Anybody had this happen?

[BANDERSO]

Here is a fun little story at my expense.

Had just updated my pontoon motor from a 2 stroke to a 4 stroke last week. The local marine store called me on Friday and said it was done, so my wife and I were pretty pumped about the upcoming weekend of boating with some co-workers. I got about 5 miles down the road and heard a loud boom. I looked out my passanger mirror and noticed my right trailer tire rocketing out into the ditch and to my horror, my water ready pontoon skidding on the hiway at 58 mph letting off an early fireworks show that I didn't want to be partaking in. So I quickly pulled aside for a quick puke/cry session. I found my tire and noticed that the bearings had let go of the wheel and what it was bolted on to. I called the marine store and told them what happened and they immediately sent a flat bed trailer and another pontoon trailer and came to my rescue. The whole thing from losing the tire to being back at the marine store took 45 minutes. I couldn't have been luckier, the damage to the float was not as bad as it could have been. I had an aluminum welder patch it up over the weekend an took it out last night to the lake to gear up for this weekend, hopefully!!!

Just a little reminder to check out your trailers, make sure their greased, proper tire pressure, lug nuts tight, and in good working order because they are carrying some pretty precious cargo!!!! Thinking about what could have happened is scary and some preventative maintanance could have made all the difference. Don't overlook the little things because your overly excited to get in the water like I did!

Barrett

[marine_man]

Glad it wasn't that much damage in the end! Thanks for the reminder!

Did the welder leak check the tube when he was done then? If not I'd pay close attention to that before you find out it's leaking and you have a severe list on your pontoon.

marine_man

[Sandmannd]

Wow, that's a bummer. Sounds like you had great service from your marine guy though. Glad you are up and running again.

[BANDERSO]

He did pressure test it and said it was good to go! I do have a boat lift, so after a long day on the water you can bet I will pull the drain plug on that side to see if she took in any water.

[PerchJerker]

Happened to me a few years ago, I had the bearings and brakes replaced on my trailer and 350 miles later the bearings went out and the tire/wheel went shooting past us and down into the ditch. Huge pain in the a$$. The shop that did the bearing replacement was great about it, they pretty much took care of everything. No damage to my boat since the trailer skidded on the axle, and my transom saver kept my motor above the pavement.

[snoozebutton]

Nice to hear that what could've been a terrible situation turned out not too bad. Thinking of the "what if" scenarios and all and all, pretty lucky. Sounds like a marina that deserves your business in the future.

[Gus]

I had the same thing happen on a brand new trailer. Only thing I can think of is the idiots assembling the thing did not put a cotter pin in the castle nut or something like that. So it just because it is new doesn't mean you are safe either! Best just to be on your toes at all times and do your own safety checks.

Glad you got back on the water.