Aluminum Outboard Motor Bracket up to 35hp - Panther

I purchased on of these brackets, The bracket was wobbly and all the bolts were loose. Also the handle for lifting was too short to make the nut with the Nylon to prevent loosening on its own. I contacted Panther Marine by phone and E-mail and as follows is the messages I received. They told me to unmount the bracket from my boat and mail it in, and would not ship me the correct bolt length. I ended up picking it up from a fastener wholesaler for $4.00. But the bracket is still on poor fabrication for $400.00. and NOT Made in the US *************************************Panthers Response VIA E-mail ******************************8 Luke, we do not have any replacement parts for these units yet, they are on order but it probably will be January before we get them. Here is what you could do, if you choose to: The bolt size is 3/8” by 5-3/4”, you may want to get a 6” bolt. OR you could cut the handle portion that is between the two sides, cut off about ¼” and then you could get the existing bolt to grab the nut. This is the best we could do for you. The only other option is. WE WILL REPLACE THE WHOLE BRACKET TO YOU, BUT YOU NEED TO SEND US THE OTHER UNIT FIRST. I think you said it was already mounted and maybe hard to un-mount. Let me know if you want to return the bracket to us. If you do, we will send a call tag to pickup the existing bracket and send you a new bracket in return. We need a copy of your purchase receipt from where you bought the unit Thank you for your e-mail Dale Hagen Marinetech Products dhagen@marinetech.info Panther, Navigator, Detwiler, Angler’s Pal, EZ-Steer, TrollMaster Safe-Skeg. 1760 Buerkle Circle White Bear Lake, MN 55110 Log on to our website www.marinetechproducts.com http://www.youtube.com/marinetechproducts Videos of many products Click on desired product line Download our catalog on the website Call us if you need help or to place an order: TEL: 651-486-2010 FAX: 651-486-6989 Description: cid:image001.jpg@01CB9869.A7815490 From: Luke Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 11:09 AM To: Info@ Subject: Bracket problem Luke 10/31/11 to info, larry.grundtner, Dale Thanks Dale, However your company's lack of help in not appreciated. Well the bolt packaged with this brand new mount I purchased was only 5 1/2 inches long. Obviously 1/4" shorter than whats required. What kind of company is MarineTech? I have never been so disappointed in a product after spending slightly less than 1/2 thousand dollars, yes almost $500.00 on a mount and you are giving me a problem with a $4.00 bolt. I polity informed you of the sub-par assembly of an expensive mount when speaking with you on the phone, and hopefully your relayed the information to your quality control department. You can count on me posting numerous posts on what I think of your products on various forums including me having to tighten almost every bolt that the unit came with as nothing was square and uniform, and dont like wobbly or excessive amount of play in a mount, as it will eventually lead to metal fatigue. I feel sorry for other buyers of your products, as I very highly doubt they are as mechanically inclined as I, and probably dont have access to industrial fastener suppliers as I do. Also, Who in their right mind would take no less than 1 hour to un-mount a brand new kicker bracket just to get a proper sized bolt, box it up and ship it to you? I sent you a picture and you can clearly see there is a manufactures spec issue with your bracket.

I purchased on of these brackets, The bracket was wobbly and all the bolts were loose. Also the handle for lifting was too short to make the nut with the Nylon to prevent loosening on its own. I contacted Panther Marine by phone and E-mail and as follows is the messages I received. They told me to unmount the bracket from my boat and mail it in, and would not ship me the correct bolt length. I ended up picking it up from a fastener wholesaler for $4.00. But the bracket is still on poor fabrication for $400.00. and NOT Made in the US Luke, we do not have any replacement parts for these units yet, they are on order but it probably will be January before we get them. Here is what you could do, if you choose to: The bolt size is 3/8” by 5-3/4”, you may want to get a 6” bolt. OR you could cut the handle portion that is between the two sides, cut off about ¼” and then you could get the existing bolt to grab the nut. This is the best we could do for you. The only other option is. WE WILL REPLACE THE WHOLE BRACKET TO YOU, BUT YOU NEED TO SEND US THE OTHER UNIT FIRST. I think you said it was already mounted and maybe hard to un-mount. Let me know if you want to return the bracket to us. If you do, we will send a call tag to pickup the existing bracket and send you a new bracket in return. We need a copy of your purchase receipt from where you bought the unit Thank you for your e-mail Dale Hagen Marinetech Products dhagen@marinetech.info Panther, Navigator, Detwiler, Angler’s Pal, EZ-Steer, TrollMaster Safe-Skeg. 1760 Buerkle Circle White Bear Lake, MN 55110 Log on to our website www.marinetechproducts.com http://www.youtube.com/marinetechproducts Videos of many products Click on desired product line Download our catalog on the website Call us if you need help or to place an order: TEL: 651-486-2010 FAX: 651-486-6989 Description: cid:image001.jpg@01CB9869.A7815490 From: Luke Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 11:09 AM To: Info@ Subject: Bracket problem Luke 10/31/11 to info, larry.grundtner, Dale Thanks Dale, However your company's lack of help in not appreciated. Well the bolt packaged with this brand new mount I purchased was only 5 1/2 inches long. Obviously 1/4" shorter than whats required. What kind of company is MarineTech? I have never been so disappointed in a product after spending slightly less than 1/2 thousand dollars, yes almost $500.00 on a mount and you are giving me a problem with a $4.00 bolt. I polity informed you of the sub-par assembly of an expensive mount when speaking with you on the phone, and hopefully your relayed the information to your quality control department. You can count on me posting numerous posts on what I think of your products on various forums including me having to tighten almost every bolt that the unit came with as nothing was square and uniform, and dont like wobbly or excessive amount of play in a mount, as it will eventually lead to metal fatigue. I feel sorry for other buyers of your products, as I very highly doubt they are as mechanically inclined as I, and probably dont have access to industrial fastener suppliers as I do. Also, Who in their right mind would take no less than 1 hour to un-mount a brand new kicker bracket just to get a proper sized bolt, box it up and ship it to you? I sent you a picture and you can clearly see there is a manufactures spec issue with your bracket.