Transom bracket break

[Poly]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Totally agree with poly get it tested its an exact science and will tell if it's cast metal failure.

And just telling evinrude you are planning this might get it resolved!

[kerny]

Originally Posted by Poly

And just telling evinrude you are planning this might get it resolved!

Agree...great idea Poly [emoji106]

[Xk59D]

you are on a hiding to nothing doing that for me.

the best that can happen is you prove a metal issue, evinrude will still say it wouldn't have broken if you didn't "hit" sand anyway. you need to prove the metal issue (if there is one) caused the failure, you can't do that concretely with skeg damage.

just claim your insurance and let their legal team fight it out if they want.

just for the record, i'm in the it is a flaw with the engine camp but you will drag this out when a phone call to your insurance will have you a new engine mount in days.

[two stroke mick]

I have been thinking of the failure mechisim for this bracket and am convinced that it is caused by the lack of support under the saddle. The reason for the failure is the bouncing of the power head on the saddle the failure is not as a result of thrust from the prop. The break is at the point of maximum bending force if you consider the bouncing of the power head. I have failed to find any other failures on the net except for these three. In all cases they were on ribs, unsupported under the saddle and we're sixty up.

Ribs tend to be high performance boats driven fast and hard. A lot of rib owners want to get the best set up for their engine and raise it to achieve same.

On other boats say fishing boats like the orkney the engine is more likely to be on the transom directly and not driven as hard

As I have said before I do drive my rib hard in rough enough seas

Tsm

[kerny]

TSM...these engine's should be good enough for ribs like any other outboard engine being driven hard or not. Evinrude would stipulate "not for rib use" otherwise 👍

I personally think that the saddle casting is too thin and should be much thicker like they are on Etecs 75 and up 👍

[Xk59D]

no way a 60hp 2 stroke should be breaking a saddle on any boat.

probably only because 60hp is a strange size not a lot of them are in the states on anything but a pontoon boat in a lake or the forums would have more failures.

you rarely see any engine in the UK sitting on the transom, it will help for sure but if that was the case they would just have 1 set of bolt holes and tell you to lay the engine on the transom them bolt it on, does the evinrude manual mention anything about engine height?

[boulmer nidge]

hopefully i am going to get it done with my insurance . i would pay out of my own money its the thought of paying out and it happening again thats bothering me . even when its fixed i will be thinking am i going too hard for the engine . it spoils what ribbing is all about going things you cannot do in normal boats .

[two stroke mick]

I wonder if the sixty could take the seventh five saddle?

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

you are on a hiding to nothing doing that for me.

the best that can happen is you prove a metal issue, evinrude will still say it wouldn't have broken if you didn't "hit" sand anyway. you need to prove the metal issue (if there is one) caused the failure, you can't do that concretely with skeg damage.

I don't agree. There are at least three possible outcomes that a good metallurgist should be able to identify:

• sudden failure from one excess load [it hit a sand bank etc]
• a casting failure (e.g. an air bubble causing a weak point, bad cooling causing crystal structure issues)
• fatigue failure - caused by repeated small flexing [if say the bracket design is too weak]

just claim your insurance and let their legal team fight it out if they want.

possibly - but without lying to your insurer (never a great idea*) you may find their loss adjustor says "wear and tear".

* Especially if there is a thread on the internet explaining your true understanding of the failure!

Of course its the OP's choice - but Evinrude really wouldn't want a report in the public domain which said either its bracket was badly made or (worse) badly designed. The internet haters would love that, and every bracket failure in the future would use it to support their claim too. If they are really confident they are right they will run than risk.

[Xk59D]

he is not lying to his insurance though, evinrude said the sandbank/beach done it, that is all he has to say. it is immaterial what any of us think caused it, only what evinrude say caused it matters.

even if he proves in a university that the metal has a flaw you cannot prove hitting the sand didn't contribute to atleast premature failure....as the skeg picture gives enough evidence to that effect.

if his insurance contest it and say it is evinrudes problem them as long as he has legal cover they can fight it out.

if his insurance won't do anything then i would go down your route for sure.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

he is not lying to his insurance though, evinrude said the sandbank/beach done it, that is all he has to say.

I'd expect the insurer to want to know where and when it hit the sandbank, who was helming and how fast they were going... (and why its taken so long for a claim).

In your best case he'll be out of pocket for the Excess (often doubled for "underwater machinery"*).

even if he proves in a university that the metal has a flaw you cannot prove hitting the sand didn't contribute to atleast premature failure....as the skeg picture gives enough evidence to that effect.

I think you are preempting the expert's report! Its pretty staggering how much a metallurgist can tell you...

if his insurance contest it and say it is evinrudes problem them as long as he has legal cover they can fight it out.

Maybe- although the discretion on which claims they pursue usually lies with the insurer. To them this is a low value claim and might not be worth it.

* now that we mention it - would an insurer try to argue this isn't underwater so not covered? I'd need to dust off my policy small print...

[Xk59D]

i can't be bothered with multi quoting so i'll just answer directly-

all he has to tell his insurance is he was seeking info from evinrude, hence the delay, no lies involved.

in your example he has to pay for getting a report done and still hope evinrude will admit liability anyway, could be put towards the excess or the repair potentially. not sure how much one of these reports costs???

i did mention a few posts ago about checking the underwater policy, evinrude said hitting something caused this so problem potentially solved. (subject to checking the policy smallprint)

i am in no way preempting the experts report, i'm preempting what evinrude will say when they find out there was a metal problem of some kind. if you prove a metal problem you cannot claim insurance, so you have just ruled out 50% of your choices voluntarily and you will need to rely on evinrude accepting hitting something did not cause or atleast contribute to the issue.

the point is if the OP has legal cover and insurance nor evinrude will pay then he can perhaps make use of the legal cover to get some proper legal advice on how to proceed. i've made use of it recently with car insurance policy for faulty car and worked wonders for me.

there are pros and cons with whatever way to proceed no doubt.

if there was no skeg damage i would probably be saying the same as yourself, that gives evinrude a decent ace up the sleeve.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by two stroke mick

I have been thinking of the failure mechisim for this bracket and am convinced that it is caused by the lack of support under the saddle.

Tsm

I would disagree with that theory as the force acting on the saddle bracket is upwards due to the action of the trim ram pushing upwards to trim the engine out . Therefore a block under the saddle would do very little as the bracket is being forced away and not down on to the block
I think the bracket is just a little too weak which tends to show up on ribs due to the nature of their use

[Pikey Dave]

Any collision severe enough to snap the transom bracket, would have wiped the skeg off, I know these things[emoji849]

[Xk59D]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Any collision severe enough to snap the transom bracket, would have wiped the skeg off, I know these things[emoji849]

common sense has no place in warranty claims, cmon now

[boulmer nidge]

i informed my insurance after taking my rib down to powerhouse marine .he said he thought evinrude might not pay . its hard now as i dont have access to take photos etc so have to work between them and as i dont do email usually i keep making mistakes . the quote is 2451 pound so its going to be interesting what they say . i have been with them over 10 years and never claimed . hope that counts for something

[boulmer nidge]

just thought id add i am looking for another rib but without an evinrude engine if any ones got one for sale

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by beamishken

I would disagree with that theory as the force acting on the saddle bracket is upwards due to the action of the trim ram pushing upwards to trim the engine out . Therefore a block under the saddle would do very little as the bracket is being forced away and not down on to the block
I think the bracket is just a little too weak which tends to show up on ribs due to the nature of their use

If the Warranty covered it first time...it should now IMO...simple!
All engines breakdown and fail at times ...good back up is a BIG influence on choice.
For a company always raving about thier warranty. (See G2 Hyperbole!)...seems a little/very short sighted to me.

[two stroke mick]

What engine make does provide the best and worst warranty support?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by boulmer nidge

i informed my insurance after taking my rib down to powerhouse marine .he said he thought evinrude might not pay . its hard now as i dont have access to take photos etc so have to work between them and as i dont do email usually i keep making mistakes . the quote is 2451 pound so its going to be interesting what they say . i have been with them over 10 years and never claimed . hope that counts for something

That price sounds stiff. I can't help but think that throughout this episode you have been taken for a ride & not necessarily by BRP. I've asked a couple of times where the info has been coming from regarding the denial of liability for the failure, directly from BRP or is it the dealers opinion? Still awaiting clarification on that one[emoji848] Any dealer worth his salt would be fighting your corner tooth & nail. BUT...a dealer gets minimal payment from BRP for carrying out warranty repairs, where you on the other hand are about to be stung for £2.5k for a full retail price repair. So you can see why a dealer might not be too keen to press your case. I would certainly be contacting BRP direct & kicking up a stink & also getting a second opinion from another dealer.
Just IMO