Bent skeg

[sam687]

Hey,

I have been chasing the cause of my boat leaning to the left for some time now and I think i may have found it. The skeg is bent to the right about 5-6mm, i have no idea when or how this has happened but it is the only thing I can find that may cause the lean.

Can I have this bent back ? - i would get someone who knows what they are doing, weather it be needed heating or something else I'm not sure. the rest of the motor is fine it just the bottom part of the skeg.

Motor is a Yamaha 200hp V6 2008 4 stroke.

any advice or experience would be great and ill try and get a photo.

Sam

[Noelm]

Can probably bend it back, not too sure it is your problem though! lots of motors have the skeg bent heaps, or snapped right off with no effect on boat leaning.

[Duckfish]

Ditto to Noel's comments. Most boats will lean in one direction or another. Had a similar problem with my Haines but solved it with trim tabs.
Duck

[sam687]

Yeah i understand there should be some lean but this is excessive, I do have trim tabs that i can use to fix the issue but it is not ideal. I have to have the trim tab at about 1/3 and then this causes the boat to over compensate when travelling over swell. it seems to throw the boat off balance when nearing the top and if i ever get a little bit of air it throws it all out of line.

the steering is also harder one way compared to another.

Has another straightened a skeg, my fear is it may snap right off or crack if not done correctly

[Noelm]

Straightened lots of them, just a block of wood and tap back straight, it might snap, that's a chance you take, that said, I have never snapped one while straightening, make sure the little trim fin is not set way out and causing issues.

[sam687]

Ok I might even have a bit of play with it and see if I can get some movement out of it.
I have played around with the trim fin and it made no difference at all.

[Fed]

I also doubt it's the skeg causing the problems, I've belted a couple straight over the years only because I couldn't live with looking at them.
At least if it's straight it takes it out of the steering equation.

Boat?
Prop?
WOT RPM?
Steering system?
Which way is the steering harder?
Checked for hooked hull?
Played with motor T&T?
Played with weight balance?
Meaningful pictures, maybe include holding a ruler against the skeg?

Don't want to sound draconian Sam but some more facts will get you better answers.

[sam687]

I to thought it wouldn't be the reason but its about the only things left to check so to tick it off would be helpfull.

Boat? Barcrusher 640WR
Prop? standard stainless steel item
WOT RPM? 5800-6000 and the motor seems to be at the right height
Steering system? hydraulic
Which way is the steering harder? harder to turn the wheel anti clockwise- which is weird because the skeg is bent to the right
Checked for hooked hull? hooked?
Played with motor T&T? i sure have and the leaning is a lot less with the motor trimmed right out and the steerings gets light in both direction. And i mean right out which will cavitate whenever a turn is made so this is not a feasible option. I have also played with the trim fin and at full direction either way it made no difference.
Played with weight balance? i have removed most things from the boat and it make no different, if i have 2 people on board we both need to stand on the drivers side for it to level out.
Meaningful pictures, maybe include holding a ruler against the skeg? planning to get some when I get home.

Don't want to sound draconian Sam but some more facts will get you better answers. I happy to provide as much information as needed if people believe it is not the skeg and may be able to point me in a different direction. But i still want to straightened the skeg to eliminate it.

thanks for your help, its appreciated.

[Crunchy]

Is your boat a Bar Crusher? From memory there have been previous posts about these boats leaning to one side....not sure why that is but might be worth investigating.

[Crunchy]

Beat me to it....

[Skusto]

im assuming you checked to see if there is water in your left hand side air chamber? or water getting in for that matter?

[sam687]

Yeah it is :(
I have had it for about a year now and I never noticed it the start. it was brought second hand.

I have just done some reading and I think I also need to get the straight end out and double check a few areas.

[sam687]

and yes all chambers are empty and water tight. unless there is a way that water could be stuck in there?

[ericcs]

does the boat sit flat at rest. that would eliminate water in one side?

[sam687]

As far as i can see it sits flat on the water.

all seems fine until i reach low planning speeds up to about 40kmh and then if motor is trimmed right out the lean will almost disappear.

[terryc]

I just read on fishnet forum today about a boat that had a similar problem Boat Leaning left on plane -NO LONGER, problem solved (http://www.fishnet.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=109096&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=stabicraft&f=0).
Had to be returned to manufacturer who found the fault.

[Noelm]

Seems to be a common "feature" no doubt any current owners will deny it to the end.

[sam687]

So this is what I'm dealing with. I also remove the shield and gave it a tap bit of a hit with no luck.
Btw after removing the shield it stunk like and old dead shell.


http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160512/5641688af6c0d4d8eee1dde0a9186f96.jpg

So I kept looking and got the straight edge out. And this is what I found on the starboard side.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160512/9aed90aa511363af84f0c80afef73aea.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160512/94402827a543a6bfc81839809b409dc7.jpg

It seems to me like it is the wrong way to cause my issue but none the less I'm not impressed. It seems to be just around the area where the trailer rollers sit.

And ideas and experience would be greatly appreciated. This is a 2008 hull.

[Noelm]

Is the other side OK?

[gofishin]

Rollers on tinnies are probably the greatest cause of sheet hogs (bottom sheets pushed up), and these then act like trim tabs. Less common with more heavily built boats like BC's.

However, the pic shows the opposite, which is called a 'rocker'. Sometimes these are part of the design, however strange to have it so far aft. As Noelm asked, are both sides of the hull the same? This is the important question. Don't just compare aft sections either, look at both sides up to forward of mid ships.

Straighten the skeg, but I wouldn't think this would be the cause (as others have said). Are those pair of lock nuts fixing the shield to the skeg? They wouldn't help, as that is a lot of drag on one side!! Take the shield off and go for a run.
Cheers
Brendon

[sam687]

So I did check the other side and it was fine. I checked the rest of the hull and that was the only area I could fine. I could imagine that this could be an issue for a tinnie but in 5mm plate is a bit different.

I also put the straight edge on the V and below are the photo which I think is weird. Would be good if someone else with a bar rusher could check theirs.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160512/5fb3ce0283678be882ae07d680edd136.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160512/25b0a786335a92cef7f884a08d7698dc.jpg

[Noelm]

I don't think the "curve" under the hull in the last picture is anything to worry about, it might even be supposed to be like that?? but the fore and aft curve doesn't look too flash, especially if the other side is flat all the way back.

[reelally]

I have come across this before in deep vee boats and I worked out it can be caused by the torque of the prop and also a hull design with no lift strakes. As the prop normally spins clockwise as it grabs the water the force rotates the boat to port. As you trim out and go faster the water forces on the hull increase and level out more. Common on a a lot of boats.

As as for the bent skeg- a block of timber and a rubber mallet does work but take it easy. I have straightened a few this way, once moved a mercruiser over 10mm with no problems.

[scottar]

What sort of hydraulic steering is it? If it is an unbalanced ram (sidemount), they will have a difference in required steering effort due to differences in the fluid volume on either side. Coupled with prop torque if the steering tab isn't adjusted properly it can make for a noticeable difference.

[Darren Mc]

With straightening the skeg just go easy and check after each hit so as not to go to far and then have to bend it back again as this will make the possibility of snapping it worse. Cheers.

[Darren Mc]

Also agree with the big nuts holding the skeg guard on could be causing some drag.

[sam687]

So my plan of attack is to straighten the skeg and leave the cover off and take it for another test to see if there is any difference.
then if nothing ill look closer at the hull and see what i can find. I will try and get 3-4m straight edge so i can get a better idea of the shape of the hull.

thanks for your ideas so far its been great.

[Moonlighter]

A question for you that relates to that curve in the hull....

Do you always strap the boat down to the trailer firmly, at the front and across the transom end when towing?

A boat that isnt strapped down firmly will bounce on the trailer and this can cause that kind of hull deflection near the roller contact points.

[sam687]

Moonlighter,

I always strap it down using the two tie down locations on the boat and trailer at the rear and then a 3rd strap at the front.

I had another quick look this morning and it might be that the hull has a bulge about 0.6m from the rear, i need to get a longer straight edge to confirm.

[Fed]

A Yamaha 200hp V6 2008 4 stroke is a pretty valuable motor, I'd drop the leg off and take it to an expert to get it straightened & the holes filled in at the same time. Repaint repairs etc.

[Noelm]

If the holes for the skeg protector are drilled through the skeg, I would be extra carefully trying to straighten it, most of the ones I have seen just sort of clamp on, the bolts don't go through the skeg.

[russ71]

Maybe a stupid question, but is the motor 90 deg to the horizontal plane? meaning did they drill the mounting holes correctly.
A straight edge across the stern and measure to the centres will tell you.

[sam687]

Just an update,

I have removed the skeg protector and straightened the skeg to almost perfect and it seems to have improved the situation.

[robcam]

Sam, had the same symptoms you describe on my boat from new. For me it was motor height. As I raised the motor the list to port improved. Ran out of holes so put a jack plate on, list gone, vent plate on the surface. Rob.

[sam687]

So just an update to close out this issue if anyone reads it in the future.

After a close look i noticed that the trim tabs were not installed as per the manufactures instructions. the port side was level with bottom of the boat but the starboard side was hanging down about 5mm below the bottom of the boat. the manufacture recommends that the tabs be mounted 5mm above the bottom of the hull.

So i removed both and reinstalled correctly and the problem has disappeared......

[WildFishExpeditions]

Do it the safe way and heat it up before bending it. Best way with alloy i have found that if u spit on it and it bounces off then its hot enough. Dont risk snapping it. But as most have said i doubt this is ths cause of your problem.

[WildFishExpeditions]

Didnt read all the replies, good you have fixed your problem.

[Dignity]

Great to see you have it fixed. Did this also fix the steering issue.

[sam687]

Dignity - Steering issues seems to have disappeared also.