Broken skeg

[harvey lee]

Well, I broke about 75% of my skeg off the other day.

Not enough left to put a skeg guard on so it will need to be replaced.

I have insurance but $250 ded.

Is it that hard to remove the lower unit and rebuild the skeg? Removing the lower unit is not an issue and I can grind the piece left well enough to weld a new one on. I would assume the lower unit has to be remove as one may hurt something inside the motor when welding like a circut board or the computor.

is there a specific metal one needs to use for the new piece for the skeg? Any specific paint that needs to be used to repaint the new skeg?

I also have a smaler dent in the bottom back side of the housing righht above the skeg, it is not leaking and it runs fine. Any concerns with any internal damage? If so, then I guess I would have a new lower unit put on the motor and turn in a insurance claim.

Or, am I getting myself into a job I should not try and tackle? Does not seem like it would be that tough to do.

[B-man715]

Is it a newer motor that you plan to get money out of later? If so, I would fix it right by having it replaced.

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

Making this repair is fairly easy IF you rebuild skegs every day which I am sure you don't. The lower unit does have to be removed for the repair. I think I would be in contact with my insurance carrier as they may actually want to have someone look at it before it is repaired. Either way it's going to cost you $250 but bringing the insurance on board at the beginning of the process will probably save you some frustation during the process.

Mike

[Wensel]

Years back I tried repairing a lower unit, removed all the gears ect and had the unit fixed, when we went to install all the gears.. the heat of the weld had warped the lower unit to a point that we count not spec in the gears right.

So I had that cost to deal with along with the cost of a new casing.

My advice buy a new one.

[harvey lee]

Just got off 6the phone with the Merc dealer I have any service work done at.

He asked if there were any dents in the bullet and I said yes, one of the bottom right side about the size of a half dollar and it is kinked in a ways.. he said, replace it.

Called insurance and claim is in for a new one.

[CaptainMusky]

Snart choice Harvey. Bummer of a deal it had to happen. Hopefully you wont be without your boat for too long. Should be OK to run like it is though eh? At least until the parts arrive at dealer, etc?

[Boxcar Wllie]

If you don't mind me asking, what did you hit and how fast were you going?

[Gordie]

HL you may want to have the Lower unit pressure tested just in case a seal or something may have ben damaged.

I hope its not as bad as mine.

[CAMAN]

Ouch Gordie! That must have made a slight bump when you hit.

[harvey lee]

Ouch is correct, My bullet was intact but they are still going to replace the whole lower unit, gears and all.

[harvey lee]

If you don't mind me asking, what did you hit and how fast were you going?

I believe a few rocks all together in 6fow. I was going approx 1.5mph.

[Gordie]

Actually we were moving about 3 mph andqe were standing and never felt g the motor came up then down twice and never skipped a beat. I hit a set of flooded rail road tracks and I think the skeg protector caught the rail and peeled it open like a sardine can.

[Shack]

Sorry to hear about this Tom. Of course also Gordie. Hope you guys get these lower units fixed with as least amount of hassle as possible.

[harvey lee]

You know what they say Shack, sh$t happens.

[Gordie]

You know what they say Shack, sh$t happens.

What he said

[harvey lee]

Insurance comapany is putting on a complete new lower unit, gears and all, new prop and replacing my trolling plate. It will all be brand new.

[JeffB]

Wow that's a lot of damage for under 3 mph. I was fishing in Canada and hit a rock at full speed. It hit so hard the motor cover came off and bounced off the trolling motor in the front of the boat. It took the skeg off nice and cleanly and curled all the fins on the prop. The bullet looked fine, so with the help of a rock and a ball peen hammer we were able to fine tune the prop enough to get back on plane with every one in the front of the boat. We fished the rest of the week end. When I got back home I bought a new prop, had a new skeg welded on, and was good to go for about six years till I sold the boat. Talk about luck.

[harvey lee]

I explained to the shop that I had ran the motor twice before I brought it to them after I hit the rocks.

I said it was running fine.

he said, it could run fine but the gears in the case could be rubbing on the inside and there would be metal filings in the gear oil. He said it would run fine until it wore through the case and then I would have had larger issues as in how to get back to shore.

I told the shop guy, if there is any sign of any internal damge in the gear area, to replace it all as I did not want any issues down the road after the repairs.

NO sense to leave gears that were rubbing the bullet area in the new case.

Would be nothing short of issues later on.

The skeg was already broke some before I hit the last rock pile but yes, that is alot of damage for a trlling speed accident. For all I know, the dent in the bullet may have been there already from the last rock.

[Gordie]

Sometimes it just the perfect storm.