Help! I've damaged my skeg!

[ken adams]

Hi,

I am new to ribnet and so don't know if this has been mentioned before.

We recently hit a rock at fairly high speed, and we have unsurprisingly damaged the skeg.

It has shaved about an inch, I reckon, off the leading edge but the skeg is still dead straight - has not been bent at all.

It was used a couple more time after this and there doesn't seem to be any ill affects.

So how long can I go before it needs to be repaired?

And how can I get it repaired? Will I need a whole new gear casing or can it be re-formed?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Ken

[tue]

Shouldn't cause any problem. Its realy only if you knock the majority of it off you will find a problem with the boats handling. If you do want to repair it you can buy a new skeg from your local Merc/Mariner dealer. Take it to your local prop repair guy or alloy welder and he will cut off your old one and weld on the new one

[quinquarimarine]

A common problem of losing a big chink out the skeg and one that most of us have had happen.

Ali welding a repair as oposed to welding a complete skeg on is the better option and if done correctly and then ground back and sanded produces a near 100% finish.

The big tip though and this must be passed to the welder - he must either remove all seals or place as much of the skeg in heat sink as possible so as to avoid overheating. Also make sure you use a dedicated welder as oposed to someone who converts a standard welder for a quick job - ali welding is specialist.

Typical cost what we would charge is about £100 but if you e-mail pic to us we can advise.

Cheers

John

[stingray]

Hi Ken,did the same with my Honda,got a stainless skeg gaurd (bit late) bolt on away you go cheers Ray