Thursday, May 29, 2008

So the Problems begin





So I put the boat in my lake and it is really windy and actually looked like it might rain so I decide to pull it out and put it on my new Boatmate tailer. After many years of owning a Moomba and loading it figured it would be a snap. While the boat was aligned with the trailer a manufacture engineering screw up allows the prop to come in and hit the trailers prop guard and destroys my first prop with less than 3 hrs on the boat. Boatmate claims it is my fault and removes them self from blame. Now of course I get stuck with the cost of the prop and and damage on the trailer. For any future Malibu boat buyers don't let your dealer talk you into these or Extreme trailers unless you live on a wind free lake. Since the boat can move left to right one foot it can hit this poorly designed trailer and cost you an instant $600.00. While Malibu doesn't make a trailer for their boat they do show other manufactures that do and once you have damaged your boat they suddenly remember other manufacture that make better fitting trailers. The dealers will say no body gets their boats on crooked they lie... While at my dealer a ranked pro rider got their boat on crooked and Acme props who manufactures the OEM props acknowledged it happens. So Be very careful of your dealer they are in the business to sell stuff that may or may not be correct for your boat and once you ding it then suddenly everything is your fault. Notice though in the picture of the nautique trailer how the prop guard is way forward of the prop and the back of the trailer protector goes from rail to rail clearly designed for incident free launching and loading.  Now since Boatmate wants to stay neutral they offer no instructions with their trailer for launching and loading the trailer. But a conversation with them they suggest dropping it in as pictured wetting the bunks and hitting the throtel and punching the boat on the trailer as hard as you can ramming it into the eye loop on the front of the boat is the preferred method. While washing out the ramp behind it using all that force is ok.  But then this method should not be so strong as to wash up debrie around it so that it may get sucked into the boat and cause cooling issues which again is your fault.  Oh and if any of you have had this situation pleas contact me. The dealers and malibu belive I am the only guy who has ever done this.

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