Broken Skeg

[blurredvision]

Well I had a Lefty lower shipped in UPS ... The skeg was projecting through the box it was shipped in and was of course bent... I took a stab at straightening it and it snapped 2 inches of the bottom ( I knew I should not have played with it ... But was so pissed to see this ... ) Any way whats the best plan.. See if it can be welded ??.. re-construct with epoxy.. or just stick on one of those Stainless skeg sleeves over it and call it a day :confused:

[XstreamVking]

In general when the lower is going on a slower boat, you can weld it. On a faster boat you can have severe problems IF it were to snap at the weld. Lot's of differing ideas on this. Boat speed 45mph or less, take it to a good welder and runnit....jmo

[ChrisCarsonMarine]

What are you going to use the lower for? What boat,how high,how broke,how fast etc?

[blurredvision]

This is going on a project... a 21 Checkmate with twin I6 150 hp Mercs. with V6 Coned lowers

[XstreamVking]

Not many left il-6 lowers around. With twins you may get away with welding it. Boat should run 60 to 70 top end. Weld it, with the twins there's plenty of skeg in the water for controll.. Sounds like a wild ride. Have fun.. Have you tried hitting ups for some damage ins?

[Tom Foley]

I would have it welded by a competent shop and concentrate on not thinning it too much when you are profiling it .

[BagMan]

This is going on a project... a 21 Checkmate with twin I6 150 hp Mercs. with V6 Coned lowers

Cool project. Would sure like to see some pictures for all us Checkmate fans!!

[Capt.Insane-o]

Cool project. Would sure like to see some pictures for all us Checkmate fans!!

Ditto... I have a PILE of freshwater I-6 housings if you need one.

[Fish]

I agree with most folks above. Not surfacing, not as much stress on the skeg. With twins, you have the other motor to keep you straight if it breaks, so you will probably me ok. I would highly recommend against running or selling it to anyone who will surface it as a single though, because while welding the heat weakens the aluminum around the weld and it can break under stress. When that is the only thing keeping you straight and it breaks, it never ends good.

[Raceman]

First off, why would you run V6 gearcases on an inline? I guess just to get a leftie? Probably gonna' cost you 5 MPH, PLUS I guess you know that you'll have to shorten the driveshafts and NONE of the bolt pattern will line up except for the 4 on the sides (2 on each side). Front stud is out of place, nothing to hook to in the rear and it's gonna' stick out about 2 inches farther than the mid and be Fugly. You're also gonna' have to modify the shiftshaft and water tube. On a 21' V that's not surfaced I'd have to run two R lowers and live with the torque, which probably won't be that bad.;)

Especially since you've got a broken one that there's a good chance is gonna' come back off, even though with a low speed twin application it probably won't do anything more than knick the blade. Sho' seems like a lotta' work.

[blurredvision]

The only reason for the V6 lower is for the lefty... and I plan on going to a surfacing plan with Bob's Cones and low water pickups.. rather than shorten the drive shaft was going to put an adapter plate between the mid and lower to tie it all in better .. Even if its a 1/2 " it should add some support and will also use it to blend the two together ... Thing is.. I will more than likely just go with a bob's cone and low water pick up on the stock Right hand I6 lower but will have to see how it looks...
PS... I wound up with I6's that have tilt and trim so I'm going to see how this goes as a surfacing applaction

[blurredvision]

Only lost about 2'' across the bottom of the skeg

http://www.keelshield.com/skegshield.html

[Capt.Insane-o]

I will more than likely just go with a bob's cone and low water pick up on the stock Right hand I6 lower but will have to see how it looks...


Ermm... not only is it going to look horrible.. there is a good chance the gear ratios are'nt the same.

[racervboat]

sane-o right,the inlines got diff ratios hence 65hp-150?

[blurredvision]

Just a thought but it seems like the easy work around for mis-matched Ratios would be prop selection... But any way...I'm going to try it with two Right Hand lowers first... Same ratios and run hydraulic SEA STAR steering to fight the torque ...
Just looking for a back-up plan and maybe have some fun tinkering with alternate lowers.... But the main reason I started this post was to find out if these Skeg Shield things were a reasonable way to fix a skeg with about 2 inches of the tip snapped off?? :eek::confused:


http://www.keelshield.com/skegshield.html

[XstreamVking]

Skeg covers are a quickee fix. Most of the time they tend to loosen up and cause more damage. (can make skeg break close to the bullit) Just weld it.. I'm sure lot's of people have had good exp with skeg covers. Maybe they will have some good stories about skegard.. While your running the IL-6 lowers use the bob's mach. shop torque tamers, mounted on the skegs, they should help with the steering effort..Teleflex steering will help too..

[blurredvision]

Thanx Xstream !! I will check out the "Torque Tamers"