How much damage did I do?
 

Take a look at the attached pic. I was trying to trailer my boat in some pretty heavy side draft and in shallow water since the lake was quite low. I was backing up as slow as I could to take another stab at it and my skeg caught on something and stopped the boat alltogether. I couldn't have been going more than about 2 miles per hour because my engine was barely more than idling as I drifted back. But when I removed the boat, the tip of my skeg had been broken off and my aluminum prop tips had been bent back a bit.

Just looking for some opinions on if you think my damage is limited to the prop and skeg, or possible outdrive damage? How could I check for any further damage?

Re: How much damage did I do?
 

I feel for you, it happens. It has probably happened to all of us more times than we care to admit, me included. If the boat still shifts fine and moves forward and backward it is probably limited to the skeg and prop. The prop needs to be replaced or repaired, driving with a bent prop will set up a vibration(u may or may not notice) in the drive line causing stress(extra) wear on bearings and seals. The skeg doesn't look that bad. I would not worry about unless it is obviously bent to one side and causes the boat to track crooked at speed. I would fix or replace the prop, then take it for a test run. If you notice a vibration then u obviously have deeper problems. The good things are that aluminum props are less expensive than stainless ones, and much softer so they will often break/bend without breaking more expensive stuff. I have damaged quite a few of both types over the years.
Happy Boating
Dan:wink_thumbup:

Re: How much damage did I do?
 

Yeah, we've all had our moments with the skegs. We've all taken a gouge out, scuffed it up, or dragged it once on the ramp while bringing the trailer out. Every boater has. If you find a guy with a perfect skeg, they've either just replaced theirs, or just bought a brand new boat. :)

The prop should definitely be repaired or replaced. Aluminum props are cheap, when I had one on my last boat, I picked up a reconditioned one for around $75. I wouldn't expect to pay much more than that to get your existing one repaired.

The skeg, well, I wouldn't worry about it unless you've got some vibration issues, they can also be repaired, but they're a bit more pricy. The skeg is actually there to protect the prop from damage. That's what one of it's purposes is. There are some metal skeg protectors available on the market which are much more durable, but require drilling through your existing skeg for mounting. Personally, if there's no vibes after getting the prop repaired, just get out and enjoy your boat. The skeg won't be an issue until it starts losing about 50% more of it's structure.