One More Add On To The S.S. Shackbash!!!

[Shack]

Since I have had a gapping hole in my pocket this season for added luxuries for the boat to make cat fishing that much better , I found my self almost at a loss for upgrade purchases on my boat. This was until the KOTC GT weekend. I rubbed a prop the wrong way and found my self doing a prop rebuild. Short of finding a jet lower unit or making an adapter to fit one, I wondered what would be the next best thing. I think I found it and put it one tonight.

I bought a skeg guard and prop guard.

I think this will help me get to those area's I have only dreamed about in lower water. At least it will get me to the point where I can drop the trolling motor, with out the death crunch.

I have not used this yet, but feel it should fit the bill. I know all the bells and things do not catch fish, I am proof of this

Anyone use one of these yet?

[Gordie]

they look like they will work. seen alot of differnt contraptions on outboards on the river pitch forks, shovels welded and bolted to the skegs. good luck

[aanderud]

Looks good, shack. Let me know how it is. You trying it out this weekend? What did it cost ya? What brand? Do they make different sizes?

[River Runner Z]

ya might have to look in to one of those

[Sandmannd]

I've been thinking about one of these. Let me know how they work Shack. I spend most of my time on the croix and go through a couple of props a year. If this is reasonable and works, I would put one of these on to save my props in a heartbeat.

[Scott K]

I too was thinking of adding something to my boat. If this works out, I may get something like it. The only thing bad I could see with something like this is that it sticks out more, and is bolted tight to the skeg, now if you hit something is it just going to have more leverage to break off the skeg? Or if you hit something and it bends, will it just wedge into the prop and stop it all together? Thats what I was afraid of when I looked at them. Or does it seem tougher then that?

[Shack]

Quote:

Or does it seem tougher then that?

At this point, I would say it does seem tougher than that.

My main reason for upgrading to something like this was a protect my prop in a miscalculated run close to a sand or gravel bar or the floating log at night that I did not see. Now, a full bore 20mph smack to a rock, skeg guard or not I think your lower unit is done for. It is made out of 1/8” stainless steel and the contours are designed for rigidness in case of an impact. I would not say it is a cure all for saving your lower unit, but more like a way to help from dinging up the prop to the point of having to have it rebuilt. I did install mine just under an inch away from the prop to give it some room. The directions said as close as a ¼”, but I thought that was a little close. My motor is not locked into position also. It makes backing up kind of a pain, but deadens the blow a little when I do hit something.

I will also add, my skeg has some chunks out of it and this covered up those chunks nicely. Add in the cost of not having to pull my lower unit and have the skeg rebuilt now, the added saving of not having a couple prop rebuilds a season. I think I will be money a head.

We will see and after I have given it a full run this weekend, I will add in more details.

[DTro]

I'm curious as to how it might affect performance/steering.

Let us know as I might want to do the same thing.

[Scott K]

Looking forward to your report after this weekend, I am going to go broke this year repairing my prop, so if it works good I may get one as well.

[CatfishBanker]

I'm curious as to how it might affect performance/steering.

I put one on my 25hp and it had a major effect on power and steering. So much that I had to take it off. It also stuck down and extra three inches. The one I have is bigger than Shack's.

[hanson]

AquaJoe put one on his little 14' Crestliner w/25hp and it definitely seamed to affect the performance. I got a ride in this little rig at the Mankato Gathering 2 years ago and we couldn't even get the boat to plane out. I've been in other 14 footers w/ 25hp motors and it hasn't been a problem getting them up to speed, even with a couple big guys and a cooler full of water in them.

I think if you have the hp to overcome the performance drop, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Shack]

Ya, which is why I went with this one. It is sleek and looked to have little impact on the hydrodynamics of the lower unit. I know do to the drag it will cause, I am going to loose some MPH on the top end but feel it was worth it in the long run. I do not think it will effect my steering all that much.

[Shack]

Well, we got the boat out on Pool 2 last night and put a few miles on the River Runner. All I can say is there was not one bit of noticeable difference in steering and performance with my boat. If anything, I could feel my boat get up on plane better and a little better response at higher speed turning.

Feel’in bold, when zooming into the launch at night, I felt the new guard take on one of its firsts hits on a rock right out in front of the launch. It did not even leave a dent on the guard. The new prop still looks new.

I thought I would take a chance buying the Macs River Runner. My skeg needed to be repaired anyways and if this did not work out, I would have just had them fill in the drilled holes when the skeg was being repaired.

I can not say what it does for smaller motors, but over a 100hp, I think it works great and give it a big thumbs up.

Now, the fishing last night was terrible. Only one flat and one channel. At least KQ#1 got to add another flat to the KOTC list .

Here was a Sunday morning catfishing sidewalk shot of it when I got home. Proof the prop is still on :

I can not wait to try this out on shallow rock reefs up on Mille Lacs this fall.

[Gordie]

what kind of boat you got shack and it looks awsome. glad to hear that its working for you.

[Shack]

Thanks man!

It is a 1980 Chrysler bass boat I have redone and converter into a cat fishing friendly river rig.

It's a little rough around the edges, but was isn’t on the river .