woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

I bought a new Lowe 1775FM with a 115hp Mercury last June

I haven't been saying much about the liability issue of the engine having too short of a shaft...I was trying to stay respectful of whether Lowe and the dealer would prefer not to have a widely known issue versus one they take care of in a controlled manner.

The depth of the transom from mounting edge to tip of the keel is 20-3/4", a 20 inch shaft is roughly 2 to 3 inches too short to allow the prop to have the proper bite in the water.

This is causing a couple of problems, one is a seriously excessive degree of torque steer...enough so that I can't in good faith let my wife drive it. Under power it will not turn to one side. Another is that it will not allow the proper degree of trim, it gets close but is not quite at the full trim that would have the best performance. Cruising at about 4500rpm in the best trim I can get, the slightest mild wide turn on flat water cavitates the prop and jumps the rpm to 5500+...not acceptable.

I told the dealer and Lowe that I would kick in $2000 towards an XSPro, which actually only costs a few hundred more than the 115, the dealer could get within a thousand dollars of what a new engine costs given it has about 15 hours on it, so it would cost them almost nothing to take care of me, plus Mercury said they would give Lowe a really good price to help as well.

Still above water Loc: San Francisco ca

Sounds like to me that u got screwed my friend. Under no circumstances should a boat preform like that. Lowe is a great and respected boat manufacturer. I find it hard to believe that they would allow such an issue to exist. Is this a dealer issue? I’m in the market for a new boat and Lowe has been high on my list. You have me concerned! Is this an issue with Mercury or Lowe boats or the dealer installing the wrong motor. Would love to know. Don’t want to make the same mistake! Where did you purchase it, would love a response!

smitty Loc: maine

was it a package/boat sold with that motor
something fishy goin on there
i would contact Mercury Marine

ricky risteen

Is this motor mounted on the top hole of the motor mount? Also did you take this boat out before you bought it? You could look into a jack plate that is fixed to the transom that will let you move the motor up or down. Once you bought this boat your kind of stuck with it.merc will be no help as long as there is no damage to the motor. Ricky Sitka.

NoCal Steve Loc: Dunnigan, CA

Why do you have to pay another $2K? I don't understand that. I don't know a lot about Mercury but with other manufacturers you can change out the mid section to get a 20 or 25 inch motor. I can't imagine they couldn't do the same thing.

Still above water Loc: San Francisco ca

Well, I guess that I’m crossing Mercury and Lowe boats off my list of potential new boat options. Still being that we are both in Northern California would love to know the dealership that sold u such a messed up situation. Personally I never would buy a new boat without a on water test drive.No different than purchasing a new car, especially considering the price that u must have paid. If they can not provide one I’m not interested.I understand that u don’t want to disrespect the dealership. But your existing handling problem is a serious issue. To say that you’re concerned that your wife can’t even drive the boat speaks volumes. If you don’t want to disrespect the dealer that sold the boat to u. I don’t understand. But to be fair to all of us here more info would be greatly appreciated. Don’t want to make the same mistake.

NoCal Steve Loc: Dunnigan, CA

I agree 100%. The name of that dealer should be made public. Accurate reviews are extremely helpful to others. Just as important is when they often motivate a business to do the right thing.

Still above water Loc: San Francisco ca

Thanks Steve. I think that the dealer info is very important to all of us. Hopefully it will be resolved. Just don’t want to be put in that same situation. I don’t mean any disrespect, to him, but im doing a lot of research in regards to my new boat purchase. Love to know the dealership.

Barnacles Loc: Northern California

Guru, I'd think that you could find a used longer leg to bolt onto your motor for less than $2000 - and then you should be able to get most of that back by selling your short leg!

But I agree with others here, the ideal solution would be a jack plate. With that, you'd be able to get it JUUUUST right! Since this is all the dealer's mess-up, I'd have expected him to help out with that solution. Either a free jack plate or a free installation would be appropriate.

UncleRob Loc: NE Maryland

They'd fix it free of cost or they'd be staring at a lawsuit. As much as I hate to go that route, it sounds like that's exactly what you're going to have to do. You bought a boat in good faith that was supposed to be fit for your application and it isn't. Contact an attorney to see what your rights are there.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

This is an engineering consequence of trying to stay too close to in between marginal performance compromises, an inch or two deeper prop in the water and both the torque steer and cavitation would be.

Both Tracker and Crestliner have this size configurations, mine is the 1775 which is 17'-10", I now want the Tracker V-18, and while the 150hp on it is a nice 45mph boat, there is a 200hp option. Smokercraft has nice 17ft/18ft variations as well.

This is a manufacturer model specific issue, not the dealer, and every person who was a potential customer that hears about it will be looking at other options. Dealers will be selling other boats rather than have unhappy customers. $45k for a boat was a big deal to me, and I'm sure as hell going to make it a big deal to them.

I find it hard to believe they haven't told the dealer to swap out the motor to a 115 XSPro 25" to make me go away happy...I offered to kick in $2000 even though the difference is only a few hundred, and they will easily get $9000 for the old motor that has 15 hours on it.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

It's a manufacturer engineering fault, and it appears they are going to stand by it. Lowe rigged the boat motor package that the dealer ordered. The math on a 20 inch shaft on a boat with a transom height from edge to tip of keel that's 20-3/4 inches doesn't work. The cavitation plate should ride somewhere around two inches deeper than it does so no air can get under the cavitation plate. Getting air and disrupted water under that cavitation plate causes cavitation and a jump in RPM of 1000rpm or more.

Tracker has a flat section across the back of the transom with a step towards the depth of the keel forward of that, so they dealt with this well.

Mercury said that it was highly likely that they would do a big favor to Lowe and give them a better than normal wholesale price to help out with making this right. With the $2000 I offered as a sweetener they could make money swapping me over.

I'm going to talk to a Coast Guard consultant and see what they say, Lowe is deeply ignorant if they take chances with a safety recall...and the resulting loss of business and dealers.

It's a big deal to lose sales on a $40k boat.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

It's mounted on the lowest possible hole. When it came from the factory they had it mounted one hole up and the torque steer was frightening, and there was no way to use trim without getting cavitation. The dealer lowered it to the lowest hole, and that made a huge difference, which is what proves to me that another couple inches and everything would be right and as it should be.

You are right, I am sorta stuck with it, and it's fine as a fishing boat, but then Lowe has to worry about marketing a marginally deficient product in a market where superior engineering is expected.

I suggested a jack plate and Lowe told me no way, the boat was not designed for that...if I am stuck with this, I will go that route as it is the solution that fixes the problem for less than a grand.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

I was offering it just to be a nice guy and show that I am willing to contribute to a solution that works for everyone.

And yes, I did look at changing the mid section but that is about $4k, this used motor will easily sell for $9000 as it has 14 hours on it and can be sold with a full warranty...the wholesale on a new XSPro is about that, so it's actually cheaper to switch engines and sell the old one at nearly full pop like the dealer can.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

This is not Mercury's problem, it is a great engine, it's a 115hp engine that easily pushes an almost 18 foot boat to 45mph. I bought this from ASFB (A Small Fishing Boat) in Rancho Cordova.

And I can't really blame the dealer for Lowe's engineering SNAFU, although I would expect them to push Lowe hard to make this right with me.

The problem with the dealer is that they are using language like "they are not going to eat a $10k engine" whereby I have pointed out that they will get as much for the old one as the new one costs....being a dealer they think they have to make several thousand dollars on everything they do.