Trolling motor mounting location

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user 7806

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Just purchased a foot control MotorGuide trolling motor off craigslist. Now I am trying to decide where and how to mount it. The old clamp on was just off center to the left, the mount for it is still there for now. The new motor would be in the way of the seat mounted there so my thought was to move to over to the port side.

Mocked up the position to see what it would look like.
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Another view
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Motor retracted to storage position
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Anybody see any issues with the location?

Right now it's sitting on 2 2x6 & a 2x4 for a height of 5" which is about 3/4" below the bow rail. It appears that all will clear. Not sure that I want to use a solid piece of wood by gluing the 3 2x6's together and screwing it to the floor.

I am thinking about building a frame out of aluminum angle riveted to the floor. Cover the top with a piece of 1/2 or 3/4" plywood with either plywood or aluminum sheeting, then carpet it to match what's there. I would then have a place to mount a plug so I wouldn't have wires running all over the place up front.

Anybody see any fault with my plans?
 
I recently rented a boat on my trip to Table Rock one thing i noticed about the trolling motor is that when i would step on the button to go even at the slowest speed the TM would slightly lift up like it was trying to come out of the water. It also made for alot of noise when it would sit back down, surprised i caught any fish. To me it seemed like it was not mounted so well to the boat itself was my guess and had room to wobble. So on that note i would make sure that sucker is mounted down solid.
 
Trapper02 said:
I recently rented a boat on my trip to Table Rock one thing i noticed about the trolling motor is that when i would step on the button to go even at the slowest speed the TM would slightly lift up like it was trying to come out of the water. It also made for alot of noise when it would sit back down, surprised i caught any fish. To me it seemed like it was not mounted so well to the boat itself was my guess and had room to wobble. So on that note i would make sure that sucker is mounted down solid.
sounds like the rubber bushings inside that trolling motor mount were shot. my powerdrive was like that even though it was bolted down solidly, until i replaced the pivot pins and rubber mounting pads. now it is solid.
 
I finally decided on the location and how I wanted to mount the trolling motor. It will be mounted on a piece of 5/8" plywood which will be sitting on an aluminum frame made of aluminum angle.

I cut some angle and mocked up the mounting pedestal to see if everything clears
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Rear view with the plywood in place.
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We riveted the base together
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Added some cross bracing on the front and the back. The front is at an angle, the 2 front legs didn't match up so they could be crossed braced so we replaced the outside angle with 1" square tubing so we were then able to cross brace it.

The support base will be tied to the gunwale for support when it's finished. I'm planning on using the space under the mount for small parts storage.
 

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Worked on the TM mount frame some more today. Got it all either riveted or bolted together including the braces to the gunwale. Covered the outside with sheet aluminum and got it primed and painted except for the inside.

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Rear view, was going to close the back in so you couldn't get between the back and the boat wall but decided that I might want to put something in there so I left it open.

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Started out this morning painting the inside of the mounting box tan to match the seat riser. Carpeted the mounting board and mounted the TM mount to it. I did discover one thing that I would do different if was doing it again. The 2 outside bolts on the TM mount go through the outside angle. The ones on the other side just go through the plywood. Then in the middle of the bracket there are 2 more bolts that actually hold the plywood to the frame. I glued bolts in. This didn't work well as the heads are under the carpet. If I was to do it over I would use blind nuts

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Rear view
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With TM mounted on it
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Worm's eye view
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The next thing is to put it in the water and see how well it all does, plus I now get to learn how to drive with my foot. :lol:
 
jimmyeking said:
Ahha Thanks Gramps now I know how to build a mount to put my electric on. Looks good


Jimmy, thanks and I hope your project goes well.
 

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