it pays to take your time in maintance and in running

wowzer...really glad you are safe brother. Thank you for sharing.

If anything hearing about this will hopefully keep a few folks safe out there.

You don't have to hit anything to have the boat swap ends on you. Had some friends snap a steering cable at 60+ and buy the time it all ended one of them had a couple of broken ribs and the driver had a broken arm. Be safe out there

Had a bud of mine hit a huge stump at Monty 3 years ago in his Triton/Merc 225 and knocked his LU off. It looked like your pics. His motor didn't even kick up.

you should look for it with your SI this year

I wonder if pertinent details were left out?
My bassboat is over 20 years old, and it came with double steering cables. What kind of over-60 mph bassboat has ONLY one steering cable?
Perhaps something else failed?

On the other subject:
The 250 and 300 HP engines appear to have the same diameter prop and drive shafts as the 150 HP. ALso, the gears appear to be the same, and also the method of attaching the lower unit to the mid section.
It's easy to say that one of them is under-designed,.....or something?

Blu-Ranger is right... I had the same scenario happen to me last summer. Lake was slick as could be and I was cruising 70+ and caught a boat wake from the side while not paying enough attention. No life vest or kill switch. Ended up gettin thrown to passenger side of the boat head in the boat lower half out of the boat. Got busted up pretty good and broke my collar bone from the impact. I will NEVER go without life vest again cause I don't know how I didn't get ejected.

I could not imagine what you went through....Back in 2005 when the Elite tour was on Lewisville, I was running my 1999 Champion and the motor mounting bolts ripped through my transom, motor tried to climb up the transom on me and my boat spun tossing me into the passenger side console. If not for my life jacket I would have broken some ribs.

I just started attaching my kill switch. Trying to make it a RULE along with life jacket. This is quite an eye opening post!

I personally witnessed this happen to Tommy Climer coming across Hubbard and he was right beside me. He hit nothing the bolts had come loose and the whole unit sheared off and with out that you have no keel so you no longer have direction. I watched him go into what was a 360 like you would see a jet ski do I actually thought he was joking in had no clue Nd trust me either did he. I promise you that big boy was a litle sore after that one.....it can happen always check all your bolts so you don't loose your nuts!!!!!!

from the looks of the pics the bolt holes were sheard if the bolts had worked themselves loose the holes should have been wallowed out in the threads rather than a clean break hope all works out.

OUCH!

Glad you're okay! I would have to change my shorts after an incident like that.

This is the reason I wear my life jacket and kill switch whenever on the water. Just never know what might happen.

Couple of years I got home from a tourney and was going over my boat,unloading it and polishing her up while she took a nap for a day or two, I just happened to look down at the lower unit and MY BOLTS WERE LOOSE so i dabbed a lil lock tite on em and tightened them up. I coulda had one of these stories but glad i saw it

Slow down! Its that simple.