Damaged Skeg

[macmac]

Hi all,

I did a very stupid thing last weekend. Walked the trailer but forgot to lift the outboard up. Then, this was happened:

I made the same mistake twice already and never get the lesson. First I damaged the prop. This time I damaged the skeg of the outboard coz I took out the prop to inspect where are the sludge came from so this time it hit the skeg.

Now my question is can the skeg be repaired? I'm thinking of welding it myself but I not sure if it is possible. First, Its look like sort of cast alloy (no idea of what kind of alloy is it) and second what kind of welding wire should i use. Finally, I found out the broken skeg is a little bit bended. I don't think I can bend it back as I did try bend back the prop leaf and it just snapped straight away when I tried to repair my prop in the past.

Do I need to change the whole gearcase housing? If yes, is it hard to do it?

Also, Can someone tell me what the main cause of black sludge deposit from the prop? Im pretty sure its not come inside the gearcase but from exhaust.

Regards,

Phil

[Juggs]

You need to strip the case and before welding heat the whole casing

It's very easy to distort the case and bearing seals etc won't fit any more

More a specialists job both to weld and put it all back together

The sludge may just be unburnt 2 stroke oil, check your gear box oil what colour is that ?

[squizzytaylor]

The black crap is just 2 stroke sludge, There doesn't seem to be a great deal of the skeg missing, I would run the boat and see what if any adverse effects it has on the boats steering and tracking. I have seen a lot worse with little to no effect at all. If its all good, I would give it all a coat of paint to prevent corrosion though.

GT

Edited May 1, 2012 by squizzytaylor

[macmac]

You need to strip the case and before welding heat the whole casing

It's very easy to distort the case and bearing seals etc won't fit any more

More a specialists job both to weld and put it all back together

The sludge may just be unburnt 2 stroke oil, check your gear box oil what colour is that ?

that's a big job. I may not have Enough confidence to disassemble and reinstate the gear case.

The gearbox oil is clear as I just change the gear case oil recently.

[macmac]

The black crap is just 2 stroke sludge, There doesn't seem to be a great deal of the skeg missing, I would run the boat and see what if any adverse effects it has on the boats steering and tracking. I have seen a lot worse with little to no effect at all. If its all good, I would give it all a coat of paint to prevent corrosion though.

GT

is that mean it is very normal to have huge amount of black sludge coming from exhaust for 2 stroke engine?

Yeah I will recoat the broken part with primer and epoxy paint. Just to let u know I ordered the skeg guard yesterday.

[macmac]

You can buy skeg guards and skeg setups with fins that will fit right over it ... Just google it...

thanks Burnsy.

I ordered the skeg guard for $110 plus freight.