BoatLift Mat

Prevents boat lifts from sinking into muck and soft soil

The BoatLift Mat is a great solution for people with muck or soft soil where their boat lift is installed. It removes all the hassle with pulling your boat lift out of the ground at the end of each summer. You just place the BoatLift Mat where you want to install your BoatLift mat. Then place your boat lift on top. Easy. The BoatLift Mat keeps your boat lift from sinking into the muck or soft soil by distributing the weight over the entire mat. It also kills all aquatic weeds under it. And for your piece of mind, the BoatLift Mat is DEQ approved and guaranteed for five years against defects in materials and workmanship.

Jet Ski BoatLift Mat

9.0' x 14.0'

$399.00

Large BoatLift Mat

14.5' x 14.5'

$499.00

Extra Large BoatLift Mat

14.5' x 19.5'

$599.00

Pontoon BoatLift Mat

14.0' x 24.0'

$699.00

Boatlift Mat holds up to 6,000 pounds — prevents lifts from sinking in muck and keeps them level.

Boatlift Mat holds up to 6,000 pounds — prevents lifts from sinking in muck and keeps them level.

"It's like setting your lift on a giant snowshoe!"

Creates a solid base for your lift — instantly!
Keeps your lift level
Prevents your lift from sinking
Installs in just minutes — saves time
Makes installation & removal much easier
Makes leveling your lift much easier
Creates a weed-free area around your lift
Gives you a firm base to walk on around your lift
Low Maintenance — Leave it in year round
Guaranteed To Work!
Made in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA!

That's how Boatlift Mats keep your lift level and out of the muck — Guaranteed!

If you're tired of your lift sinking — Boatlift Mat is your simple, quick, solution!
BoatLift Mat instantly creates a firm foundation for your lift — keeps it level and prevents it from sinking in soft, mucky lake bottoms. (Pictured: 9’x14’ Jet Ski Mat)

BoatLift Mat instantly creates a firm foundation for your lift — keeps it level and prevents it from sinking in soft, mucky lake bottoms. (Pictured: 9'x14' Jet Ski Mat)

How does a BoatLift-Mat work?

If you looked at our BoatLift Mat material with a big magnifying glass, you'd see it looks like a lot of tiny pyramids woven into the fabric. When you place this fabric on submerged soil, the first thing it does is trap soil particles in the tiny pyramids. It creates "interlocking" soil particles.

It's just like how mud sticks to your boots

Think of walking in mud, wearing boots with thick cleats. Mud sticks to your boots between the cleats — then more mud sticks to the mud already on your boots — then more and more mud, until you can hardly walk. It's the same principle with BoatLift Mat.

The more "interlocked" soil particles there are, the more "friction" surface there is for other particles. And with the right amount of water (dilation) the more particles stick together — (like the mud on your boots).

Changes the weight distribution of your lift

Think of setting your boat lift and boat in your lake — and say the total weight is 4,000 pounds. If you have four foot-plates that are one square foot each — then each one must hold 1,000 pounds. That's a lot of weight for soft soil. No wonder your lift sinks.

Now, think of putting your lift and boat on a BoatLift Mat — the total weight is now distributed over 250 square feet. Divide 4,000 pounds by 250 square feet, you get just 16 pounds per square foot.

You've transferred the "weight distribution" — like a snowshoe — from 1,000 pounds to just 16 pounds per square foot! Much better, isn't it?

Changes the weight distribution of your lift
All our Boatlift Mats are quick and easy to assemble. Pictured is a Jet Ski Lift.

All our Boatlift Mats are quick and easy to assemble. Pictured is a Jet Ski Lift.

Installing a Boatlift Mat is really this simple. Place it and sink it to the lake bottom.

Installing a Boatlift Mat is really this simple. Place it and sink it to the lake bottom.

Place your boat lift and level it on the mat.

Place your lift and level it.

You now have a firm, weed-free surface for you lift. Leave it in year round.

You now have a firm, weed-free surface for you lift. Leave it in year round.

It's the same technology used to build highways

Underwater, a BoatLift Mat simulates the factors that keep soil together on dry land — interlocking particles. The more weight pushing down on the Boatlift Mat, the stronger it becomes by locking more soil particles tighter together. It's the same soilstabilizing material and technology used to build highways.

As for weight distribution, the area closest to the foot plates on your boat lift will always be holding more weight than the edges of the BoatLift-Mat. How much more? You'd need a geotechnical engineer doing some pretty fancy calculus to figure it out.

But the area nearest the foot plates are holding far less than 1,000 pounds.

The Boatlift Mat distributes the weight of your lift and boat over a larger area — plus it locks soft, mucky soil in place, preventing your lift from sinking.

The Boatlift Mat distributes the weight of your lift and boat over a larger area — plus it locks soft, mucky soil in place, preventing your lift from sinking.

BoatLift Mat FAQs

Absolutely! They provide habitat and protection for fish and waterfowl, they’re a food source, they recycle oxygen and carbon dioxide, they help prevent shoreline erosion and filter water particles. They become a problem when there is an overgrowth of aquatic weeds, especially on your beach front.
Yes, I leave mine in all year. You can take them out if you want to, but it's a lot of work and completely unnecessary.
Yes, but lily pads are a tough customer. The best thing to do is cut them back and put one of our Mats over them as early in the season as possible. If they're on shore, you can use a black, plastic tarp to place over them. The idea is the deprive them of sunlight. But they are tenacious!
I would. The thing about muck is, it releases a lot of gases in the summer and it moves around easily. The more tension you create over the top of it, the better off you are. Some people don't use all the plastic stakes, but for best results, I'd use them all.
It depends on what country, or state you're in, and sometimes, even what county or water body! If you speak with your regulatory agency, you'll want to tell them you're interested in installing a "seasonal benthic barrier." Most areas won't require a permit if it's something you put in and take out like a swim raft. If you're getting a MuckMat or BoatLift-Mat, it's primary purpose is to provide a "seasonal" platform to walk on. Most areas have no policy on lake bottom platforms.
It depends. If you have a lot of foot traffic, (boats, kids and dogs) that will keep sediment from building up. However, once a year or so (depending on how much sediment is floating in the water) you’ll want to sweep it off, blow it off, or if you’re really ambitious, take it out of the lake and wash it off. I don't suggest this last method, but it’s up to you.
Zebra mussels like structure, like your dock, your boat, or you if you stand still long enough. Our Mats are flat, like the bottom and aren't really attractive to zebra mussels. They move across the Mats, but don't stay there. They'll be about as scarce on our Mats as they are on open, sandy areas.
The only simple answer is use either a LakeMat Pro or a MuckMat Pro. The frame will keep it square and cause it to sink. I'd also suggest fastening some type of weights on the four corners to hold it in place until it settles on the bottom... yes, I'd leave the weights on it even after it settles.
No. That said, if someone is dumb enough to be fishing in shallow, weedy water, with a non-weedless hook, and they're dumber still to let it sink to the bottom and the hook gets stuck in the Mat, they will break their line trying to get it out. Doesn't happen often. At my current cottage, I've had eight Mats in for four years. Over that time I've had one lure caught on one Mat. Just pull backwards, and the lure comes out easily. If you have a bumper crop of dumb fishers, you may have more lures to pull out, but it's not likely.
Yes, it's especially easy to connect LakeMat and MuckMat simply by fastening the frames to each other. We had one guy who did 16 Mats! It's common for people to fasten two, three, and four together.
LakeMat and MuckMat will sink by themselves fairly quickly. It may take a few minutes. You can help it along if you wish.

BoatLift Mat Testimonials

Getting rid of our muck just wasn't an option, which is why we got Boatlift Mat. With the Boatlift Mat we can walk around our boat and we can enjoy walking around the dock area without sinking. I kinda wish it would sink a little more. We have a big lift and a big deck boat that weighs about 5,000 pounds. It doesn't sink at all.