skeg bent- repair/replace??

[bseger]

Mercury 250 XB 2001 - Engine Serial # 0T235489

All it takes is a moment. A friend flagged me down, i stopped, backed up and ran the engine into a birm, bending the skeg. SIGH! I can hear everyone already "here's your sigh".

Questions:
1. how bad will the bend affect performance (dumb question i know, but i have to ask)
2. Can the bend be corrected? if so - recommendations in Southern Indiana?
3. If the bend can't be corrected - do i need to replace the entire unit housing? If so - suggestions on where to purchase from?


The skeg is not cracked.


Picture attached

[Savage]

Performance effects can't be determined by monitor.
It can't be straightened safely.
The entire case must be replaced.

[Gamblinman]

Welding or straightening cast aluminum isn't recommended, especially at this location. Recipe for disaster.

[bassburch]

In my unprofessional amateur armchair mechanic opinion, you could hammer her back into place and be okay. The bend seems minor and correctable.

[Savage]

Don't hammer the skeg...…...BAD IDEA!!!

[bassburch]

Hammer is bad, and a bent skeg may be compromised and no longer be safe to operate, but if he gently pushed into a berm that caused a 2-3 degree slight bend, my senses would tell me a rubber mallet and soft, counterweighted taps would be okay to make a minor correction.

I would defer to whatever Savage and Don have to say on the subject over anyone else, including myself :)

[Dan21XRS]

Rubber mallet and a block of wood... Dan

[Savage]

We went over this recently.....cast aluminum is weakened when bent......SAFETY ISSUE......You life is at stake!!

[06 SB]

Didn’t Alton Jones recently take a trip in the woods with his Skeeter due to losing his skeg while running. You really do not want to have the skeg weakened and depart while running. You will lose control and may end up in the woods or on top of another boat.

[bseger]

i really appreciate the input from the BBC Boards members!.

I called 3 different boat dealers locally and received the following.

Dealer 1 - You can't repair the skeg- you'll have to replace all the gears and the entire lower unit
Dealer 2 - bring it by, we can heat it up and bend it back, or weld on a new one.
Dealer 3 - just take a hammer to it yourself, that's what we would do.

confidence in my local dealers is not at an all time high.

[riverrat29]

Gotta love that consistency ! Robbie at Propeller Dynamics in Virginia can do some cool stuff with a skeg. I would not recommend beating on it to bring it back to what you think is true. You weaken the skeg and you could damage the case just as easy.

[Savage]

Research "welded skeg"..........scary!

[Jwebre74]

My skeg was bent a little worse than the one in the picture, and I didn’t have any issues with it.

[dennismtl]

About half the boats in my marina have had their Skegs replaced (lots of shallow areas and stupid people) - the guy that does most of these is located near the marina - he charges 150$ to grind the old one off, weld on a new one (some sort of tig welding for aluminum) and then rattle can paint job. They last and correct the issues caused by the bend or break. He doesn' remove the gears and some guys have had it done a couple of times...it seems to work

[Savage]

Welded skegs will work, until they break off, and the problem is you won't be able to control the boat, when it happens !!!

Click on these threads:

Broken Skeg...would you fix this?

Where to get wingmaster skeg

Cracked Skeg

My first skeg

[Gamblinman]

Think about your steering wheel falling off at 70 mph on the highway. Would you even chance it? Why would you do so in a boat?

[bseger]

thank you

[BrownTrout]

That little bend is no big deal. Ran mine like that on my 2004 Ranger for 3 yrs and could not tell the difference. If I had seen the slightest negative while driving it after it was bent I would have had it fixed regardless of the cost.

[lpugh]

A good friend of mine broke the skeg off leaving about 1" remaining, almost all of it gone. It never effected the steering of the boat in any away. He ran it that way for four years before replacing the lower unit. His boat was a Pantera Clasic with a top speed of 68 mph on a good day. I was quite surprised there were no ill effects as a result of the missing skeg. His P to P was about 3.5"
There are many things to consider here, such as how fast your rig will run, how high it the motor raised and what prop is on it.
I will say for sure, DO NOT try to straighten it, attempting to do so will weaken it further. If it drives ok, leave it alone
If your rig runs close to or above 70, replace the lower unit, the risk involved is not worth it.

Should it completely fail while running it is not like having your steering wheel fall off at all, you will still have steering control. How much would depend on many variables.

If you feel you must try to straighten it, Do not beat on it with a hammer. Use a press arrangement to put pressure on it and use a heat lamp to warm it up not to exceed about 175 degrees and let it set that way for 24 hours or more. Keep repeating this process. Done this way gives time for stress relief in the metal. A hammer will cause it to work harden making the metal more brittle

I am not recommending this procedure though for obvious reasons

[La Boy]

A buddy of mine also knocked his skeg off and he’s been running it for years with only about half an inch left. The boat handles exactly the same as it did with it you can not even tell it’s gone.