Remove gears without removing whole case?

[kabona]

Hi all, i want to weld a new skeg on my drive.

I am worried about the gears inside getting too hot from the welding and getting damaged. So i was going to remove the gears out of the case.

My question is, will all the lower gears come out without me actually taking the whole drive off? It would be alot easier if i could just pull the boat to my shop and weld the new skeg on while the drive is still on the boat.

Also i might as well ask, is it necessary to take the gears out before i weld? I think most of the heat will dissipate to the gear case than the actual gears inside. And any heat the does get to the gears... Well those gears are meant to take a bit of heat anyways arent they? I was just going to take the gears out just in case.

Any thoughts?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Remove gears without removing whole case?

You will definitely want to drain all the oil as welding will expand it, possibly blow the seals, and possibly ignite it. You will also want to remove the rear bearing carrier, rubber O rings, and seals so they are not damaged. While the rear bearing carrier is off, you might as well pull out the prop shaft and reverse gear so they don't get lost. The forward gear and bearing can not be removed without pulling the pinion and that means dropping the lower unit. However, I doubt there will be enough heat to damage the pinion, forward gear, or forward tapered roller bearing and cone. If in doubt, ask the welder.

 

[kabona]

Re: Remove gears without removing whole case?

Thanks for the info


Ps. I am the welder

 

[tater76]

Re: Remove gears without removing whole case?

So I am in the same boat right now (no pun intended) I need to have a skeg repaired. I did alot of research on this, and have found so much conflicting info. I found this youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVS6qfveLG4 that explains how all the gears should be left in, but talked to local shops that agree with Frank? I guess look at the vid, but know that if you want to be completely safe, do as Frank said. I'm taking mine to the local shop

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Remove gears without removing whole case?

Not being a welder, I thought he made a couple of interesting points in the video. However, If I were welding closer to the caselike a full skeg I suspect more heat would transfer and I would still play it safe.

The two full skegs I have had welded for me, the welder specifically asked that the oil be drained.

Personally, I would not have that fellow weld for me: His technique was good and he was fast, but did you notice the finished skeg was not straight in the front? I am a bit fussy about those kind of things.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Remove gears without removing whole case?



Speaking of skegs, here's a lower unit that I was about to sell to a guy when I noticed that the skeg was re-cracking on an older welded repair. Obviously, I would not sell it to him.

I wanted to use it this weekend though so I plated one side with .080 hard aluminum salvaged from a bent road sign. I fabricated the plate, sanded all contacting surfaces well, and epoxied the plate to the skeg to reinforce it. After removing the clamps, I drilled and tapped for 10-24 screws.

This worked well enough that the skeg remained solid through a soft grounding on Barnegat Bay this weekend.

Eventually, when I get a "round tuit" I will plate the other side and replace the pan head screws with flat heads. The extra skeg thickness won't hurt performance any. It will be like I made my own skeg protector, better and saved money too.

And yes, that one center screw at the rear of the skeg is out of place. I don't know how I got it there but it annoys me and will be repositioned.