not 1 not 2 but 4 dealers replied I can't make this up

[chessy]

so I have been told by 4 different dealers that if you are trolling along and you run over a stick and your prop just pushes it down it is enough to bend your prop shaft and destroy your lower unit ... I don't make this crap up just passing info off to anyone who wishes to buy a murcruy 9.9 pro kicker ... 

[Spiel]

26 minutes ago, chessy said:

so I have been told by 4 different dealers that if you are trolling along and you run over a stick and your prop just pushes it down it is enough to bend your prop shaft and destroy your lower unit ... I don't make this crap up just passing info off to anyone who wishes to buy a murcruy 9.9 pro kicker ... 

Chinese made parts.

[BillM]

A stick, lol.

[glen]

At 20mph I hit a 3”dia 8’long log.  Still green because it was chewed off by a beaver but waterlogged.

it bent the prop and the prop shaft everything else was ok.  Still went fishing that day.  

[Dara]

I saw a boat yesterday with 4- 450 Verado's on it. I doubt a stick would bend that/them shafts.

PS, Merc parts made in China are to Merc specs

Not a motor I would buy

 

Edited cause I reread the OP

Edited July 8, 2022 by Dara

[AKRISONER]

Interesting, because that’s the second bad brand new mercury story I’ve heard in a single day. Yeeesh

[RandyLinden]

I'm guessing this is about a warranty claim vs an insurance claim...

The what if game can be played with a never ending set of scenarios where that could perhaps damage the lower unit under the right conditions or circumstances. The fact that the lower unit operates below the surface and we can not always see or notice exactly what's down there makes this a possibility for sure but is this the only possible cause? I would suggest that it is also possible that a lower unit fails because of a mechanical failure. Let's play the what if game on that side for a minute. What if there is a lower unit bearing failure? What if there is a defective gear that causes the failure, What if the lower unit was not set up properly from the factory, What if there was a lubrication problem etc. etc. 

How should an insurance company look at this? Just because the majority of lower unit failures are from striking foreign objects it doesn't mean that they are all due to that and let's face it if there is absolutely no evidence and no visible signs of contact how can we know? We need a lower unit autopsy...

How should a manufacturer that has a warranty on this lower unit look at this? Once again if the cause is unknown should they just replace the lower unit? 

Maybe in a situation where it is not practical to analyze all the components and it's impossible to determine what happened, it might be appropriate for the manufacturer and the customer to share the cost of the repair and move on. On the other hand we do not know what happened and we purchase insurance in case something happens. I would suggest that an insurance claim should be filed and then let the insurance company negotiate with dealer / manufacturer about how they want deal with this matter. 

[Fisherman]

Well I would say this will make some negative advertising for Merc. I would rather row than ride in front of a Merc.

[Spiel]

For the record I run a Merc (75 tiller), no complaints.

I hit a solid granite shoal up at Lakair one year, mid speed, the motor kicked up right out of the water.
It sheared a vertical chunk along the full length of the skeg right behind the prop, not a mark on the prop and no internal damage at all.
The skeg damage wasn't even enough to warrant having it fixed. I'm guessing it was at least 12 years ago now, the following picture was just taken.

[chessy]

1 hour ago, RandyLinden said:

I'm guessing this is about a warranty claim vs an insurance claim...

The what if game can be played with a never ending set of scenarios where that could perhaps damage the lower unit under the right conditions or circumstances. The fact that the lower unit operates below the surface and we can not always see or notice exactly what's down there makes this a possibility for sure but is this the only possible cause? I would suggest that it is also possible that a lower unit fails because of a mechanical failure. Let's play the what if game on that side for a minute. What if there is a lower unit bearing failure? What if there is a defective gear that causes the failure, What if the lower unit was not set up properly from the factory, What if there was a lubrication problem etc. etc. 

How should an insurance company look at this? Just because the majority of lower unit failures are from striking foreign objects it doesn't mean that they are all due to that and let's face it if there is absolutely no evidence and no visible signs of contact how can we know? We need a lower unit autopsy...

How should a manufacturer that has a warranty on this lower unit look at this? Once again if the cause is unknown should they just replace the lower unit? 

Maybe in a situation where it is not practical to analyze all the components and it's impossible to determine what happened, it might be appropriate for the manufacturer and the customer to share the cost of the repair and move on. On the other hand we do not know what happened and we purchase insurance in case something happens. I would suggest that an insurance claim should be filed and then let the insurance company negotiate with dealer / manufacturer about how they want deal with this matter. 

I am just paying out of pocket cause I am not one to have someone pay for something that is a mystery to  me 

 

[HTHM]

Did you not "pay out of pocket" for insurance? 

[chessy]

2 minutes ago, HTHM said:

Did you not "pay out of pocket" for insurance? 

yes .. but I pay 800 a year for boat insurance and nearly 15000 for fleet insurance and I don't what to increase my costs for 2500 bucks... how much would my insurance jump for a claim ??

 

[porkpie]

2 hours ago, chessy said:

yes .. but I pay 800 a year for boat insurance and nearly 15000 for fleet insurance and I don't what to increase my costs for 2500 bucks... how much would my insurance jump for a claim ??

 

At this point, I wouldn't be paying out of pocket to the tune of $2500 to fix a motor that has proved to be a dumpster fire so far. I'd either run the claim through because 4 dealers are telling me it's possible to damage like this or I'd cut my losses and buy a used honda kicker off Kijiji.  That's just me

[BillM]

Dropping $2500 on a '21 kicker that never worked properly from the get go would be a hard pass for this guy.

[kickingfrog]

New motors have shear pins stronger than the prop shaft? lol

[chessy]

23 hours ago, kickingfrog said:

New motors have shear pins stronger than the prop shaft? lol

not on a pro kicker no shear pin 

 

[Fisherman]

Must be a rubber device that allows the prop to rotate when hitting something.

[chessy]

2 hours ago, Fisherman said:

Must be a rubber device that allows the prop to rotate when hitting something.

nope its straight shaft.. no protection like the big motors... 

 

[Dara]

3 minutes ago, chessy said:

nope its straight shaft.. no protection like the big motors... 

 

Thats a good idea, no shear pins to worry about, just simply buy a new bottom end

[Fisherman]

59 minutes ago, chessy said:

nope its straight shaft.. no protection like the big motors... 

 

Well I guess you have to thank an engineer for that oversight.

[Dara]

1 minute ago, Fisherman said:

Well I guess you have to thank an engineer for that oversight.

More like the parts guy that wants to boost sales.

[kickingfrog]

22 hours ago, chessy said:

nope its straight shaft.. no protection like the big motors... 

 

A few dollars for a pin versus thousands for parts, makes sense to me.

[Snidley]

I was out trolling in Lake Ontario and the Merc kicker died. I did not feel us hit anything but sure enough lower end unit fried and dealer said we must have hit something. This, among many other things that always cost at least $1000 and required months of waiting for the repair to be made, drove my buddy to sell his boat and get a little Bass Tender (a  bath tub that can be loaded into the back of the pickup truck). It works for him at his cottage a Oliphant. He did buy a Honda mini motor, a 4hp I think and then more problems with a brand new motor. Honda, being Honda took it in for repairs no problemo but in the end they could NOT fix a brand new engine and returned his money. It turns out Honda does not even make the motor, it's made by someone else and Honda slaps their outer casing on it, but they can't make it run, lol. 

Don't get me started on my buddies Ram 2500 diesel truck. $100K worth of problems with a nice interior

[Dara]

We used to have a 9.9 merc bought from a lodge around Wawa.

We ran the heck out of that motor, across beaver dams, through ice, dropped it off the back of the truck.

It kept on working

 

Buddies don't buy rams☺️

[chessy]

4 minutes ago, Dara said:

We used to have a 9.9 merc bought from a lodge around Wawa.

We ran the heck out of that motor, across beaver dams, through ice, dropped it off the back of the truck.

It kept on working

 

Buddies don't buy rams☺️

its going to be interesting cause my insurance company which I broke down and called.. is going to send there so called top appraiser to investagate the  so called damage