: Tonka Built manufactures its own stationary steel and aluminum and steel floating dock systems in Minnetrista.

How a PWC lift works

A PWC lift is a freestanding vertical cable lift sized for personal watercraft. It is typically hand-cranked with a winch drum, which is enough for the weight of a jet ski, and a powered winch can be added if you would rather push a button. The craft sits fully out of the water when it is not in use.

Why keep a jet ski out of the water?

• The hull is not sitting in the water taking on growth and staining all season.
• Nothing rubs against a dock post or a bumper when wakes roll through the bay.
• Getting the craft in and out is one person’s job instead of two.

Sizing a PWC lift

Capacity is matched to the published dry weight of the craft plus fuel and gear. A three seat wave runner is heavier than most owners expect, so we work from the manufacturer’s specification rather than a guess, and step up a class when the numbers are close.

One craft or two?

Households with two jet skis usually run two lifts side by side rather than one wide platform. It keeps each craft square in its own cradle and lets you pull one out without moving the other.

What a PWC lift quote covers

The quote includes the lift, the cradle sized for your craft, delivery to the shoreline, assembly and installation, and the powered winch if you choose to add one. Guide posts and a canopy are options.

Installation and seasonal work

PWC lifts are installed in the open water season and are part of the same seasonal schedule as the rest of your waterfront. Tonka Built installs and services the lifts it sells, so there is one company to call when a cable needs a look or a cradle needs adjusting after the first month of use.

Frequently asked

Do I need power at the dock?

Not for the standard hand-crank version. A powered winch can be added when power is available and you would rather not crank.

Will a PWC lift handle a heavier three seat craft?

Yes, within its rated capacity. We size from the published dry weight plus fuel and gear and step up a class when the numbers are close.

Can I use a boat lift for a jet ski instead?

A boat lift is built around a boat hull, so a craft that small does not sit correctly in the cradle. A PWC lift is the right tool and costs less.

How long does a PWC lift last?

Decades, with the cable as the wear item. It gets checked with the rest of the waterfront equipment each season.

Who buys these?

Almost entirely individual lake homeowners, usually families adding a jet ski or two alongside a main boat that is already on a lift.

Protecting the craft over a full season

The reason a lift pays for itself on a busy bay is simple. A jet ski left in the water all summer collects growth on the hull, sits against whatever it is tied to when a wake rolls through, and takes on water weight in its bilge over a long weekend away. Out of the water it stays clean, the hull keeps its finish, and you can look at the intake and the pump without pulling the craft onto a trailer. Owners on Lake Minnetonka also find they use the craft more often, because the lift makes launching a two minute job rather than a chore.

Where these lifts come from

RGC Marine manufactures the PWC lifts. Tonka Built sells them, assembles them once they arrive from RGC, installs them and services them on Lake Minnetonka. The warranty is RGC’s, and the fit to your shoreline is ours.

What to have ready for a quote

• Make, model and year of the jet ski or wave runner.
• How many craft you are lifting.
• Water depth at the spot you want the lift.
• Whether you want the powered winch or the hand wheel.

Two craft, one shoreline

If the plan is a main boat plus a jet ski, the two lifts get laid out together so there is room to walk between them and to load each one without moving the other. It is easier to plan that at the time of purchase than to add the second lift into a tight space a season later.

Placing the lift on your shoreline

A freestanding PWC lift sits on the lake bottom next to the dock rather than hanging off it, so the useful questions are depth at that spot and how you want to step on and off. On Lake Minnetonka shorelines with a gradual slope, the lift usually goes out far enough that the craft floats on and off cleanly at normal summer levels, which is worth walking through before install day.

Buying a PWC lift on Lake Minnetonka

Tonka Built sells, assembles, installs and services RGC PWC lifts around Lake Minnetonka, and its dock dealer network carries the same products, under the same warranties, from White Bear Lake to Prior Lake to Alexandria and Detroit Lakes.

See the lift lineup or ask for pricing with the make, model and year of your craft.