I've had my lower portion of the skeg broken. Cut a piece of Aluminum sheet to the same design as the original had it professionally weld can't even tell it was broken. It's very import to take it a professionally welder or fabricator.

$75.00...? That seems cheap! Are they replacing these with new skegs? Are they skegs, or cut aluminum in the shape of a factory skeg. (doesn't really matter, just curious) I was given a much higher price but that included painting these back to a factory finish.
I'll try to get a pic to post, mine do look pretty bad.

What would happen if one broke off at speed??

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Docman....I don't have your number. It's 1-900-NEE-DOIL isn't it? [/QUOTE]


Funny Russ real funny.Just get itn off of your wifes cell phone.it's speed dial #2 since your #1.540-400-5536

This was discussed a while back. The general consensus was that for a bravo,it would be ok but for a ''surfacing'' drive such as the speedmaster series, replacement of the lower housing would be the safest route. The reason is that even with the best weld possible, there will be a stress riser between the solid weld deposit and the porous casting of the drive housing. This, coupled with the fact that directional stability and control is dependent upon these highly stressed components,is an invitation to disaster. I have repaired quite a number of skegs myself but never on a drive that was being used in a surfacing application.

Ok, I've taken a pic of each.....most of the spots your see are pits in the metal, the others are just from being dirty. The pitting only appears on the skeg, the rest of the drives look new.

I wouldn't cut off all of yours just to weld on a new one. The weld will be a weak point. Mine was not a bad as yours, but same wear signs. The skegs I bought from BAM are really just skegs that are cut off of damage drives. I think they were $25 each. Click on the 1st pic of my reply. That one was basically just like yours, leading edge ate up, worn down. The weld is the off color straight line.
The paint is pretty thick. Alot of those chips may not be as bad as you thick if you were to sand it down to the bare AL. I used the grey Marine Tex to fill a couple of the pin holes.
By replacing just the bad areas and not the whole skeg, you don't have to worry about distorting the torpedo. Yours aren't bad enough to take that chance in my opinion.

They start out with a thicker piece of marine grade aluninum, and grind it to the taper after welding. This way, there is no evidence(undercutting from the weld) left over.
I end up doing a little finishing work. and repaint.
This shop does alot of work for me. I have all kinds of welding equiptment, but it pays for me to go to this shop, and drop off a few uppers, or lowers that need a weld job, while I'm running around to the machine shop, putting motors, drives, transom assy's together, or buying and selling on e-bay. All this plus , my Dj business, and my Job as a FDNY Fireman. And I still make time to party !

Your steering wouldn't be as crisp, but in my experience, I feel that the boat actually went slower with more cavitation after I snapped one off clean on a sandbar, even worse than being stuck on the sandbar, it didn't serve drinks ! I dont think it would be a dangerous safety issue. BBB

I've been doing intense studying and experimenting on refinishing these drives. The worst issue is the corrosion.

Usually any time there is pitting, it was caused by corrosion, and there is corrosion deep in the metal. A stainless wire brush may remove some small pitting. I recommend glass beading. Even with a hand held small hopper gun, for small spots. The problem with corrosion is
there is usually moisture and possibly sodium trapped in the corrosion. If not eradicated, any repair over it will eventually pop. The corrosive activity makes gasses that also crack the paint/ repair. Also any aluminum that looks grey or black is impregnated with corrosion and should be dealt with. There is a new product called aluminate that eats aluminum corrosion, but I have not used it yet. Preparation is very important. I am experimenting with POR 15 enamel. It takes several days to dry, can be put on with a brush, and must be top coated to resist uv sunlight. They claim that the chemical that is used in paint to resist uv breakdown actually weakens the paint and how it dries. I have been using JB Industro weld, after cleaning up and sometimes welding and regrinding pitting. If your boat comes out often, and you clean and stay on top of the drives, you could probably get away with a wire brush, some thinner, sand paper, spray cans of both zinc chromate primer and black paint. BBB