PropellerSafety.com

Archive for Mercury Marine – Page 5

Log Strike Testing Part 1: Log Strikes and Log Strike Systems

As outboard motors began to increase in horsepower, speeds went up, and striking submerged objects became more dangerous. Manufacturers designed systems to handle the loads created from striking logs or other submerged objects, and ways to test those systems. We (PGIC) cover log strike testing because the industry often uses log strike tests to evaluate […]

Log Strike Testing Part 2: A History of Log Strike Testing at Mercury Marine / Dry-land Impact Testing

A Discussion of the History of Log Strike Testing at Mercury (Kiekhaefer Corporation), Kiekhaefer Mercury, and Later at Mercury Marine, a Brunswick Company Please be sure to review Part 1 before reading this section. In Log Strike Testing Part 1: Log Strikes and Log Strike Systems we review what happens during a log strike and […]

Log Strike Testing – 1950’s Mercury Video

Log strike tests have long been used by Mercury to prove their outboards and stern drives could survive the impact of striking submerged logs and other floating or submerged obstacles. In the original log strike tests, Mercury’s test crew used concrete weights to position telephone poles horizontally in open water, then ran boats over them. […]

Propeller Fatality Cap and Trade With a Tax On Over Cap Fatalities

We propose a tax on fatal boat propeller accidents similar to a tax on pollution as a means of encouraging marine drive companies to prevent propeller injuries. The U.S. Coast Guard Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking surrounding propeller and carbon monoxide safety (USCG-2011-0497) asked for public comments on possible strategies to reduce propeller injuries. Thinking […]

Propeller Fatality Tax, Cap and Trade Background Information

We discuss Propeller Fatality Cap and Trade With a Tax on Over Cap Fatalities as a means to reduce recreational boat propeller fatalities in another post. While developing those concepts, we explored some other venues as well. The less desired approaches are provided here as reference material. In general, they present an approaches similar to […]

BARD Reported Accidents by Outboard and Sterndrive Manufacturer Used to Estimate Legacy Drive Population Market Shares

We are working on a propeller safety proposal that requires an estimate of the percentage of U.S. outboard and sterndrive boats powered by the various outboard and sterndrive manufacturers that are in the field, called the boat park by other nations. These numbers may be considerably different than current market shares due to some manufacturers […]

Estate of David Paul McFarlin and Jamie Laass vs. Brunswick Corporation (Mercury Marine and Lund Company) and Others

A young boy, David Paul McFarlin, was killed in a May 31, 2010 Storm Lake Iowa boating accident. A Labor Day boat outing on Storm Lake became a tragedy when their 175 horsepower Mercury Marine outboard motor struck a submerged dredge pipe on Storm Lake, the Mercury outboard flipped backwards into the boat, and David […]

Propeller Accidents Similar to the McGarrigle Accident: Mercury Said There Were None – Our Findings Indicate Otherwise

In McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine Mercury claims McGarrigle’s accident is the first one of its kind involving one of the over 750,000 tiller outboards (portable outboards) they built from 1986 to July 2007. We suspect there were several more. This post documents our quick search for others. Our Mercury Marine Tells Court the McGarrigil Accident […]

Mercury Marine Tells Court the McGarrigil Accident is the First One Involving Mercury Tiller Steered Outboards

In McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine, a propeller / kill switch case, Mercury Marine claims John McGarrigle is the the first person NOT using a kill switch to be injured by a Mercury Marine tiller steered outboard. We find that hard to believe, but before we can prove them wrong, we need to determine exactly what […]

Kenneth W. Fisher Will be Allowed to Testify for Plaintiffs in McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine

For basic information on John McGarrigle and Barbara McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine in U.S. District Court, D. New Jersey, see our McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine case page. Very briefly, John McGarrigle fell from a small boat when it hit a wave, was not wearing a lanyard kill switch, the boat circled repeatedly, he tried to […]