Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hello everyone My buddy just took out his newly purchased 2014 DLX tracker with a 90 hp 4 stroke Merc Motor has 14 hrs on it WOW Boat in excellent condition He just called me and reported boat is vibrating and rail gates vibrating when in gear and at low rpm s Even in Neutral still vibrates so we figured its in motor itself. Steering wheel vibrates also, and plus boat under power like 3000 rpm s pulls to right, boat will not go in straight line any ideas of what going on with this issue????? Thank You all

I don't think a little vibration is anything to worry about... I know my boat has just a little bit of vibration when I first bump it into gear.. i mean like barely moving.. as soon as I give it any throttle at all it smoothes out completely.. having said that vibration can be caused by a lot of things... one of the first things to check is the prop... if it's dinged or bent really bad from hitting something, that will cause a lot of vibration.. good luck running it down.

My first guess would be a bent prop or prop shaft, but if it's doing it even when the boat is in neutral and the prop not turning, it could be the driveshaft. Did your buddy do a test ride before purchasing?

Thank You Roland and Steve

Boat pulling to the right is standard for an improperly trimmed motor...…..it's due to engine torque. Adjust the little trim tab under the cavitation plate. Surprised this is happening....maybe the motor itself does have a problem---even with the low hours---could be some internal damage. A lot of pontoon boats have a harmonic vibration caused by the motor-usually at low rpm's tho'

Definitely check the prop tho. Major vibration culprit. Btw 14 hrs on a five yr old motor seems really low--even for recreational boating---I would question that..