Bent, then broke skeg

[ZINCINS]

Just picked up my 75 starcraft 22 ft. holiday 140 merc i/o alpha out drive. From the marina. skeg was bent on lower unit they claim they did not do it. any ways,I tried to straighton it with heat and hammer and of course i broke it off. Now there is a 2 inch protrusion on the front side and the back half is flush with the bootom of the lower unit.Question one.what would happen if i ran it like it is. can i have it fixed with out replaceing the lower unit. Thank you for any and all advice. first timer to this site.

 

[lime4x4]

Re: Bent, then broke skeg

i installed a skeggard on mine.As long as u have 2 to 3 inches of skeg yet

 

[freelunch]

Re: Bent, then broke skeg

Ok first off any good marina should have offered to repair it for you.
You usually won't have any luck trying to bend aluminum back into place, it likes to break as you found out.
As long as the breakage isn't affecting any oil controlled areas you should be ok running it, given that the bent part isn't going to throw off your steering and tracking as you run your boat.
A cover up fix isn't the best way to do it. Take it to a good marina and have them cut it down and weld on a new piece of metal.
Once its done your lower unit will look brand new.

 

[MJ76]

Re: Bent, then broke skeg

I think you'll have handling issues if you run it with the skeg broken off, remember, on an I/O the skeg is basically your rudder. A skeg-gard might work if you can get it on there, but it doesn't sound like you have a whole lot left to bolt it to. You could have a skeg welded on, but that far up there's a lot of welding to do. If I were to do it, I would probably want to strip down the lower to avoid damaging any internal parts with the heat. That would cost you a few hundred bucks in labor, but you could get new seals in the lower and a new water pump while you were at it.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Bent, then broke skeg

Have had mine repaired (welded) by a local marina. Ya can't tell it's ever been damaged. As for running it as is, if you don't have any handling issues (i didn't) it's not a big deal. I ran mine the better part of a season and had the repair done in the off season.

 

[omgitzdave]

Re: Bent, then broke skeg

Have had mine repaired (welded) by a local marina. Ya can't tell it's ever been damaged. As for running it as is, if you don't have any handling issues (i didn't) it's not a big deal. I ran mine the better part of a season and had the repair done in the off season.

How much did the fix cost you? Have any before and after pics?

 

[Windykid]

Re: Bent, then broke skeg

You should definatly have it repaired. Its function is not just for handling. Imagine what your prop would look like if you beach it without a skeg.