Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Straigthening a skeg

It is slightly bent, I was pushing the boat and trailer by hand with a few friends and the skeg dug into the asphalt and crushed stone and warped. It started pulling to the right after replacing steering cable. Never noticed the pull with the old cable?
 
You don't say what the engine is... Assuming it's a larger hp Evinrude/Johnson... the trim tab must be moved in the same direction as the pulling action in order to compensate.

If it's pulling to the right and you're moving the tab to the left, you're just adding to the problem.

Use two heavy hammers to straighten the skeg... one held against the skeg, the other to hit the skeg. Be sure to wear safety goggles. One lousy time I didn't... the side of the hammer shattered, exploded, came at me like a bullet, tore my left eye to hell. A word to the wise!
 
Hi Joe, I hope you are doing good, I will try to straighten the skeg since I did reajust the trim tab but only had about one eight of an inch left to play with. And I was wondering if the bent skeg might have an effect on the steering. It's a 1995 90 HP Johnson outboard. It's nice to hear from you again, have a great day, from your Canadian friend, Frank.
 
joereeves said:
Use two heavy hammers to straighten the skeg... one held against the skeg, the other to hit the skeg. Be sure to wear safety goggles. One lousy time I didn't... the side of the hammer shattered, exploded, came at me like a bullet, tore my left eye to hell. A word to the wise!
Click to expand...

Glad you are okay Joe! Did you suffer any long term effects??
When I used to work heavy truck repair 25-30 years ago, my colleague had a piece of metal fracture from a hammer when he hit another hammer to set a rivet on a leaf spring clip. Piece of metal shot into his leg like a bullet and bled out like a stuck pig. Scary day that day. We were young and dumb those days. Used to do curls with a 170 pound anvil when we were bored and there was nothing to do :cool:
 
Joe will be okay, that guy is almost "bulletproof". We certainly miss his help and answers on the forum. I'm sure he will chime in from time to time. A picture of that skeg would still be nice. I fix them all the time. MIG with 4043.....now let me at that mother!
 
Hey Tim, today I tried hammering the skeg, I think that it did straighten a bit, but the tip broke off, about three quarters on an inch. So I stopped hitting it and first I'll see if that one eight of an inch on the trim tab has done a difference. What is your opinion concerning a slightly crooked skeg and pulling on the steering. I just replaced the steering cable and since then it pulls to the right. The skeg was crooked with the old stiff cable and noticed no pull. I will take a picture of it and post it. Thanks and have a great day, Frank
 
Could be with that stiff cable, you couldn't feel the pull, it was still there. If an inch is broken off, your prop is in jeopardy now. But I will wait for a picture, thanks.
 
Northern River said:
Ahah, seems I need to create a URL to upload picture, duh, I'll have to look that up!
Click to expand...
You can do that - or if you have a Google account, upload the pics to your Google Drive, and provide a link that is shareable.
Image quality is really good, you can zoom in and see fine details.
 
Good, thanks. The answer is going to be based on another question and your answer. Ready? Do you notice more of a pull to starboard as you trim up motor?......If so, then, yes, the skeg us causing your problem. Trimmed all the way down, this should cause little problem. It all depends on how you load and operate your boat. If you are using trim to lift bow and gain speed, you should notice more pull to starboard.
 
Back
Top