Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

[achris]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

What are you complaining about? A friend lost ALL of his skeg, and used the boat like that for around 8 years. He finally decided to fix it, so I stripped the lower unit and took it to another friend and he welded a new Merc skeg on. The owner said he felt no difference between having the skeg and the skeg being gone....

You do need a couple of special tools to strip the lower box, and the only way to get a good weld is to get the thing hot enough, and that heat would damage seals and 'O' rings.... Hence the need to strip it down...

Chris.......

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

What are you complaining about? A friend lost ALL of his skeg, and used the boat like that for around 8 years. He finally decided to fix it, so I stripped the lower unit and took it to another friend and he welded a new Merc skeg on. The owner said he felt no difference between having the skeg and the skeg being gone....

You do need a couple of special tools to strip the lower box, and the only way to get a good weld is to get the thing hot enough, and that heat would damage seals and 'O' rings.... Hence the need to strip it down...

Chris.......

I dont think I am going to let it go for 8 years. Through the summer, maybe, but I am getting it fixed. Gonna take it in to a shop tomorrow morning and see. If he needs it removed I will remove it and replace the impeller at the same time.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

If it was mine, I would just leave it.

 

[90stingray]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

Can anyone tell me if one of these will work?

Panther 35-SS625 Safe-Skeg : Amazon.com : Automotive

Looks like there is enough meat there to bolt one on!

 

[mercs4mark]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

I would not bolt anything to that it would just break more, I would not pull the bearing carrier unless I had to, have them weld it then pressure test it after. Aluminum disperses heat very quickly and tig welding is very concentrated heat. At most you would have to replace the prop shaft seals and a marine shop could do that for you. The heat would not get high enough to affect the water pump.

 

[ktbarrentine]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

Looks like there is enough meat there to bolt one on!

In jest, I was thinking that thought, too.:laugh: Could call it a "Frankenmerc". Seriously, though, +1 on m4m's post. Best of luck!

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

Found a local guy to do the whole job for $129 so I am dropping it off on Monday.

 

[spdracr39]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

Yep that skeg did its job. You get one good shot per skeg and that one is done. It gave its life to protect your prop and prop shaft. You will be glad you replaced it the next time you break it off.

 

[SWD]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

My son broke ours off last fall. Exactly the same break! Got a replacement skegg and the welder cut off what he didnt need and welded the rest on. Kept things cool by holding a damp rag on the lower unit. It would be better to separate the units, as aluminum is not the easiest to weld. My guy was able to do a great job. He didnt grind the weld smooth......wanted to keep its strength rather than look pretty.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

Check out this thread where one of our members did an awesome repair and what he did to keep things cool.

http://forums.iboats.com/mercruiser-i-o-inboard-engines-outdrives/lucky-broken-skeg-282896.html

The key is to weld a little bit at a time and let it cool for awhile between.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

Got my boat back today. Total was $190 including a new impeller. He removed the lower gear case and did it on a stand, so the impeller was already exposed. It looks like brand new, but a slightly differant shape than origional. He cleaned it smooth and painted it and said if it broke in the same place again he would fix it for free. So I am happy with the end result. We will see how it lasts.

 

[four winns 214]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

Sounds like a job done right for a fair price. Hopefully the paint on your new skeg holds up. Just today I prepped mine for paint. I really like the prop guy who welded mine on, but his paint jobs just don't stick- props or skeg. Most likely bad primer.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

Sounds like a job done right for a fair price. Hopefully the paint on your new skeg holds up. Just today I prepped mine for paint. I really like the prop guy who welded mine on, but his paint jobs just don't stick- props or skeg. Most likely bad primer.

There was no paint on the old skeg. It was perfect, not a scratch on it, but no paint, and it was factory. So I dont expect much from this paint.

 

[achris]

Re: Wife broke the skeg clean off. What to do??

2 pack will sort that problem....