bent skeg - yes i am an idiot

[mik01]

ok so yesterday after the M&G, i took the boat home and washed it etc - my usual routine before putting her to bed.

severe lack of sleep and a mrs who was giving me the hurry up to get to a Xmas family bbq made me back the boat down the driveway to turn her around and reverse back into the garage.

well the car backed alittle way then stopped - wouldn't go back any further. OH SH1T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i remembered the bloody outboard wasn't raised after I flushed it.:o ::)

ran to the back and had literally dug the skeg into the bitumen, leaving a divot. raised the leg up and yep - the skeg is bent. now I could have cried really. mrs didn't really care either, but i was devastated.:'(
thoughts of the outboard being screwed and being off the water for a very long time were all I could think about.

have searched a bit for info on this, and some say to bend it back, others say don't worry about it and others say to replace it. I don't think the outboard itself is bent other than the skeg but how do you tell? the hydraulic rams seem to work fine and the ouboard isn't pushed to one side noticeably when dropping the leg right down.

what is your advice please?
cheers,
Mick

[Roughasguts]

How bad is the bend ?

A bent skeg is better than a broken one, and that is the risk you take if you try and straighten it.

But still if you break it then a new one can be welded back on, no real damage will have been done except to your pride.

[revs57]

Feeling for ya big fella...a mate had an incident with his brand new df250, it had never been in the water and a car ran into the skeg and gave it a tweak. He ran it and didn't notice a problem. The boat still tracked right and trimmed O.K. just looked a little odd.

I'd give it a go before trying to straighten it Mick, cast alloy doesn't like being flexed around too much and it does lose properties in the heat affected zone when you reweld it. It could be O.K. and that would get rid of that knot in the pit of ya gut not knowing!

Hope its O.K. mate

Cheers

Rhys

[mik01]

see pics...

[Noelm]

depends on how much it is bent, sometimes some wood and a gentle tap with a hammer will put them right, but sometimes they just snap off while trying to bend them back.

[mik01]

given that the entire weight of the boat,trailer and car was pushing back on the outboard with enough force to dig it into the bitumen needless to say I felt entirely sick in the guts.
how do I know if there has been more serious damage to the leg? just run it in the water and see if it vibrates/runs the boat off centre or simply falls off?

[Noelm]

gees thats only a whimpy bend, I have seen them heaps worse than that and straightened up again, but as mentioned, it MAY snap off, but probably won't, BUT no promises!!

[timddo]

Mate, noel is right. A bit of timber and a hammper. one hit should fix it. As for long term effects - the skey is weaker.

I would try to straighten it or it will effect the performance of the motor. Bent skey will make ya go in one direction.

If all goes bad, you can get a new skey welded on for around $100 i think.

[mik01]

thanks guys - so no dig deal??? PHEW.... man i was freaking out. so whats the method - timber on skeg, tap timber with hammer? or timber held on other side while tap skeg with hammer?

use normal hammer, or rubber mallet?

[TOPAZ]

Some years ago, I replaced the 115 Evinrude on my Swiftcraft with a brand new 90HP Oil Injected model.
On the very first launch, after trailing all the way fro Melbourne to Mallacoota for a weeks break, I lauched with the motor partly down and caught the skeg on the concrete stop at the end of the ramp.
The skeg was bent almost at right angles to the leg!
Took it up to a local engineering place, and the guy managed to straighten it again with VERY careful heating with oxy and a mallet and a dolly.
It was still in once piece when I sold it 6 years later!


Richard

[revs57]

If you decide to straighten it Mick

I'd have someone hold a good lump of timber of at least 4"x2"or similar and put the timber on the other side, and I'd hit it with a wooden mallet as a first choice or another piece of timber hit with an engineers hammer. I'd think a rubber mallet mightn't be much good but if its what you have you could always give it a go. Don't be scared of it. Yes they can snap, but they do have a little give and by the look of the pic you don't have to shift it far.

I'd probably give it a couple of firm raps to get the feel of it and work up to a firm hit. As Tim said, with that small variance, it shouldn't take a lot...upon success I'd sit back with my mate and have a beer or 3


Good luck Mick

Rhys

[FNQCairns]

Are you planing to keep the engine for a while? if so keep the story and the bend as proof, don't think you will see any change in boat from it.

Who knows you may do it again in 6 months and bend it back...:) also if ever you are upside down in the water just like with Dolphins it will make ID easier:)...heaven forbid.

cheers fnq

[mik01]

righto - looks like I will straighten it out using the supplied method. cheers for the advice.;)

but I might give it a run and see if it changes anything first. apart from the id thing, wouldn't want the fish to recognise me coming for them! I think they already see me coming and disappear as it is!:-/

[Mr__Bean]

I don't think you are an idiot, many of us have done very similar.

I dug a long trench across a caravan park once when I forgot to lift the engine again after flushing it.

- Darren

[Vitamin Sea]

Hi Mick

Sounds VERY familiar to me...

Once after flushing out the old motor on the street I was in a hurry to put the boat away in the yard as it started hailing..

Forgot to put the motor up, cleaned up the skeg on the concrete driveway, bent it a little bit more than yours'.

Tried to staighten it, snap>:(

Anyway, to cut a long story short ended up getting a mate to weld on a new section, no problem.

Take it easy trying to straighten it, should be ok.

Cheers

Bill

[FNQCairns]

wouldn't want the fish to recognise me coming for them! I think they already see me coming and disappear as it is!:-/

LOL now that's a far better stab at situational humor than my attempt:-X

Good luck wit the hammering, could be a good excuse to purchase one of those plasic hammers with replaceable high density polyethelene heads, dunno what I would do without mine these days.

cheers fnq

[mik01]

I don't think you are an idiot, many of us have done very similar.

I dug a long trench across a caravan park once when I forgot to lift the engine again after flushing it.

- Darren

haha - thats gold! you should have charged them for the trench...

[Marlin_Mike]

i believe maybe ausfish member shaneo can weld em back up if they break, give him a PM and ask him.

Mike

[revs57]

Ben Lexen stand aside...ausfish has miko1 with a new fin design comin up!!!

[mik01]

yep - its a patented design called the bent keel... :-/

[Mr__Bean]

Is it really worth risking it cracking?

My understanding is that the intended function of the bottom fin is to provide protection for the propellor and to force the engine to bounce up over a solid object if struck, it will still do that fine with the little woof you have in it (judging from the photos).

I think I would leave it and see if the next hit straightens it or makes it worse.

- Darren

[mik01]

well see this is what i was talking about in the first post - some say to whack it and other say leave it - it doesn't make a difference.
I'd rather not have it affect my steering if thats what it will do, but likewise hesitate when I have to hit any part of my boat with a hammer.

so does it make any difference to the performance/handling of my boat?

[BR65]

Give it a run mate and see how she goes, could all be honky dory, then the only thing you will have to worry about is the wierd looks you'll get at the ramp;D
Broke an inch or two off the skeg on my old yammy, nearly cried like a girl, fortunately my mate was there to console me with a cooling beveridge, motor still ran fine.
On a side note, how many ramps have those long, straight gouges in the bitumen road just out side, wonder what their from.

cheers
brian

[polky]

Mick done the same about 5yrs ago to my 60hp johno, was a bit worse than yours, your no idiot, most have probably done it. Ran mine as is no difference to performance of boat. 8mths later motor went in for service mech straightened it for me. back on water stiil no difference in performance. Polky.

[disorderly]

I don't think you are an idiot, many of us have done very similar.


- Darren

Its a bit like leaving the bungs out mate.
Happened to many, I reckon, but not all will admit to ithttp://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/grin.gif.

I still remember the feeling in the bottom of my guts when I saw I'd left the motor down and realized what the grinding noise had been.http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/embarassed.gifI almost cried http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/cry.gif.

Scott

[Spaniard_King]

straightened many a skeg with 2 x 4lb hammers

hold one on oposite side to direction you need to hit.. hold it firm against skeg

using other hand hit the skeg with other 4lb hammer in direction it needs to go

start with little hits incrasing as you see fit untill you get some movement

very easy to do.. just keep the 4lb hammer on opposite side firm against the skeg inline with where your hitting...

Use any other method and You risk breakage.. never broken one using this method and straightened some way worse than yours :)

[revs57]

Yeah, my incident was minor, didn't quite leave the motor all the way down and just tipped the skeg on the speed bumps with no damage...lucky I guess

As I said in my first post, if it doesn't have any effect of your boats performance, I'd leave it.

Cheers

rhys

[freefish]

Have done the same. Don't know if that was the cause but the next trip blew the gear box. Veeerrrrry expensive.

[Chris Ryan]

Bent mine similar a while back - the two hammer trick works a treat. My old man is a panel beater and he did that trick, 3 minutes and all was straight, no issues.

Chris

[finga]

I can't believe all of you guys....
What about the driveway????
The driveway is permanently scared and you all worry about a bit of alloy that can be bent, prodded, bashed, heated, welded and, if all else fails, another bit can be bolted on >:(

Mate, that's absolutely nothing to worry about.
It may affect the handling a mighty might just because the skeg is slightly twisted as well due to the direction you were pushing down the driveway and the angle of the driveway down the bottom (does that make sense??).
Anyways if you want to try the 2 hammer trick but don't feel confident about it just give a cooee..............to Garry or Chris :)
Na just kidding :D
Just give a cooee and when I'm in the area we can have a bash (literally) at it.

As a side note I'm sorry I missed you yesterday.
I thought I saw your boat coming out of the water but not you.
Mind you I'm hopeless remembering faces but I can remember boats. Go figure :-/

[Lovey80]

I bent my skeg a while back after misjudging the depth on a launch with the motor not high enough. Mine is bent much worse than yours and I haven't noticed any diff in performance. I'd give it a crack before bashing it you probably won't bother in the end.

Cheers Chris

[black runner]

I did exactly the same thing.

In a hurry to get the boat back in the driveway - (would always normally have the motor tilted but had parked it on the street a bit close to the driveway so put the motor down so it wouldn't get hit if someone drove in). Got side tracked talking to the neighbor, jumped in the car and reversed back - everything stopped and I felt sick.

Put a groove in the ashpalt foot path and got stopped by the concrete driveway. Nice bend just like your photos.

I straightened mine gently by using some big G clamps and various configurations of wood blocks. Do it on a nice hot day or bath just the skeg in hot water for a while before you start. Can make the difference between success or a crack.

The local dealer said the skeg is there to protect the rest of the motor and they repair this type of thing all the time.

[shano]

i see this type of thing all the time, i repair broken skegs, and i mean broken right off! and have lost the broken bit! i rebuild them back up , easy fix really! and have not had one come back!;) touch wood!

[griz066]

I hit a submurged log with mine and bent it a little more than yours, it didn't affect it at all so i just left it and to this day its still bent...no problems in my case.

[mik01]

well thanks all for the stories - seems many have done exactly the same as me!
I will definitely try the boat first and see if there is a drama.
thanks Scott for the offer of help - also sorry we didn't have a chat on sunday but there were many there and time was short. will see you this weekend I'm sure - lookout for the red and white beast mate and come and say gday.
and it was the lovely mrs of mine that called me the idiot after the bent skeg debacle. they sure know how to make a bloke feel better ::)