Broken skeg on mercruiser bravo leg-gctid352469

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Had the boat lifted today for impella change. Get the unwelcome call from mechanic to tell me the skeg has been snapped. Completely at a loss as to when this would have occurred. He said a complete replacement could be over $1000. Or he could get the break welded for approx $200. Or get a new skeg only and weld it on. But no price as yet.

The weld option looks attractive for price but is it worth the outlay, is it just going to break to easily in the future? What would some of you more experienced folk do? Trying to keep cost down to keep wife on side.

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weld and smooth out and paint no biggy mate

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I don't know how much you have broken off but will one of these work?

http://search.overtons.com/?Ns=p_ima...e=Engine-Parts

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yeah they say you can have almost nothing left and still be able to use.

[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655359=24791-41Mgb8Gt8-L._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img]

[Chief_Alen Guru Find all posts View Profile Close Chief_Alen]

It is no big deal to weld a new one on " IF " the welder knows his stuff and can control the heat. Me i would disassemble the lower.

Got a picture so we can see how bad it is.

This didn't happen when they hauled the boat ? If you hit something that hard while underway you would have known it believe me.

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

First.... look at the break!

Is it clean and still looking like fresh aluminum?

If so, it just occured and may have occured while the yard's possession!

If somewhat discolored, it likely broke some time ago.

DO NOT mess around with finding a welder, instead, remove the lower unit and send it out to a qualified Propeller Repair shop.

They do this all of the time.

It will come back looking like new, but very likely un-painted.

Cost is generally around $100.

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Thanks everyone.

Have only had the boat for almost two weeks now. Nothing showed up in survey so can only assume the skeg has been broken after survey. I have been trying to think of when this could of occurred but have not bottomed out at any stage I am aware of. It has done one 5 km trip from previous owner to my mooring. And a 10 km run before the impella went and it overheated and I was towed back to marina. After that I have only idled the boat around at 4-6 knots.

I agree a likely scenario is the skeg getting broken on removal from water. I guess this could have happened after the survey when boat was put back in the water off private slip or when lifted yesterday for service. The difficulty is they are not about to put their hand up and take responsibility. And I can not really pro e I have not done the damage.

Thanks for the suggestions on the bolt on replacements. Have looked at this option. Just need to view damage today and decide if I have enough skeg left to bolt to. I guess the beauty of this option is I then don't need to pay to spray the leg as well.

Might discuss all this with mechanic and see what his response is......

Thanks again everyone for the guidance with my hole in the water rapidly sucking in money!

Chris.

[Alaskanmutt BOC Site Team Find all posts View Profile Close Alaskanmutt]

My boat doesn't cost near as much as the wife does.

Heck, for the price of the wife I could get a couple 25 footers.

Alexaw06 wrote:
Thanks everyone.

Thanks again everyone for the guidance with my hole in the water rapidly sucking in money!

Chris.

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

The bolt on skeg guard is not a proper repair!

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Went a looked at damage. Snapped of high up. Looking at survey shots the skeg appears intact so, must have occurred in last two weeks. My guess is it copped a blow getting put back in water off private slip after survey. There is some barnacle growth on the break so it not in the last few days. Not sure what the growth rate of barnacles is but all evidence points to a break after survey. Having a new skeg fabricated and welded on. Otherwise it is a couple of weeks to get one from the USA.

Thanks

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

This is nothing new.

Prop shops do this all the time.

They have skeg blanks on hand.

They have technicians who know precisely what alloy the the aluminum is, what heat to use and which rod to use.

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here some pics of the damage. No way I could have done this without realising!!!

Attached files (2).jpg][img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655860=24822-photo[1] (2).jpg[/img] .jpg][img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655860=24821-photo[1].jpg[/img]