Tranducer mount ideas

Anybody have any ideas or pics of transducer mounts for Jon boats. I know they make mounts called skully mounts I want to make my own thanks folks

You can mount the TD on a TM if you going to have one, or drill some holes on the transom, use 5200 or marine goop to seal the holes from leaks. Lots of people mount some blocks of plastic cutting board material with screws/5200 and then mount the TD bracket to the cutting board material as the 1st location is not always the best if you are after the best HU picture/returns possible. 1/8" can make a considerable difference in the performance of the DF.

I mounted mine using a piece of cutting board from Wally World. Keep it away from any strakes on the bottom of your boat to avoid turbulance interfering while you're running.

I did the same thing gillhunter did. I used a 3/4" cutting board, drilled 2 holes and used a lot of 5200 sealer. works great.

Same question: I just removed the P/O's old FF ... he mounted the TD directly behind
the bottom strake and 1" too low.... He was a tournament fisherman and I guess this
setup was good for trolling but really messy under power. Now I have a new Humminbird Helix.

So, how much of the nylon cutting board is too much ?
how much is not enough ?

I have some 1/8", 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4" nylon material.

Johnny, Mines 8" x 4" x 1/2" I sealed it with 3M Marine Silicone. It's been my experience that the transducer placement on these HD units can be really fussy. I had to adjust the height on my a couple of times.

Not to Hi-Jack JBO's thread, but, hopefully to lend more accurate
information and be helpful to all of us that have never used a FF before.

Here is what I did in a rush - Haste Makes Waste - as the saying goes.
Now I see that the TD is not flush with the bottom. . . should it be ??
I mounted it in accordance with the Humminbird instruction manual . . .
Boat was level fore and aft and from port to starboard . . .
then, the TD was level on the bottom....
and from the photos I just took, I see that the TD is nowhere flush with the bottom.

this week, I want to do it over with the nylon material like everyone suggests.
Is there a "sweet spot" by mounting the TD away from the transom with the nylon board ??????
And the question again. what would be suggested thickness of the nylon material be and
what purpose does it serve other than getting the TD away from the metal hull.

I'll try my best here :LOL2: This is all based on my personal experience. The wood on the transom on every aluminum boat that I have owned did not go clear to the bottom of the boat. On my current boat it ends about 1-1/2" above the bottom. So when you mount a transducer you are screwing through just the thickness of your hull not into the wood in the transom. I have done that on several boats. Seal the screws with silicone and you are good to go. Went I upgraded to my current unit, a Humminbird 597 ci HD, I read that the HD units were fussy about having "clean" water around the transducer. My hull is riveted and has strakes. So my placement was determined by my hull design, and trying to avoid the rivets and strakes. By mounting the transducer on a board, the screws from the transducer mount don't go in the the hull, just the board. The board also gives me the ability to move the mount, at least a couple of inches without drilling more holes through the hull. In my opinion your transducer is too high. Try lowering it so it is parallel to the bottom of the hull. Thats were I started with mine, and I had to adjust it lower to get it to read correctly. Again I used a 1/2" board, 3/4" should be fine. It just needs to be thick enough so the screws on the tranducer mount get a good bite without going into the hull.

How thick of plastic to use is a personal choice, you just need enough plastic board there to securely attach the TD to the plastic board, where it's 1/2 or 3/4", whatever works for you. If you have thin board (1/4"), you could always double the board to make it thick enough. You just need to secure the board to the hull with 2-4 screws thru the hull, then use the flat surface to fine tune the TD placement and not have but X number of holes thru the hull.

I found some 3/4" thick by 6-9" long pieces of the stuff at Gander Mtn last year for about $10/ea.

I still haven't figured out why people are so scared to drill a hole in a boat?!?!? lol Just kidding.

I just drilled mine to the transom. You can see it to the far right of this pic. So far so good. If it starts to leak, I'll just re-silicon it.

Don't laugh, it works!
If I were to replace it, I would do what others are suggesting and use the cutting board, that way you mount it once and can drill multiple holes in just the board, if needed, to mount different transducers.

Don't you guys who mount on the port side of motor experience a lot of interference from prop wash / turbulence?

Unless counter-rotating prop all manufacturer recommendations I've seen suggest starboard mount at least a few inches outside the prop diameter and away from strakes. etc.

Mounted mine by making a mount from a small piece of 1/8" 5051 aluminum. Attached the transducer bracket to the mount with flat head SS machine screws and "glued" the whole assembly to the transom with 3M 4200 UV. Four years now and still solid as a rock. I did tie the cable down as it crosses the transom so, if there is a failure, I won't have the "bolo" effect.

Yeah I don't understand all the port side mounts either.

Had one of my boats, made a piece of angle aluminum that was bolted to the jack plate, then it ran down about 8", then the 'ducer mounted to the angle. Never moved. As said, had to mess with the height and placement of the 'ducer a little to make the 798ci work correctly under way. Sold the entire rig, current boat has no electronics.

It's a little pricey but here is what I used on the panga. No drilling holes in the boat.
https://www.sternsaver.com/

LoL Pricey ?? that is down right OUTRAGEOUS !!!

I picked up 3 nylon cutting boards at my flea market for $5.00 each.
3/4" x 20" x 36" from a second-hand restaurant supply business.
I guess I can cut them on the table saw, rout the edges and make a killing.
LoL not really. But there are so many alternatives instead of that.
Just takes some cutting and routing skills (and tools).

Jus my dos centavos

My .02...

Mine I couldn't drill into the hull because the lake I fish is a little different...It's an electric only lake, but it's also hand-launch only, so I have to drop the back off onto the rocky bank. I'd destroy the transducer every trip if I permanently mounted it. So what's a guy to do? The boat, when I bought it, the guy threw in 2 old trolling motors, one of them only ran on the highest setting. So I cut the head and motor off, and used just the mount and tube, and mounted the transducer to it. Then, I can just set the transducer in the boat when I launch, then when I get it in the water, pop the mount on and lower the transducer.

wow Mile - great idea !!
I am faced with the same situation with the 1236 Jon I am building for my wife. Exact same thing.
Jus a couple of weeks ago, my neighbor threw away and old trolling motor in the trash .....
I looked at it and said ... naaahhhhh ... very old, very small - - - good for nothing.. LOL
and now... I NEED IT !! LOL

am sure I can come up with some kind of easily adjustable bracket that you have. GOOD JOB !!

Here is mine for the LSS. It's not a high speed ducer so even with or slightly above bottom of hull is all it needs. Good thing because the trailer bunks hit right where the ducers go. The skimmer will need a different system. I am going to try the spring back mount from transducer saver. I will update with pics on that when it arrives.