Md 180 drive, 2019, spine issues

Hi, does anyone else have issues with the md180 lower unit (spine) making noise and wearing out the bearing races? It is a very squalky sound that no amount of working back and forth in a garbage can full of clean water or Hobie Multilube will cure. I have used nearly the entire $9 bottle of lube already. I took the 1st 2 units apart to see what the problem was because I was in the middle of a vacation and couldnt get to the dealer, just the 3 screws on the end of the spine, which revealed highly worn bearing races after normal use and much care. I was informed not to take them apart again, and was given new ones. One of those has started doing the same sound, again, running in clean water, cables tensioned per the manual, and little to alot of Hobie Multilube making no difference. Same problem again, I am quite disappointed. My dealer says it is only happening to me, no one else. I want to know if this is true. On Facebook, several people have said and shown pics that they have had issues. Anyone on here experiencing this? Or does everyone pedal thru the noise and ignore it? Eventually it will break and be unusable, and the spine is $300 when it goes out of warranty. I am looking to find out how many people are having problems, I am ready to get rid of the drives.

the MD180 drive that came with my 2019 Outback has not exhibited any issues or noises, 24 days on the water so far (12 salt/12 fresh). I'll definitely pay careful attention to it based on your experience. cheers, roger

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2019 Outback360 'Fish Retriever'
2016 i11s 'Go Cougs!'
2012 Oasis and 2012 PA12 (moved on but not forgotten...)

johnsodm

Can you quantify your "normal use" in some way? Age of the drive and possible days used / distance traveled? What kind of water?

We have seen accelerated wear in some silty river conditions with all drive types. We do get reports of bearing and race wear on the 180. The mechanics of the 180 have required different types of plastics and bearings on plastic races, so it is very different from older versions.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks for the replies! We use our kayaks a lot! Preordered and received them in October 2018. We have no way of quantifying how many miles or hours are on them, we don't log our trips and have no need for fish finder/gps units as of now. All I know is, we have used them 1-3 times each week, some 10-12 mile runs, some 2 mile runs, depends on where we,go, but I would say we average 5 miles per trip. Yes, we fish mosquito lagoon with silty waters, but usually have the drives out and paddle and pole around, we find flutter kicking to be more annoying than effective, especially in wind, and it stirs up even more mud. But we have fished freshwater lakes much more often, some with suspended "stuff" in the water, I'm sure, but again, many of these lakes require paddling due to excess hydrilla, and many of the lakes are simply typical. The drives get put in the tankwell when not in use. After going in salty or dirty water, the drives are soaked in a garbage can of clean water and then worked back and forth for about 3-5 minutes, then if I feel the need, I may add multilube to any bearings that might have any sound at all. The Hobie Multilube needle applicator gets into everything easily. Both original drives wore the bearing races into a rough choppy mess on the upper surface. The sound was a very annoying squalk that would never go away, despite proper cable tension per the Hobie manual and various amounts of Multilube. The dealer gave us 2 new units, said not to take them apart again, which I gladly wont and haven't, but the sound is returning to one unit already and the frustration of not being able to do anything to get it to stop. It has only been a month. Probably 14 trips though due to spring break. I know the sound is coming from the same point again. I know the water we fish isnt perfect. We love the kayaks but are beginning to believe that Hobie's drives can't hold up to our type o fishing. So sad. I am about to get rid of the 180 drives and see about a different style, maybe the GT would hold up better? I love the kayak itself, and this is what we do for fun, but it has been very frustrating on the water for sure. In Facebook I posted some tips to marsh and shallow water guys to try to make the drives last, and I guess even with thise measures they simply won't. I wish I knew what to do, we were so excited to get these kayaks, but there have been too many issues with drive ruining too many fishing days (only our moods, even with such excessive wear the drives never broke down, I will say that, but they would sound like garbage and be embarrassing with others around).

We did not have these issues with the GT drives and that is likely due to the different materials. Stainless shafts, Delrin bearings. It is possible the bearings are not the same as designed for some reason. We did lots of silty water cycle testing to similar cycles of years worth of use. Very odd.

Still trying to see what is different or changed.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I noticed signs of wear on my MD180 when I took apart last time:

Our dealer agreed to buy back our 180 drives and then sell us GT drives, I think we will do it. My wife is tired of seeing me waste fishing time trying to figure out the noise coming from the drives all the time. I would post a picture of the worn parts but I dont know how to do it. Thanks for the replies.

marcioccosta, I couldn't see the picture on my phone or my computer, but I am pretty sure I know what I would have seen. Thanks for the input!

Sorry, I edited the url.

If it doesn't work here's the link: https://imgur.com/LQQ7xjL

I can see the picture now! Yes, that is EXACTLY what keeps happening to our drives. Both were that bad, and we take super good care of them, it was from normal use with extensive rinsing in clean water and lubing. One of the 2 new replacement drive's started making the same sound again, just started, but I am done with these. Just swapped them out for 2 new GT drives today. Thanks so much for sharing, clearly there is an issue that needs to be addressed with these drives that didn't show up in the testing.

Now, I don't know what to do. I think it's just a matter of time before my MD180 stops working. The GT is not an option for me. I use the reverse all the time when I'm fishing.

I wish I knew what to tell you. You should not have to swap to GTs, the 180 should last longer, period. If it were me, I guess I would just keep having new spines put on until the warranty is out. After that, when the wear comes back, I would try sanding down the bearing race, may get a few more months each time, as the spine costs $300. You might be able to get an extra year out of it, I guess when we bought ours we were hoping for more like 10 years of use with minor maintenance and parts, but that is a user-nonserviceable very expensive part, unfortunately.

Unfortunately mine is out of warranty. Maybe I'll try sanding it down. Seems like a good idea! At least until I need to replace the spine, which is more expensive yet, here in Brazil.

Thank you for sharing! I thought I was the only one who have this issue.

It would be nice to hear what Hobie have to say about it.

Contact your dealer. We would extend coverage for the MD180 spines.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I will! Thank you!