# Small outboard skeg repair



## onthewater102 (Sep 8, 2016)

My skeg is a bit on the knarly side - mainly courtesy of the prior owner but I don't doubt I've added my own love to it over the years. My question is this, I know you can have them welded back into order, but mine isn't really missing that much material. Has anyone tried filling these sized wounds with the aluminum brazing rods with any luck? I don't know if the material being cast aluminum matters for using the rods.


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## DaleH (Sep 8, 2016)

If it were mine, I'd just smoothen it up, re-prime, touch it up and most importantly ... wait for it ... _wait for it_ ... DO NOT add :shock: any more to your collection! 

:wink:


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## onthewater102 (Sep 8, 2016)

I feel bad, I've touched up or prettied up just about everything else on this motor and I've left that skeg looking like a dog chewed on it. The bite I took out of it was drifting downstream and ended up stuck on a rock, as you can see from the missing paint on the skeg, but that's the only one I know didn't involve an under-power impact.


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## richg99 (Sep 9, 2016)

I put something like this on my old 40 hp Yamaha richg99






https://smile.amazon.com/SKEGGARD-MARINE-Skeggard-Model-99013/dp/B001BW8L5C/ref=sr_1_54?ie=UTF8&qid=1473431316&sr=8-54&keywords=skeg+replacement


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## onthewater102 (Sep 9, 2016)

In terms of cost epoxy and brazing work out to be about the same...I'm inclined to think brazing will make a more permanent bond, but I'm not 100% certain. 

Adding a skin to the skeg would be much more expensive than either of the above options, plus drilling holes for the screws so close to the gear housing (as most skeg guards have provisions for) opens the possibility that a future impact could radiate cracks into the gear housing and totally destroy the lower unit in a collision that would otherwise just damage the skeg.

I haven't, nor do I plan to at any point in the future, drive my boat like Mr. Magoo - Thank you... wait for it ... _wait for it_ ... Dale - but I do explore impounded rivers with it in CT and Maine for which there are no charts or navigation markings, so they often have unexpected rocks just below the surface and I can't rule out the possibility of it bumping or scraping.


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## richg99 (Sep 9, 2016)

Since it was many years ago, & I can't remember exactly, but I believe that the screws that held my replacement skeg on didn't penetrate the lower unit. They screwed through threaded metal and held the skeg on by friction. 

You make a good point, though. Any object that can further damage the lower unit isn't what you'd want. 

I can see building up a fiberglass replacement.... and KNOWING it will be knocked off with the first good whack on a rock.

OR...

Amazon has many direct replacement skegs that can be welded on. But, welding it may mean taking your lower unit off; removing the seals (due to heat from the welding) and then reinstalling everything. I'd probably just leave it alone. richg99


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## onthewater102 (Sep 9, 2016)

I didn't realize the skeg guard uses a tension screw against the side of the skeg, the one i looked at (river runner if I recall) required drilling & I assumed that the others of similar design would call for the same.

I put my finger in the picture for reference - it's more that the edges are chewed than that it's battered beyond recognition. I think there is still a short section of the original bottom of the skeg still there, between the corner broken off by the prop and the next ding forward of it, so it's not to the point that I think it needs replacing. 

I can fill in the missing sections with braze and smooth out the water flow off of it, and I've seen the instructional video on youtube step by step showing how to do it - I just don't want to go through pulling the lower unit grinding everything & painting it all if it's just going to turn around and pop off when I start fishing cold water this fall or when I bump it dragging it over a log or something while on the TM.


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## Shaugh (Sep 9, 2016)

If it was mine and I used the boat in rocky rivers I'd consider an inexpensive disposable guard.

Find a piece of thin aluminum channel like this about 1" deep:







Then cut the top edge to match the angle of the plate, the bottom edge to match the angle of the tip end.

even though your front surface is curved a bit, I think once you hold a straight edge up to it you will find that the amount of curvature is minimal and within the depth of the channel. 

Then I'd simply glue that on with a good quality epoxy. Make a couple and have them ready for a quick fix next time it hits.


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## Kismet (Sep 9, 2016)

under the heading of "Cheapest, easiest first," might try JB Weld...marine or regular...and build up the little nicks after tidying the edges up. It appears to be mostly cosmetic. Could well last a nice long time.

Have fun, be safe.


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## onthewater102 (Sep 9, 2016)

I like it...I'm still going to fix the one I've got but the idea of adding even a rubber trim to the skeg edge when I know I'll be poking around someplace new makes sense.


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## Shaugh (Sep 9, 2016)

If this replacement fit well enough I wouldn't even mess with those notches. In fact if you find that the curvature is more than you'd like it to be, just grind it off straight so that you get a perfect mate to the channel.

I've never had much luck with that aluminum stick.. nothing more than epoxy filler in my mind. And brazing things successfully means heat that can cook paint, warp and make the aluminum brittle if you're not lucky..


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## onthewater102 (Sep 9, 2016)

A repaint will definitely be needed. The material is plenty thick for most shops to weld skeg repairs, the brazing rods work at 1/3 the temperature, so I'm not concerned about damage to the lower unit courtesy of the heat.


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