DIY rod holders for gunnel track systems

OK so I have a Tracker with the versa track system. Its a great idea except that Tracker wants an ungodly amount for their rod holders and other accessories and they are **** near impossible to find. The rod holders are in the neighborhood of 50 bucks a piece. Well my inner redneck kicked in and I thought " I can make that... Here watch this" lol. So I stole one of the wifeys cutting boards and cut it into strips with my hacksaw that were wide enough to fit some of the rod holder bases I already had. I then took a grinder and rounded all the edges just to make it look nice and smooth. I then mounted the rod holder bases to the cutting board strip with some 3/4 inch stainless screws. I drilled two 1/4 inch holes in the board and used some 1/4 inch by 1 inch bolts with wing nuts to secure them to the versa track system. Now I have 4 rod holders that can be moved to any place on the gunnels of my boat. I had the rod holders on hand but if you had to buy them, Bass Pro sells them in a two pack for I think 1999 but I bought them when they were on sale for 9.99 and already had them on hand. The cutting board should be cheap and it might be better than stealing your wifes, but... Ill leave that to your discretion. All the bolts and screws cost me like 4 and a half bucks at the Home Depot, so I got four holders for 4.50 thats a savings of 195.50 and less than an hours work.

Looks good and very functional. Seems like you could have also just drilled a hole on each side of the black part and eliminated the white cutting board part completely. No need to change it now though.
Tim

Actually I didnt think about that. I actually have a few more rod holder bases, ill try that way with one, it may work better. ill let you know lol

Nice job!
Did something similar using an aluminum backing plate behind the base.
I like the idea that you made them easy to move, I need to remember that if I need other brackets!

I have the same rod holders from Bass Pro. I don't have them installed on my boat but was just gonna screw them on as I don't have any sort of track system on my Alumacraft. I wonder what I can come up with for a track system or a way I can move them around now. I suppose I could just buy extra bases and put them in different spots. But that's not very innovative.

Boy, it is timely that you, and Dale H, both posted a thread about using or buying rail systems. Take a look at Dale's posting today. He listed a source, and I listed another Amazon source for similar (but not as good) rails.

What a great site. Everyone sharing and helping. Earl, good Idea to eliminate the cutting board backing, even though I use WalMart cutting boards for lots of projects around here.

richg99

p.s. Dale H's LINK... https://www.amazon.com/Orange-Aluminum-OA7150-48-T-track/dp/B00VS25W66/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458920213&sr=8-2&keywords=t-track+aluminum