Skeg versus driveway

[Navy Jr.]

This one has me a little worried.

Returned home from second time out this season. All went very well.

Backed up driveway, stopped and parked the rig to lower the outboard (so it would clear the top of the garage door), then took care of golden retriever that had come along with me (she was VERY good!). Upon returning to back the trailer into the garage I realized it wasn't lined up right, so let it down the hill towards the street a little. Still not right, so decided to start over again from the street. When I tried to back up again, the trailer wheels seemed like they were locked up (has brakes with electric lockout). The rig was barely moving to begin with, and I was watching the left trailer wheel and stopped immediately when I noticed the problem.

At first I thought it was something wrong with the electric lockout, but of course it was the skeg hitting the asphalt. Oh gawd! There was a small gouge in the asphalt, but the skeg was okay. I looked at the transom and the mounting plate, and they looked okay too (Lund 1750 Fisherman with beefy 25" transom and 115hp Merc 4-stroke). So, raised the motor, backed to front of garage door, got out, lowered the motor again, then finished parking.

Yep, Stupid Human Trick. I'm hoping beyond hope I didn't really hurt anything besides my driveway.

 

[gstanton]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

The skegs purpose is to protect the prop - which it apparently did. It doesn't affect planing or anything, sounds like you got lucky and have a cosmetic issue.

I broke one completely off at a boat ramp and it didn't matter. Ran it that way for about a year. There is a product called a skeg guard that fits over the damaged skeg - but there has to be enough skeg to attach to!

Joined the "Didn't raise the prop at the boat launch" club.

 

[David Greer]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

I backed into a parking lot bumper and broke my skeg off (got "lucky" and didn't hit the prop I guess) and had a replacement welded on. Your motor frame is tough; the aluminum skeg will break long before the motor, but still look it over carefully.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

I think all will be O.K. Check for cracking around it though.

 

[david_r]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

ouch!!!!

as said above just check for cracks on your lu.........it could have been a lot worse.



i was on my way to the ramp last summer when i came up on this old man going like 25mph in a 45mph zone (people travel much much faster though). i was cruising around 40 (no big hurry) and noticed his eng was down. the closer i got the worse the situation got.......his eng was just bumping and banging along.
i pulled along beside him to try and flag him down and he gave me a dirty look a gassed it .

i dropped back and followed him the last few miles left on our journey. when we got to the ramp he jumped out of his truck and gave me a nasty hand signal. i just shrugged it off since he was a LOT older than me (probably around 65 or so).

i just went about my normal routine. while i was removing my transom saver from the trailer i noticed he was walking my way.................yep you probably guessed it..he had come over to apologize for his rude behavior.

we both got a good laugh about the whole deal.

apparently he has been practically ran off the road in the past because of people passing him on the narrow road that leads to the ramp so naturally he thought i was just being a big jerk.

i dont know how he got away with only missing 2-3" of his skeg...........no cracks and no damage to his prop.........of course it was only a 10hp merc but the way that eng was bouncing i just knew it was toast...........he said this isnt the first time it had jumped off the trail lock.....i mentioned the transom savers are a lot cheaper than another lu......but i saw him just the other day and he is now tying the eng to a seat bracket to keep it off the road

 

[cribber]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

Been there too... I've bounced my skeg three times on the ramp pulling the boat out and didn't trim up far enough. Gouged the the bottom but didn't crack or break anything. Took a fine file and smoothed the nicks. Now the last thing I do before getting off the boat is to hit the trim switch one more time and listen for that sound that tells me the i/o is completely up.

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

Thank you all for your responses. In my case, I was actually backing up forgetting I had the engine down and hit the incline of the driveway, putting a small gouge in the asphalt. I've looked and looked and can't find any damage to either the skeg or the transom or the trailer, but the real test will be when I get it out on the water again. Hoping I got lucky, as in real lucky(!).

Anyway, today I gathered up some small asphalt pieces scattered around on a nearby street, then used a propane torch, a screwdriver and a hammer to blend the melted pieces into the gouge of the driveway. As it was all cooling, I carefully used a 3-pound sledge hammer to pack it down. Pretty proud of myself, really. That little spot looks better than the rest of the driveway! Only time will tell, however, on how good a job it really was...

 

[dgopetactical]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

I'm sure your boat will be fine regarding the driveway accident your driveway patch will hold for a while but when the temp changes i'm sure it will fall apart. Maybe if you seal your driveway this summer your patch might last a little longer.
Denny

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

I committed this same crime yesterday.
When the boat is at the house my dog likes to sleep in it. He caught a squirrel sometime between Monday and Wednesday and took it inside the boat with him. Yesterday morning I noticed the bloody mess inside the boat so I decided to clean it. After I was done cleaning I hooked it to the truck to move it to the sun. The sterndrive was down and due to an incline when I got out of the truck I noticed the back of the boat was a couple of inches off the trailer. The loud exhaust in my truck covered up the sound of the skeg on concrete. There was no visual damage but I won?t know until Saturday if I damaged the transom seal. I?m going to check it at the lake while it?s still on the trailer. Hopefully there is no damage but, I?m sweating bullets.

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

IVAZ, in case you're curious, we've had our boat out twice since the incident and have not experienced any problems. So far, so good... -Ken

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Skeg versus driveway

IVAZ, in case you're curious, we've had our boat out twice since the incident and have not experienced any problems. So far, so good... -Ken

Awesome. It?s going to be a beautiful weekend and I would hate spending it removing an engine. Thanks.