Conference vicki::boats

    
    	Well, I guess this can have it's own note.........
    
    	Check out note number 46 on prop repair, I'd be quite
    surprised if H&H doesn't do skegs also.
    
    

    
    Also see note 656 for some info on skeg repair.
    
    And there's a company that advertises in most of the boat rags 
    a weld-on replacement skeg.  It seems that would be much cheaper
    and simpler than swapping a lower end housing.  I don't know 
    the name of the company, but if you're interested let me know 
    and I'll find it for you.
    
    Rick W.

I had mine done by Kirsch Welding and Fabrication, 47 Lawrence Rd Salem NH.

They fabricated and welded on a replacement that was as good as the original,
and if memory serves me right it was under $100.

    My father looked into this repair in Maine & it was going to cost
    $60.00 on a I/O.
    
    Sonia

    
    
    Any good welding shop that can do aluminum welding should be able to
    repair the skeg- they usually have some scrap stck around thhat they
    can fabricate the piece from-
    
    I would make sure that th lower unit is drained of oil and is vented-
    there will be some heat generated , and enough pressure can build up
    to pop the seals - I'd want to disassemble as much as I could before it
    was welded- but talk that over with the welding shop- several passes
    with a small rod may not generate as much heat as a pass or two with a
    heavier rod.
    
    Dick

    I was wondering if any of you have had any experience with a product I
    have seen advertised in Trailer Boats magazine called "Skeggard". It
    appears to be a skeg-shaped sleeve made of stainless steel which fits
    over a good or damaged skeg. It is attached with an epoxy and is
    gauranteed not to fall off. My boat (21' runabout with a 260 Mercruiser
    Alpha-1 sterndrive) is used on Lake Champlain and I have to navigate
    some shallow water and assorted rocks (most of which I know the
    location of but my human GPS is not always perfect) in order to get
    into my father's dock. A paddle in the real shallow stuff and very slow
    operation with the drive slightly tilted in the deeper water gets me to
    safe depth - usually. On Saturday I tagged a rock at very slow speed
    (headway only) and it was just enough to make a shallow gouge in the
    leading edge of the skeg, nothing on the prop. It is probably something 
    I could virtually remove with a file. ( It drives me crazy - the kid 
    next door always comes roaring in and never hits ANYTHING!!)  Anyway, 
    this skeggard seems like a good idea in my environment, a gentle hit 
    should not even bother the stainless steel. I was concerned about the 
    dissimilar metals (I think the gear case is aluminum) but the boat is 
    always used in fresh water. What do you think?  
    
    Thanks,
    Larry
      

    I would not be concerned about disimalar metals in fresh water.
    
    In salt water definitely, but more so at a slip, which has 
    shore power. Its usually the 110 that creates the destruction.
    
    On the young kid, he's probably going fast enough to get
    his drive up high enough that he probably won't hit.???
    
    JIm.

    If you keep your engine tilted when not using the boat in fresh
    water your corrosion problem would not occur anyway.
    
    Jeff

    Jeff, your point is well taken but when I have the drive tilted all the
    way up it is not out of the water. The boat has a deep-V hull so the
    drive is well under water when stopped. When I am not there the boat
    gets relatively little use (2+ weeks at a time) and I read in the
    current Trailer Boats that they recommend keeping the drive down
    during long mooring or storage to save the bellows on an I/O. If it was
    an outboard I would certainly follow your advice.
    
    I ordered the "Skeggard" so I will let you all know how it works out.
    
    Larry 

    
    
    	Hi,
    
    	I'm a new boater and recently I noticede that my 87 Four Winns
    	had some damage to the lower end of the outdrive. Correct me if I'm 
    	wrong but I believe it's called the skeg. This is the fin-like
    	metal piece that hangs straight down under the prop. I noticed that
    	it is very slightly bent. Viewing the boat from the rear it looks 
    	something like this;
    			        
    				|
    				|
    				(
    
    	My question is....does this need to be fixed right away. Do I run
    	the risk of damage to any part of the motor? I don't notice any
    	appreciable difference in the way the boat handles. 
    
    	Thanks for any help you can give me!
    
    	Bob

    Ignore it....It is aluminum and is very brittle. You may be able to
    bend it back with clamps and blocks of wood but risk braking it off.
    It is best left alone unless you can feel the pull to one side more
    than normal, that might be able to be offset by the steering fin (or
    zinc) above the prop. If you want, after the season is over you can
    take it to a shop and have them staighten it.
    
    Bruce

	I damaged my skeg pretty bad one time on some rocks and I had it replaced
	at prop shop by welding on a new one. Cost was fifty bucks and it looked
	like new.

	Craig

    
    	Thanks for the info guys. I was hoping you were gonna say that!

    you can always just grind the bent bit off if its not too bad
    or as was advised before leave it till later.
    
    the other reg