Can I do this/ will it work

[Greenjello]

at what speed should I have the trolling motor up? Here is my situtation. I will be mounting my fish finder transducer on my bow mounted trolling motor, if I am only going only going about 5 or 6mph am I ok with leaving the trolling motor in to look for formations. I have a 15.5ft bass boat and there really isn't any good spots to mount the transducer on the transom. If I mounted on a flat(level) spot it is less than a foot from the outboard(which the directions say is not good) other spots will have the transducer at an angle.

SO what I was hoping for is being able to deply the trolling motor to get the transducer in the water. I only have a 25hp outboard so I am not a powerhouse anyway but I don't want to damage anything.

Thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

idle speed, if not you take a real chance at bending the shaft.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

I would try to mount the transducer seperate from the troling motor, on the side of the hull. Or try to rig it flat on the back corner of the transom.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

Five or six MPH will indeed bend the shaft and probably break the mount. I've not seen a boat yet that you couldn't find a spot on the transom for a transducer. You could also remove the transducer from the motor and mount it to the inside of the hull (shoot through technique). You need to ensure no air bubbles are trapped in the epoxy however.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

Don't do it ... 5mph is too fast and will bend the shaft or pull your screws from the deck. And if it doesn't, then before you know it you will hit the gas before pulling up the trolling motor, making a real mess of things. Find another place for the transducer.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

Agree, don't do it. Besides all the other reasons, you'll really miss being able to use your fish finder while tooling around the lake, either looking for fish or for knowing the depth in unfamiliar areas. There's got to be some way to mount the transducer on your transom - maybe a few folks can post photos of their mount so you can get some ideas.

 

[marquette]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

you mount the transducer facing straight down not following the angle of your hull. unless your boat is less than 36in wide you should have a place on the transom where you can mount the transom facing down even if the mounting bracket is not parallel with the hull line. make sure you mount it so it doesn't hit your bunks when the boat is on the trailer if they stick out behind the boat. if you need to get really close to the edge you can use either a piece of wood cut to follow the hull line or better yet a transducer mounting plate cut to fit. if you mount it on the trolling motor everytime you turn the motor on or off, or run your main motor the shaft and mounts will flex and the angle of transducer will shift and depending on the depth water you are in it can change your depth reading a little or a lot.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

Don't do it ... 5mph is too fast and will bend the shaft or pull your screws from the deck. And if it doesn't, then before you know it you will hit the gas before pulling up the trolling motor, making a real mess of things. Find another place for the transducer.

I second that. Not only could it cause a problem when even driving that slow you could accidently hit something with the trolling motor (be it a stump or something, floating log) and really do a number on it.

I alway raise the trolling motor, now I have seen them left down by accident, and it didn't do any damage but they got lucky.

 

[Greenjello]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

thanks for the information, I was under the assumption that the transducer needed to be parallel with the bottom of the boat I will see if I can find a spot alittle further away from the motor to mount the transducer, it almost seems either way that mounting to the trolling motor isn't as good, I didn't realize the shaft flexed so much

 

[Hashi]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

Why don't you get one of these and you won't have to worry about angles and drilling holes in the hull.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_387____SearchResults

 

[steelespike]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

I seriously doubt it will bend though dragging the prop through the water will reall add some drag.Also wonder how well the transducer will work with the turbulance and vibration created. You really need to get it mounted elsewhere.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Can I do this/ will it work

I have been known to leave mine down to add some drag to slow me down for trolling. I have also been in bass boats where we forgot to pull it up before making a run. The thing is, on a bass boat, while you are popping up out of the hole, the bow is up in the air, so you are up to 15 mph or more before the trolling motor reaches the water. Do you know how much water a trolling motor will deposit in the boat?