Skeg Motor Question 2024
fishman320 reply :
I am concidering getting an outboard motor that has a piece of the skag (fin below the prop) broke off. Will this hurt the motor or its performance in any way? Also, do you think this motor would be worth getting or should I stay clear of it?
J Francho reply :
Depends. There are repair kits.
fishman320 reply :
- On 4/1/2015 at 3:55 AM, J Francho said:
Depends. There are repair kits.
Are the kits expensive and do they need done by a dealer? Also, what is involved and does the broken piece affect the motor?
J Francho reply :
You'd have to do a google search for the exact lower unit. They range from $30 to a little over $100. You need to be a little bit handy. I put one on a little 20 hp years ago.
Scott F reply :
A lot of places that repair props can weld on a new skeg Call around and get a price before you buy the motor.
WRB reply :
Stay away, the lower unit may have some other damage. If the price is low enough to replace the complete lower unit, then it may be OK. What does the prop look like? You need to change the water pump impeller, fuel filters, spark plugs, gear grease and check all the rubber fuel tubing, gears if the motor has a reverse etc. broken skeg could be due to poor maintenance.
Tom
BaitMonkey1984 reply :
Check lower gear oil for water. If it is a small piece missing I doubt it will effect drag all that much, and can be reconciled by a keg cover. If it is more significant than it will create drag and may have caused significant internal damage. I would have a trusted mechanic take a look at it if you have any doubts. Motor repairs aren't cheap.
tin boat reply :
I had a 72' 6 hp Johnson with a piece of the skeg broken, no lower unit issues with it at all, not saying the one you're looking at doesn't, but it didn't affect mine at all, in fact, my dad still runs it.
fishman320 reply :
On 4/1/2015 at 6:33 AM, WRB said:Stay away, the lower unit may have some other damage. If the price is low enough to replace the complete lower unit, then it may be OK. What does the prop look like? You need to change the water pump impeller, fuel filters, spark plugs, gear grease and check all the rubber fuel tubing, gears if the motor has a reverse etc. broken skeg could be due to poor maintenance.
Tom
Majority of the skag is still there and it looks like a piece of the corner is broke off. The person said they have had no problem with it and had it maintenance regularly an it happened when loading the boat. Also, the motor is about 5-6 years old. When do you need to change the water pump?
Gamblerman reply :
I agree with all these guys. You can have one welded on probably about 100 to 125 bucks, if I remember correctly. I was looking into doing mine cause mine is broke off, but I never did. Works just fine for me.. Only thing is I hit bottom or a stump a couple of times and had to get the prop fixed, I think if I had that scag on there it would have hit that first, and maybe less damage to the prop
J Francho reply :
That's the purpose of the skeg -to protect the prop.
BassnChris reply :
On 4/1/2015 at 6:24 PM, fishman320 said:When do you need to change the water pump?
Some say atleast every 2 years.
I replace mine every year.......small expense to help avoid a big expense!
WIGuide reply :
Damage to the skeg is not that big of a deal. My friend completely ripped his off on his 50 hp Mercury when he hit a rock. A guy in the bass club I'm in also ripped his clean off as well. Either way it's not a hard fix, it'll run a little over $100. You want to make sure that the lower unit is ok by checking the lower unit grease to make sure there's not a ton of metal shavings in there. As long as everything else checks out I don't see a reason not to purchase it. And impellers should be replaced every 3 at the least. Even if not in use the rubber used in the impeller can actually dry out so it needs to be changed regardless.
WRB reply :
What hp is this outboard engine? The skeg is also a rudder to aid stirring and off set torque, along with the torque tab. The question is, why is the engine up for sale without repairing the skeg first? The reason is there is more to this than a broken skeg. To fix the skeg you must remove the lower unit to weld. At this time you can inspect gears, replace the water pump impeller, etc.
offer to buy the engine as a contingency the seller pays for the repairs.
If the owner forget to tilt up the engine and broke the skeg on the ramp, common accident, it should be repaired.
You should change the water pump impeller when needed. When the water pressure drops below 10 psi for larger outboards or when the water doesn't flow out the overflow (pee) hole in a steady stream. Depends of how hot and cold the weather is and where the engine is stored, in a garage or outside.
Tom
fishman320 reply :
On 4/1/2015 at 11:22 PM, WRB said:What hp is this outboard engine? The skeg is also a rudder to aid stirring and off set torque, along with the torque tab. The question is, why is the engine up for sale without repairing the skeg first? The reason is there is more to this than a broken skeg. To fix the skeg you must remove the lower unit to weld. At this time you can inspect gears, replace the water pump impeller, etc.
offer to buy the engine as a contingency the seller pays for the repairs.
If the owner forget to tilt up the engine and broke the skeg on the ramp, common accident, it should be repaired.
You should change the water pump impeller when needed. When the water pressure drops below 10 psi for larger outboards or when the water doesn't flow out the overflow (pee) hole in a steady stream. Depends of how hot and cold the weather is and where the engine is stored, in a garage or outside.
Tom
Tom,
The outboard is a 20hp and he said he does not use it as much as he thought. H did forget to put the motor up that why it happened.
fishman320 reply :
On 4/2/2015 at 1:21 AM, fishman320 said:Tom,
The outboard is a 20hp and he said he does not use it as much as he thought. H did forget to put the motor up that why it happened.
Here is a drawling of what it looks like.
J Francho reply :
If it doesn't leak it's fine. Put a $30 skeg kit on it if you want.
Catch 22 reply :
I purchased a rig with a Honda 50 with about 2" of the skeg missing. An in water test drive revealed no problems. I put a Skeg Gard on in about 10 minutes and never looked back.Most of that time was getting tools ready. 8 yrs later still good
http://skeggard.com/
Very happy with it. In fact I would put one on a new outfit if it didn`t affect the warranty.
C22
WRB reply :
20 hp, you can get by with a repair kit, change the water pump impeller, new set of spark plugs and should be good to go.
Tom
martintheduck reply :
WRB has been playing "worst case scenario" and I can't blame him here. When it comes to "little" things on an outboard it can possibly turn into a much bigger deal than first meets the eye. I run a 150hp Yamaha vmax with a little piece of the skeg chipped off and no problems. Wind blew me off the beach one day and punch the motor into the launch.... just chipped a 1/2 inch chunk off the tip of the skeg. No issues at all... performance is still perfect. I'm sure if one day I sell my boat, I'll have to explain the story to the buyer and try to convince them all is well. oh well. I won't be spending $100 to get a little seemingly cosmetic fix.
With this motor you're buying, from the way you're describing it, sounds like it shouldn't be a problem. Down here in Louisiana, I have NEVER seen a small HP outboard (less than a 50hp) without chips, nicks, scrapes, dings in the lower unit... and they all seem to have just a completely jacked up prop too. Still functioning just fine. Sounds like you'll be fine buying that motor. And if it makes you feel better, I believe it would be quite difficult to crack the lower unit of a 25hp motor. You gotta slam that engine PRETTY hard to crack it. Just make sure to test it out before you buy it.
And FYI - they say to replace the impeller every couple of years. Lower unit oil should be replaced once per year. It seems like the real benefit to changing the lower unit oil each year is that you get a chance to inspect the oil for water.... potentially catching a HUGE problem (water in the LUO) before it gets too bad.
Cheers!
tin boat reply :
I'm the opposite on the impeller, my 72' was original, and my current 87' and 97' are original. Granted, I have a water pressure gauge on the big motor, but if it ain't broke, I ain't fixing it.
Tucson reply :
It would be sweet if outboards came with replaceable skegs, maybe bolt-on or keyed. That would make replacement very easy considering how vulnerable the skeg is.
Sun Fish reply :
On 4/1/2015 at 7:18 PM, J Francho said:That's the purpose of the skeg -to protect the prop.
Kind of, on a high performance bass boat it is also acts as your rudder when fully on plane. If you were running top speed trimmed out all the way and your skeg were to break off, very very bad things can happen.
On a 20hp though if the LU checks out fine I wouldnt worry to much about it.
WIGuide reply :
On 4/6/2015 at 11:11 AM, Sun Fish said:Kind of, on a high performance bass boat it is also acts as your rudder when fully on plane. If you were running top speed trimmed out all the way and your skeg were to break off, very very bad things can happen.
On a 20hp though if the LU checks out fine I wouldnt worry to much about it.
A guy in the bass club I'm in took his clean off on a rock bar the day before the state tournament. He ran it that way the next two days of the tourney and said he didn't notice any difference with off vs having it on.
J Francho reply :
I can assure you my ProMax powered Bullet 21XDC runs ok (not at top performance, lol) without some of the skeg. Nothing bad, just not as fast.
Catch 22 reply :
On 4/3/2015 at 8:21 PM, tin boat said:I'm the opposite on the impeller, my 72' was original, and my current 87' and 97' are original. Granted, I have a water pressure gauge on the big motor, but if it ain't broke, I ain't fixing it.
I had a 150 Rude that went 12 yrs before I did the pump. I almost felt that it was money wasted once I saw what good shape it was still in.
Keep an eye on the LU lube. That's priorty.
C22
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