Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

[G.H Cook]

my skeg is also slightly bent. ( from behind boat looking at lower unit it bends to the right about an inch.) boat leans when on plane to the port side. I'm wondering if this is the same way your skeg was bent? Just trying to correct my port side lean on plane.

thanks

 

[boat1010]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

We would need to know quite a bit more information about the boat before we can give you any good answers. What size boat? what motor? With passengers? I think you get the picture.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

the skeg isn't supposed to bent...

for clarification. the skeg is the lowest part of the drive. the fin under the bullet, under the prop. it's there to protect your prop in the event of a prop strike with an uso (unidentified solid object).

then there's the trim tab. it's a zinc and is designed for two purposes. one as a sacrificial annode gaurding against corrosion of dissimilar metals. it's other function is to counter torque steer. boats inherently steer to one side of the other due to the torque of the prop spinning. this trim tab is adjustable to counter this. you adj. the tab in the direction that it is easiest to turn the steering. ie. if it steers east to starboard, but hard to port, you adj. the tab to starboard some. check it out and see if the adj. helps. this tab is adj. for one condition only. so have your normal load in the boat along with normal speed and normal trim. anything other than this and the trim tab still works, just to a lesser degree. in other words steering will be heavy one way and easy the other...

as for the lean. imho. neither a bent skeg nor a misadjusted trim tab will cause this... more like uneven load or something along these lines.

fwiw. my skeg is bent to starboard a shade from the po. there are no ramifications of this. my trim tab is adjusted slightly to starboard. at about 2500 rpms, normal trim, normal load i can let go of the steering wheel and it goes straight by itself. steering feels the same both directions..

also, if ya got power steering. the trim tab isn't necessary as the power steering takes care of the prop steer..

 

[SSTKO81]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

In some cases Ive heard of a severly bent skeg affecting steering. Mine was bent just a tad and in an effort to bend it back, I broke it off. -Don't do that... there are actually aftermarket skeg guards and replacements that bolt right up availdable at several marine retailers. Thats how I ended up fixing mine.

 

[V153]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

the skeg isn't supposed to bent...

Or bend. Fwiw I've enjoyed considerable success 'massaging' bent skegs back into submission. With patience & a heavy rubber mallet. So long as you don't get too aggresive trust me it works. Picture the old blacksmith finessing a wagon wheel, or whatever ...

 

[Stachi]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

There was so little left of the skeg on the outboard I bought , I spent $29.99 here at Iboats for a replacement skeg ,cut off the original skeg with a straight cut , and welded the new one on myself. I had to trim the top off of the new skeg to make it fit the base of the old skeg. I had my lower unit held upside down in a vise, welded it slowly to let it cool down between welding passes and it came out great. You can't tell it has been replaced.

 

[G.H Cook]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

thanks for all the responses so quickly. The boat is 17ft open bow with 4.3 alpha one 190hp. normal gear boat sits level at dock. it does have two marine batteries with switch and both batteries are on the port side.(side it tends to lean) I've heard of other boats with similiar problem with skeg bent. My skeg is slight bend to the right when standing behind boat looking at prop. maybe off 3/4" to center total. I dont want to take on the project of straighting and or possibily breaking it off in the process if it wont fix my problem.

thanks

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

My skeg was bent the same way and about the same amount. My boat is about the same size as your boat, and a slightly bent skeg made no difference in how it drove. This is a very common problem with all I/O's and outboard boats.

If your steering wheel harder to turn in one direction, adjust the tab on the anti-cavitation plate as noted above.

Overton's sells a new stainless skeg for $99, and it requires 2" of skeg. It doesn't require welding--bolted on. That's an alternative that will work.

 

[cr2k]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

Sacrificial anodes don't prevent corrosion, they just dissolve before other parts will.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Bent skeg, Boat leans to one side

normal gear boat sits level at dock.

that's a good sign. now ya need to fig. out why it's leaning when on plane. not that i have the answer, but my boat will lean real easy with an unbalanced load. + if i have to compensate for wind with steering input, it'll lean. mine's a vhull. maybe search boat leans on the fourm. i know it's been discussed many times before. i can't remember all the answers so maybe that can help get ya some input.

Sacrificial anodes don't prevent corrosion

on that note. 'if' yer 190hp v6 has power steering, you don't need the trim tab. but you do need the filler plate that is just a blank plate to fill the hole. it needs the sacrificial anode part to help prevent corrosion of dissimilar metals. cr2k is correct. the anode is sacrificed (corrodes and dissolves) instead of the drive parts. (apologize if i gave the impression that the sacrificial anode prevents corrosion, it does not)

imho. straightening your skeg won't likely fix you lean. mines bent too. if i'm balanced and not fighting weather conditions. my boat runs flat.