Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

No motor is standard for factory return

Tnx again to all Tracker Marine in Missouri warranty rep called and made comment (not a question)
advising "when you get your boat make sure when trailing you use the trailer attach bar provided by Tracker dealer so as motor has support". No shit!! I had own 3 sea rays , 2 bayliners w/OB's, and 1 valco aluminun 17' w/90 hp All my boats either with in/out or ob's had extra support on engine or stern drive for static state or trailering. This PB24 with 115 merc has not only a trailering attach bar (which is ok also a hardened rubber insert that you place on hydraulic piston ram pin and cinch down firm while trailering. A home Merc motor is full pwr trim down position so to take weight and stress of transom area. Yes i took everything out of boat but there still is fenders (didnt know if dealer going to take boat out to see water coming up thru wood and carpet) rod holders, down rigger plates depth finder attachments etc. Tracker rep said all items to be remove from boat (Customers items ) included ,gas emptied from tank, and all this work would be covered under Tracker warranty So know we wait tnx again for input

more pics

one more

Wow, it looks like the channel aluminum ripped apart. It wasn't even at a weld. I would not have expected that to happen.

Thanks for posting pics and good luck

ANYBODY GET PICS???

53POWELL wrote:ANYBODY GET PICS???

All I see are a series of X's. But apparently at least one other was able to see them.

53POWELL wrote:ANYBODY GET PICS???

Yes, I can see them. Crazy. I've rented a few sun trackers before we bought ours. Both came with the motor support for towing that you mentioned, but the motor also had a built in support. I would imagine that if you used one or the other you would be okay. Maybe the bar takes more weight of the the motor off of the pontoon boat frame when transporting.

Re-post of Resized Copy of OP's Photo's
Definitive failure for sure just wish a photo angle did a better job of defining exactly where in the boats structure this is taking place.

wow, never seen a channel rip like that, I would have expected the bolts to rip out before the channel gave way like that. Only thing I could think of that would cause that is pulling it down a bumpy road with the motor tilted up and no transom saver. I've seen quite a few pontoons with cracked transoms or a BENT rear channel from not using a transom saver while having the motor tilted up. Also, are those spacers from the factory? Seems like way too many spacers to me for mounting something/anything on a Pontoon boat.

rancherlee wrote:wow, never seen a channel rip like that, I would have expected the bolts to rip out before the channel gave way like that. Only thing I could think of that would cause that is pulling it down a bumpy road with the motor tilted up and no transom saver. I've seen quite a few pontoons with cracked transoms or a BENT rear channel from not using a transom saver while having the motor tilted up. Also, are those spacers from the factory? Seems like way too many spacers to me for mounting something/anything on a Pontoon boat.

I know a lot of people here us support and/or have their fav methods of towing, but most people tow with no transom saver at all and I have never seen or heard of this type of failure. Those shims look jenkey as hell too...what's going on there? I'm guessing something is out of whack from the factory with this boat...

Without being able to see the "big picture" it is difficult to figure out why the structure is failing. Overall the use of shims does not really bother me as long as there was/is a reasonable explanation for it; we use metal shims any where from 1/8" to 1" or more on 400 hp elect motors on up to 4,000 hp diesel motors to get our alinement's within spec.... Perhaps the cross bracing had manf defect? How many fasteners were used to secure the motor pod to the bracing and were they all tight? Does the boat spend most of its time on a trailer or floating in the water etc? Sun Trackers comment was likely based on what they have seen in the past and least it appears that they want to investigate an get to the bottom of it for you...

Your pics bring on more questions then answers. Why was the shims installed in the first place? That is the first and only ST I've seen with shims on the motor pod. I would be wondering if this boat wasn't in some type accident before you purchased it. But yes, I was warned by the dealer upon delivery to always use motor support bar when trailering or warranty wouldn't cover damage. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you.

Yep, those shims look suspicious...both of my Trackers had none there.

Looks like your got a Monday or Friday boat,,,,, and hope they fix it for you, but I would be screaming for a loaner boat for the summer,,, they have your money and you have no boat,,,, make'em fix it