stern drive damage

My friend and i were cruising the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence in Ontario, Canada and he hit a rock. Bottom line his prop is shot, the real question is, the bottom fin on the bottom of his stern drive is GONE. Can this be replaced or does he have to get a new drive. Asking for any feedback. Thanks. Lounger.

[Jets]

Originally Posted by lounger

My friend and i were cruising the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence in Ontario, Canada and he hit a rock. Bottom line his prop is shot, the real question is, the bottom fin on the bottom of his stern drive is GONE. Can this be replaced or does he have to get a new drive. Asking for any feedback. Thanks. Lounger.

The fin (skeg) on the outdrive (and outboards) is your rudder. It also reduces the sideways pull on high performance boats and helps protect the prop by deflecting trash in the water downward. If you have had a bad hit, is is usually wise to remove the guts from the housing to check for hairline cracks that would weaken the housing and allow the ingress of water. Another check would be the straightness of the propshaft. If you really don't care and the drive isn't worth it, you can remove the whole leg, dump the oil, leave the drain plugs and weld on a replacement fin. many boating mags have ads for them. The trick is to keep the gearbox cool with wet rags to protect the seals from the welding heat. I've done it both ways.

[Arrowmarine]

Done hundreds of them, very easily replaced.
A little word to the wise tho, make sure that you attach the ground clamp to the skeg itself when welding and you dont inadvertantly hook it on the boat. Lots of smoke and the wonderful smell of burning electrical is the result.(guess how I know this:-)) Ground to the skeg and you wont have any problems, and wet rags to keep the seals cool as mentioned above.

[Jets]

Originally Posted by Arrowmarine

Done hundreds of them, very easily replaced.
A little word to the wise tho, make sure that you attach the ground clamp to the skeg itself when welding and you dont inadvertantly hook it on the boat. Lots of smoke and the wonderful smell of burning electrical is the result.(guess how I know this:-)) Ground to the skeg and you wont have any problems, and wet rags to keep the seals cool as mentioned above.

Amen to that. I saw a guy suspend a job on a Loraine crane and left the ground on the frame. He welded all the bearings in the self-propelled crane - about 300 grand worth. It wasn't me. I was only a student and I got a free lesson on how to get fired.