My Damaged Lower Unit-06 P-IV

Your Mercury Rep is probably TG, and weve known him and have for decades. Reasonable individual and pretty conscious. If your propeller does not have ANY damage you can bounce it up to HQ and see what the verdict is on the propeller. We know this is possible, though not frequent to happen from blade slinging. If are no blade nicks, you have a chance. BCB

Weve had five Trophy props brought to us this past year with the same problem (Im still shocked that weve seen so many). The blades break off with a pattern that is identical. It looks like a random break but they are all identical. The props never hit anything, never drag down a ramp… they just came apart. All five of these motors were under warranty and all five of the props were covered under the warranty and replaced by Mercury. I would look at going above the current rep and working straight with the manufacturer on this one. They will want bill of sales/receipts/etc so be sure and have that info. Let us know if we can help. Andy Greene Greene Boat & MotorAndy Greene Greene Boat & Motor 828-286-2290 http://www.greeneboats.com

falconfishing, Same boat and prop as you. Running about 5000RPM on the river (flat calm) felt a slight deviation in the looseness of the rear end of the boat (We were on a river with current and it felt like a little side current or something). Couple of seconds later, ran into some slight chop on the water and felt/sounded like the kind of slap you get in the hull with slight chop. Couple of seconds later the motor alarms off and boat comes off pad like it slipped out of gear (high rev alarm) flooding the rear deck. Tried to put in gear (forward/rev.) and that was a no go. Had my partner take a look as I raised the motor and he says “you dont want to see this”. Prop is completely gone, broke shaft inside of the lower unit, shredding outside of the lower unit on it way off. My ex-sponsor Mossdale boats arent alive and kickin, so I take it over to the only available Merc guy Ive used in the past (Frank at Inland Marine) and he says “no problem, its under warranty, Merc will pay to replace it”. Needed the boat for a “T” that weekend and he said he could get me a lower unit shipped in overnight if Ill pay the freight. Got the unit on the next couple of days but Frank tells me he cant release the boat due to Merc denying the claim. Id have to put the 5-6 grand on my credit card pending Merc getting the lower unit back for “evaluation”. Frank suggested that I call Merc to expidite things but after 15 min. or so on the phone with them, they continued to stand strong on their story that I must have hit something. The only way they would pay is if they did and x-ray of the shaft and found a flaw in it. Meanwhile, I call my insurance to let them know whats up and upon getting a thumbs up from them if Merc doesnt pay, they would (except prop, that isnt covered)…so if Merc dont cover Im out $500-$1000 for deductable and prop. Frank keeps telling me to not worry, Merc will pay, they always have for as long as hes been in the business. So I give Frank my credit card (he just charges me for the freight/prop upgrade (Tempest to Fury) and tells me hell hold up running the rest until Merc gives final verdict). About 10 days later, Frank calls and says Merc decided to cover it. All is good in the world. I have no idea what actually happened, but I know Ive never hit anything in my boat and the lower unit had the same kind of sanded off skeg that you described and thats what I had told them all along. BTW, Frank had told me that the occurance that I described to him sounded like I threw a blade (or part of one) and that caused the shaft to bend and break. It must of happened real fast because there wasnt much vibration at all. He also told me that this is an ongoing problem with the Tempest prop, hence the devopement of the Fury (stronger steel), but Merc denies this also. Anyway, Frank did me right, Merc did me right and I really believe that if Mossdale was still up and running and still my sponsor, this all wouldnt have happened. Boat dealership sponsorship has it perks. Also, it should be noted that Inland Marine sells Legend boats and I just cant go “there” even for a sponsorship deal. Too bad, Franks a good guy. Hope some of this helps. Tom

Is Tim the Merc rep for our area? Would it be possible to get his email address? Thanks

Listen to what these guys have said and do not take no for an answer……From what ive read the last couple months it seems that Mercury is getting very “pissy” about the issues? I dont understand why some sales and service guys open their mouths and upset the customer, either stating fact or opinion, telling people they hit something, or has over trimmed their motor to cause exploding lowers…..I am to blame as Rick knows for opening the mouth before its needed, but when it comes to warranty on boats,motors,or trailers, the customer is typically taken care of right away with no input, unless they were told how to run something wrong, which im shocked how uneducated some are in our field, its baffling what some say, just like the auto industry, Insert Foot Here…….I hope your Pantera 4 is back on the water asap, that is my favorite all around hull from BCB, now if we could get the Fish n Ski top deck, Oh My…..Your Signature …