Missing some metal....

[Siebs]

Well this weekend out on the river I managed to lose some of my sterndrive.
​
Brand new prop on, repainted the skeg and got it out of the water to find this.....

No other damage just missing a large piece of the sterndrive. Don't know when I lost it, don't know how I lost it, didn't even really seem to make a difference in the speed or handling of the boat.

What's the best way of going about fixing this? Get someone to weld some more metal on it and paint it up nice? Is there a way to replace the casing without replacing the whole thing? Any ideas, past experiences etc. would be a ton of help. Haven't brought it to the shop yet but will if I need to.

Brandon

 

[alldodge]

Without the piece that broke off, it will be difficult to replace, can be done, but difficult. The amount of heat to weld the piece on can warp the casting.

The lower section can be replaced without the upper. You could just use it and see if anything else starts to show up. The worst thing IMO that could happen is the lower crack some more and fall off (not likely). If that happened you would need a whole new drive.

 

[Fishermark]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you want, you could JB Weld a piece on and simply overlap it. But if it were me I would just go boating and enjoy it.

 

[Scott Danforth]

a good fabricator can repair that easy (and without warping the casting).

 

[Rick Stephens]

I wouldn't be afraid to weld on a chunk of aluminum and grind to finish. It wouldn't be hard to purchase an ebay upper and chop that piece out of it and weld it up. Far from any seals or bearings, heating it up and cooling it down would not be hard.

 

[harleyman1975]

I'm with Rick and Scott. A prop shop has probably made that repair many times. I would bet less than $200 to fix.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have connections that would weld it for under $50

 

[H20Rat]

Re-read post #3! Go boating and forget about it...

 

[Siebs]

Thanks for all the input. That's why I came to the experts!

I think I'm going to forget about it.... for this season.

I might take it apart before winter and bring it to someone to weld back up, then it won't affect my summer. Living in Minnesota you have to cherish the 3 months you get!

Thanks again!

 

[alldodge]

Living in Minnesota you have to cherish the 3 months you get!
!

I here ya, and its either winter or road construction as I remember

 

[puddle jumper]

Did you use a block of wood or something to take the prop off last fall. If you did I bet you caused a crack and it just fell off. Should be able to be repaired.

 

[Siebs]

Looking at some old posts of mine and decided to put an answer to my solution

Brought it to The Prop Shop in Duluth, MN and had it fixed for $170.

 

[Snakecan2]

any idea on what caused it to break a chunk off like that. or just hit something with prop and caught it the right way?

 

[achris]

If I were to guess, I'd say it had a wing on at some stage in the past.

Chris. ..