BowTech_Shooter

This is not an "official" response but it's my response nonetheless.

As some of you know I work for BowTech and even though I don't work at the plant in OR. I am kept up on what's going on and this has not been brought up in any discussions with my boss, the warranty dept. or sales reps. and it appears to me the recent limb issues (on this board) is very isolated.

EDIT: I should also add that in my work I travel to various states and visit many dealers, some of which have bow presses that were built 10-15 years ago and they don't work well on paralell limb bows. BowTech has even gone so far as to have some Teflon rollers (like used on our bow builders presses) made and they can be purchased by dealers but not many have taken advantage of them yet. I have them on my Apple press and they work like a dream putting minimal stress on the limbs.

I agree with Jeff's post (he always say a mouthful) and if there is/was any problems in design or materials, it would be taken care of right away if not yesterday.

I saw where Matt posted on another thread about my demo bows and how they've been treated, he's 100% right, they've been more than abused (dry fired, dropped, left out in the rain, etc.) at the shows I've been to this year. I check my demo bows out on a regular basis and thus far (since Nov. 2003) the only thing I've had get messed up is one of the string silencers on my Liberty broke a few legs off (after several thousand shots).



Jeff asked if anyone works in manufacturing... I used to before I landed this job. I worked for Whirpool Corp. making washing machines (I also saw the Maytag man refferences ) and at our plant they build 20,000 washers a day... that's right, 100,000 washing machines a week... Even though every unit gets tested numerous time on the assembly line there were still defects that made it out the door and were found in the field (some even flooded peoples basements)... It happens... As a matter of fact, I just got back from picking up my girlfriends 2001 car that had to have the second fuel pump put in under the manufacturers warranty in less than a year... When I asked the Service Manager if there was a problem with their fuel pumps he said " it's all ready to go and I'll pull the car around front for you"... HUH?

I won't even get started on the problems I've had with my $42,000.00 truck or my $25,000.00 Escape...

silentassassin

BowTech_Shooter,

That's funny. My best friend works for Emerson (I use to work for them also) and travels to Clyde as the Emerson QC rep. How long ago did you quit?


As it happens this story makes a good comparison. Emerson was no doubt responsible for some of those mishaps and eventhough Whirlpool didn't make those motors but rather bought them from Emerson, Whirlpool was ultimately held responsible. When in fact in some of those instances Emerson was to blame. That's the nature of the beast. That is why he someitmes spends a week at a time sorting motors at Whirlpool when only a couple they shipped may have been defective. The fact of the matter is that all manufacturers have a certain amount of defects.

BowTech_Shooter

I quit March of 2003... I may know this person. I helped out a couple of the Emerson QC people one night with a truck load of bad motors (all I did was drive forklift) and they slipped me some money under the table...

I had the guys business card at one time, I'll see if I can find it when I get time and we'll see if it's the same person...

pkfd7535

i have been reading the bowtech limb failure and i am still going to buy a bowtech patriot as soon as money allows i'm not SKEEERRRRD !!!

my list of possibles when i started looking at new bow
MIGHTY MITE (bowtech)
PATRIOT (bowtech)
outback (MATTHEWS)
LIBERTY (bowtech)
after weighing the pluses and minuses i finally diecided on a patriot !

silentassassin

That's him..........lol He likes throwing Emerson's money around. I bet you do know him. He took over in May of 02 as the head QC guy for Whirlpool customers but I know the guy that he resplaced also so I am sure that I know the guy either way. When was this that you helped them out?

c903

BowTech_Shooter:

You are saying that the isolated incidents reported in these forums, and the fact that the company has not said anything specific to you, indicates the problems that have occurred is either isolated (restricted to a few) or non-existent, and that most likely any malfunction was not the result of a manufacturing defect, rather an improper use of a bow press or an incorrect bow press?

If your opinion was an official statement of findings, I am sure those findings and conclusions could help lay the issue and concern of serious injury to rest.

oniedaeagle

i may not be no tech but i think the reason some of these problems are have is the bow press issue.. in my case it was just a defective limb. i had a hoyt havotec last year and part of the top limb splinterd.it happens

Buck Magnet

Well, I don't work for BowTech, but I will chime in here.

Both BowTechs that I have owned, and the one my best friend owns have never given us any major problems! Serving seperation caused by my "pro" shop over-tightening my nock is the only thing I have seen!

c903,
You theory would be great. It would be wonderful for every company to hear every problem with the products they make, correct these problems, and present the new products and the info to the consumers, but lets face it, that isn't going to happen! I am sure that BowTech will now be looking for a reason (how can a company know of a problem if not alerted to it), and will correct it. I dought that they will make a public statement on it simply because it isn't wise for their business! There are a few hundred guys on here that have heard about a few limb problems, but, there are hundreds of thousands of people that havn't heard. Letting all of these people know about the previous problems may steer them away!

I am not saying that we should forget about a few isolated instances with a bow and pass them off, but if we also can't refuse to purchase a bow due to a problem that we have heard of. If so, like JeffB said, we would have NO bows to purchase! No company is perfect, nor will they ever be, the best we can do is have a company that will stand behind their products, correct the problems, and ensure the customer satisfaction, which I am sure BowTech will do.

Also, like others have mentioned, most bow companies don't build limb in house, they get them from a manufacturer! Blaming a company for using limbs that somebody else built and sold to them isn't really reasonable! These flawed limbs could just have easily been flawed limbs for any other company, and the problems could have arose for them. I

Glen In Marland

It was me. I got an email back and Bowtech is watching this board trying to figure out what is going on. They have acknowledged they have received some cracked limbs back for repair yet, not to the magnitude that they are seeing being posted in ONLY this BBS. I did not get hard numbers but, they have stated the number of returned limbs is very low compared to they number they are selling. It seems most of the limb failures are being attributed to improper bow pressing. I have to admitt, it has made me a little leary. However, I contacted Len in Maryland, "a Bowtech dealer that tells it the way it is" ( He also carries 8 other brands) and has noted that he has not seen any limb problems this year. You will have to draw your own conclussion. I will draw a Patriot if I can sell my LX, LOL

Glen In Marland

One goodthing, I think. A few years ago with out the use of a BBS, we would have never even heard of the first evidence of a limb crack. Now we have a way to spread the word so we now can share information up to the minute. So when we have people intelligent enough to use this BBS and they way an issue, I am sure we will hear it on here. Maybe most Martin shooters are not smart enough to find a way to post problems with Martin bows???? I am not nocking anyone in particular or bow company but, if you look at the type of bows that most people on this BBS site shoot, I think you will find a majority of Bowtech shooters. Hence, more problems reported with Bowtech. I am willing to bet if 80% of the people in here drive Fords, we would find an unusual rate of Ford failures. Think about it.