Weld breaking on pontoon boat transom

[gatorhunter]

I've got a brand new 22 foot pontoon boat with a 4 stroke 90 motor on the transom. I've trailered it on a duel axle bunk trailer for 1200 miles maximum. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the weld is breaking on one corner of the transom.

This transom is anchored/supported by being bolted to floor joists under the boat floor. The little struts that are bolted to one joist and welded to the tubes have broken away from the tubes and torn them.

The dealer and manufacturer who I believed to be reputable began by giving me the run around. The last time that they replied to my email was a week ago. I'll be working the phones tomorrow to get these structural defects repaired.

Has anyone had pontoon boat transom issues? How were they resolved? I'm not asking anyone to identify their dealer or make of boat...yet! If anyone has information or suggestions on how to make this right, I'm all ears!

[Esox_Magnum]

New boat? I would be hounding both the dealer and the company untill it's resolved. If they refuse to resolve it in a quick and timely fashion you can bet anyone I know will know about their poor service. As long as it's a problem with the boat itself there should be no run around.

[boatfixer]

What kind of run around are they giving you? They're product is clearly defective. By any chance is the dealer also the manufacture?

[CAMAN]

If they don't attempt to work with you to make this right I would go directly to the state Attorney General. I'd think the Vehicle Lemon Law's should cover this one easily.

Good Luck!

[vermilionfox]

What's the name of the manufacturer? I may be able to get you some contact names if I know.

[timjones]

Who are the dealer and manufacturer? I am beginning to look for a new pontoon boat and if your getting the run around on this type of defect on a new boat, then I would like to know where not to bother looking.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Would a transom saver prevented this? If so, they may say you should have used one.

[boatfixer]

I doubt it. IMO its poor welding. The struts are only welded on one side and there are thousands and thousands of pontoons out there that are many many years older that have not cracked. unless there is proof of misuse or abuse, its time to turn up the heat.

[CAMAN]

Yeah, there is no penetration in those welds. That bottom picture would have the aluminum ripping like a tin can and not the weld breaking off if it were from abuse with proper welds. Probably used the wrong alloy filler rod for the type of aluminum.

[gatorhunter]

Thanks for all your insight folks! A manufacturer representative said that it looked like I was trailering the boat without the "required transom support bar!" I replied that nobody told me that a "transom support bar" was required.

If a transom saver is required then it should have come with the boat and trailer right?

The manufacturer has said to get the boat to them and they'll fix it. I'm delivering the boat to the dealer on Thursday and they are supposed to get it to the manufacturer.

I want to make sure that the design faults are corrected not just fixed!

[marine_man]

Make sure you stay on the dealer / manufacturer to make sure it gets fixed in a timely manner... if possible I'd get the name and phone number of the guy from the manufacturer you talked to... that way you can go direct to him if it's taking too long or there's a question.

marine_man

[ole matty]

Look like a poor porsity and flawless design. I hope it work out good for u.

[jeffreyd]

why would they not have built in a gusset of some type to help offset some of the load? Especially in the corners. might be a question for marine man.

[ottertailguy]

I would like to know the name of the manufacturer of the pontoon. Shouldn't it be part of this forum so others with the same toon will look to see if they are affected. For the safety of our families. What are the chances this is the only one? Or maybe anyone who tows their toon better get under and take a look? I have a Bennington that stays on a lift, but you can bet I'll be looking this weekend.

[Tom7227]

Would it be fair to assume that the same welder and equipment were used on at least one whole side of the boat, if not the whole boat? I've never been to a factory but I suspect that's how it's done. This makes me think that every weld should be carefully inspected and perhaps redone. I'm not a welder but then I begin to think about how good the job would be off the factory floor after the boat's been in use. Unless I felt really comfortable with the sincerity of the boat manufacturer's response I may push for a different boat. I certainly would have someone independently check it out after the 'repair' if that's the route that is taken. These things cost too much money for this type of work. I hope it wasn't a MN boat manufacturer.

[gatorhunter]

My boat is at the dealer and it's supposed to go back to the factory on Monday. I'm told that the manufacturer will repair everything at no cost to me or the dealer. I'll post on the progress and results.

The dealer and manufacturer are in Minnesota but that's all I can say at this time.

[gatorhunter]

It's been a long time coming so here's my story. I hope that the mods allow me to make my points. I'll be objective, not slanderous!

Bought my pontoon boat from Mclaughlin's RV and Marine in Fargo in April. Issues with speedometer the first time in the water. Within the first several hours, lever for swivel chair broke and flip up part of other chair broke.

Started communications with Mclaughlin's Fargo AND Premier Marine, Wyoming, MN to repair "cluster" of items early July 2010. Back and forth communications with no date for repairs.

August 5, 2010! Black Friday as that's when the broken weld, etc. was noticed. August 9, 2010 begin the contacts with Mclaughlin's and Premier. You've seen what the Customer Service guy at Premier had to say.

August 23, 2010 bought my own transom saver. Arranged with Mclaughlin's Fargo for me to deliver my boat to Mclaughlin's Detroit Lakes.

August 25, 2010 bring my boat down to Mclaughlin's D.L. They have no idea what I'm talking about. A couple of phone calls and emails between Fargo and D.L. and it's done.

Early September, boat makes it way to Premier Marine at Wyoming, MN. Took several phone calls from me to find out if boat was still in D.L. or Premier.

September 20, 2010 and not one word from Mclaughlin's or Premier. Make phone calls to Mclaughlin's D.L., Mclaughlin's Fargo and Premier Customer and Service Managers. NOBODY KNOWS THE STATUS OF THE BOAT! Fargo and Premier both said they'd look into it and call me back. Not one call back!

September 23/24 email Premier and copy Mclaughlin's Fargo about complete lack of customer service. Premier replies one line...boat ready by middle of next week (~ September 29).

Call Premier on October 1. Where's my boat? Don't know, look into it and get back to you.

October 4, 2010. Email from Premier. Boat is done and being shipped to Mclaughlin's D.L. Wednesday October 6, 2010.

Friday October 8, 2010. Message on answering machine from Mclaughlin's D.L. Boat is there and ready to get picked up. A little later another call from Mclaughlin's D.L. Boat is not ready as Premier DID NOT FIX OR REPLACE BROKEN CHAIR.

I phone Premier about not fixing or replacing broken chair. Customer service guy said he didn't know anything about a broken chair. I told him that the subject line in every email said broken seat and other problems. Also included in specific lists of problems. Got same old answer, looking into it. Mclaughlin's Manager says to me over morning telephone call, "I'll see if I have a few minutes this afternoon to call Premier!" Say WHAT! A few minutes this afternoon after all the b.s. that I've been put through!

October 23, 2010 called Mclaughlin's Fargo to speak with company President. Told him that I wanted to know where my boat was and what kind of condition it was in.

Few minutes later I'm told that it was ready for a week and that attempts to contact me had failed. Hey, I got the two voice mails earlier in the month so why they couldn't reach me when my answering machine is on 24/7 sounded pretty phony!

Told the President that in return for all the b.s. that both Mclaughlin's and Premier had put us through, the least they could do was winterize my boat and motor seeing as how it's almost November then deliver it to me at the Canada/U.S. border. I'd pick it up there. Mclaughlin's President said that he couldn't do that as it would set a precedent. I asked what's wrong with setting a customer service precedent for someone who has been wronged by his company? No answer of course. Told him that nobody from Mclaughlin's or Premier has ever told me exactly what is/was broken and why? How was everything repaired or was anything replaced? Not a word from anyone! He says that he'll contact Premier and get me a list.

Monday and Tuesday October 25 and 26. Telephoned Mclaughlin's Fargo to speak with President. In a meeting one day and couldn't return phone call. On another line the other day and couldn't return phone call.

Wednesday October 27, 2010 made arrangements with a friend to pick up my boat at Mclaughlin's D.L. Hoping like heck that my boat is truly fixed!

Friday October 29, 2010 out of the blue get phone call from Mclaughlin's president. First words he asks me, "How are you doing?" I'm thinking WHAT, HOW THE ..... DO YOU THINK I'M DOING? He says, I understand that you got your boat. Email from Premier said that the transom weld was repaired. THAT'S IT? I ask what about the pontoon tears, the water in the pontoons, the broken chair, speedometer, anything else. Uhh! I'll put you on hold for a minute. Comes back and says that his man had checked my boat and that everything that needed fixing or replacing was done.

So Premier repaired their poorly designed and constructed boat at no "cost" to me! No cost except the money that it cost me to tow it down to D.L. and the money to get it back. The money that I dished out for a transom saver that the Premier Customer Service guy called the "required transom support bar!" Bi-weekly payments from early August to late October for a boat that I haven't had! Unable to use a boat that we had planned our summer vacation around. And now, not even a list of what was repaired or how it was repaired.

Sorry for the length of this but I felt that you needed to know the complete story. The dollar being what it is makes it very attractive to shop for big ticket items in the U.S. However, it's obvious that I won't be spending another cent at Mclaughlin's and I certainly won't promote Premier boats.

Form your own opinions on these companies! You'll probably want to contact your Better Business Bureaus as they have received complaints from me with respect to Mclaughlin's RV and Marine as well as Premier Marine!

It is October 30 and I still don't know what they did to my boat!

[Northlander]

Thanks for that report. I would copy this all and send it to both.

Negative pub like this kills places that do bad bussiness practices and for good reasons.

In todays economy you would think they would do all they could to take care of you and keep you as a customer. At least pay for your gas.

[zamboni]

I doubt it. IMO its poor welding. The struts are only welded on one side and there are thousands and thousands of pontoons out there that are many many years older that have not cracked. unless there is proof of misuse or abuse, its time to turn up the heat.

I am a welder and I agree with that. In that bottom pic, the weld is 9/10ths on the "I" beam. The weld should be at least 50-50 on both the "I" beam and the sheet its welded to.

[Ralph Wiggum]

WOW! That is terrible. I am a little surprised that these problems occurred on a Premier Pontoon as they're a very reputable boat maker. And I am even more surprised that they drug their feet making things right. Thanks for sharing the story, and I hope things are good-to-go now.

[delcecchi]

I went to premier's web site and in the owner's manual, chapter 4, which is downloadable, they make a fairly big deal about the engine support bar when trailering long distance.

And from my reading the warranty terms in the same book, you are lucky they fixed it.

It sounds like the dealer dropped the ball in explaining things to you so that you understood them. They were supposed to do that. If you signed the warranty card you indicated you understood that.

Yes, they seem to have had a bad weld and some other problems. The seats and speedometer maybe were warranted by their manufacturers.

And they could have made you deliver it to Wyoming Mn at your expense. Always read the fine manual. Again the dealer should have told you all this stuff. Didn't they? Sounds like they did a half donkey job of delivering the product. It is all pretty plain in the manual, but no one sits down and RTFM at the dealer when taking delivery. They should have had the engine support bar on there when you showed up. Or did you just buy the boat and bring your own trailer? Was the motor up or down when trailering?

Did you ever write the dealer or Premier a real hardcopy letter? Some places aren't good at email communication.

I know this isn't going to be a popular position for me to take. But you all can download the manual yourself and read all this stuff.

[gatorhunter]

Very good post delcecchi! I read the manual cover to cover so I knew what was written. They refer to a transom saver on a couple of occasions throughout the manual. However, I did identify to Premier that there are "huge" contradictions on page 4.3 paragraph 4.

Make sure the motor is tilted up and a transom saver is used.

Don't travel with the motor tilted up or without a transom saver.

With bunk or float style trailers you should be able to travel with motor down without support.

As indicated in my summary, I upgraded to a heavier duty bunk trailer as per Mclaughlin's recommendation. There was no mention of a transom saver.

Then Premier's own manual contradicts itself three times in one paragraph!

I guarantee you that if someone would have suggested the transom saver to me, never mind saying that it was required, I would've been all over a $60 item!

I trailered with the motor straight up and down just the way I was told to.

How many pontoon boats are seen with transom savers while being trailered? Not too many!

[delcecchi]

Yes, I noticed about the tilted vrs straight up and down. If you were straight up and down I don't see the role of a transom support. After all the transom takes large forces with the motor tilted down when operating the boat. And a transom support would just fall off with no weight on it.

In my opinion, the main problem is that there was a defective weld and for whatever reason the dealer dropped the ball. The issues about seats and stuff are sort of separate, the way I read the warranty. Things were compounded by you being a fair distance from the dealer, or so it sounds.

[gatorhunter]

Seats and things not related to the transom are incidental I'd say. That's why I waited for a while and only approached them when there were multiple things to fix.

The transom thing is more than lousy welding IMO. Especially since the damage extended to the pontoons. IMO again, that's a design fault.

I still don't believe that this whole thing was caused by trailering without a transom saver.

I live 260 miles from Fargo. If that transom or transom design couldn't take 260 miles, then there are serious issues with every boat built that way.

[delcecchi]

Seats and things not related to the transom are incidental I'd say. That's why I waited for a while and only approached them when there were multiple things to fix.

The transom thing is more than lousy welding IMO. Especially since the damage extended to the pontoons. IMO again, that's a design fault.

I still don't believe that this whole thing was caused by trailering without a transom saver.

I live 260 miles from Fargo. If that transom or transom design couldn't take 260 miles, then there are serious issues with every boat built that way.

The reason I think it was bad welding is that Premier has made a whole bunch of boats with the same design and I think that we would have had folks chiming in "mine did that too" if it was an inherent problem. Also we had a welder guy post that it looked like a bad welding job.

I agree that if you trailered with the motor down you shouldn't need a support. In fact I don't see how a support could be used with the motor down.

Just a question for my curiosity. Was the motor all the way down or could it have been trimmed up a little bit? I don't know that that would make any difference but maybe it does.