Just got a call from my buddy about my boat.  I have an 88 Mercury Black Max 200 on my boat and my buddy pulled it out of the water and forgot to trim the motor up.  He said the little anti torque thing on the skeg broke off.  The skeg itself is fine, apparently the bolts holding the piece on sheared off.  The boat is located at our fishing camp hours from home and over an hour from civilization/boat shop.  It sounds like the fix is easy, drill/tap the little anti torque piece, enlarge the holes a tiny bit in the skeg and bolt back up.  

 

My question is will running the thing without the anti torque piece for a week cause undue stress on the steering components of an older boat?  I'm packing up and heading out there today with my sons for a few weeks (yea summer school break) and my buddy has to bring the piece home with him to drill/tap.  He will be back next week with new bolts.

 

I'm not overly concerned but am thinking about wear on steering gear.

I have seen more than one missing the tab, but can't comment with first  hand knowledge....call the service Dept in a marina you trust

If you have hydraulic steering, you might not even notice it.  About the only time it comes into play is when the boat is up to speed and properly trimmed out, it's adjusted to trim out that little bit of right hand pull you sometimes feel on the steering wheel.  With hydraulic steering you may never even feel it if it is there. 

Many times they are just back there riding along, doing nothing if the motor has been lifted to optimal height. 

It will not trim out the steering torque you get when the motor is not up on full plane and motor trimmed out to optimal.  There is more hull drag than a full rudder back there can get rid of.

I can't visualize what you are talking about?

The torque tab is above the prop on the cavitation plate with 1 adjustment bolt. The skeg is below the prop and part of the lower unit, no bolts hold it on unless the skeg was broken off and replaced with a bolt on unit.

Tom

15 minutes ago, WRB said:

I can't visualize what you are talking about?

The torque tab is above the prop on the cavitation plate with 1 adjustment bolt. The skeg is below the prop and part of the lower unit, no bolts hold it on unless the skeg was broken off and replaced with a bolt on unit.

Tom

Pretty sure he's talking about something like this.  http://thmarine.com/torque-tab#

 

You'll be fine to run it without the aftermarket tab. You might feel a little more torque in your steering when you're running at speed, but it's not going to be enough to wear out your steering. Most boats don't run these, and if it caused that much wear running without them, people would be replacing steering helms on a monthly basis. 

I would doubt it's the TH Marine.  About the only time those are used is when running a nose cone with low water pickup on a surfacing prop like a chopper.  With that setup, the factory trim tab is completely out of the water and doing nothing. 

After reading his description of the problem again, might have been.  If so, it's was probably totally not needed. If it was, he probably has some serious setup issues causing the problem.

I have one lower unit set up like that but I've never had but one bass boat setup to run it.  That was a 700 pound, 17' that was running almost 90mph.

Actually ran the boat today and couldn't tell a difference.  I felt a little bit more resistance turning left but that could have just been my mind playing tricks.

 

The link above is exactly what was on there when I purchased this boat and I'm not going to worry about putting it back on.  

 

The tab didn't stop me from getting in a hour of fishing before futzing around the property and catching 4 bass and thats all that matters.

 

Thanks for the replies all, I really appreciate it.  I'm closing the computer and going fishing right now.

7 hours ago, WIGuide said:

Pretty sure he's talking about something like this.  http://thmarine.com/torque-tab#

 

You'll be fine to run it without the aftermarket tab. You might feel a little more torque in your steering when you're running at speed, but it's not going to be enough to wear out your steering. Most boats don't run these, and if it caused that much wear running without them, people would be replacing steering helms on a monthly basis. 

Didn't think of that type of tab. 

If he has a hydraulic lift Jack plate and run at speeds that lift the engine higher than the planing plate the upper water intakes must be plugged tp prevent sucking in air, that's a highly modified set up for a bass boat.

Tom