Where to place 2nd fish finder?

[Warmouth]

I am buying a boat with a depth finder mounted inside the windshield infront of the drivers seat, but I'd like to mount another on the front deck. Where have you mounted the transducer to accomplish this?



Thanks.

[BornBad]

Now I have been thinking about the same thing. What I have been told is to place it on the bottom of the trolling motor.

[ackermannsacre]

Most mount them to the underside of the trolling motor, but some like to mount it on the transom along side the other one for some reason. The closer they are together the more chances for the sonar signals to interfere with one another if you would like to run both units at the same time.

[Big John]

Dave when I baught my Starcraft it had 2 depth/fish finders on it, 1 where yours is and the other was mounted on the rear of the boat. The one that was mounted in the cockpit had the transducer mounted just to the thru the hull right of the keel there was a box tig welded to the hull and the transducer was sealed in it. I like the one on the rear for trolling and it was mounted right to the transom.

[Warmouth]

I had thought about puting the transducer inside the bottom of the hull right under the front deck seat, but the t-motor idea is interesting. Thanks fella's I'll look into it some more, and decide after some serious meditation on the subject.

[bullitt]

You can get a transducer made for mounting to the TM. all you need is a big hose clamp. I like to put a rubber pad between the trans and the TM housing. I don't know if it helps isolate the signal or not, but I feel better. I strap the wiring to the TM shaft with cable ties.
Good luck!

[Big John]

Bullitt how much does the wash from the prop do you get with the transducer mounted there?

[bullitt]

The prop is on the rear of the housing, so prop wash is not a factor. There is the possibility of interference from the TM or another sonar unit screwing up the signal. Scott at the Marine Electronics center in Springfield helped get rid of that minor irritation. I would like to sit down with one of Lowrance's design engineers and give him my "wish list" of features.

[Triton X2]

Attach it to the trolling motor head...You wont get any interference, but make sure you use plastic ties for the cable and a big hose clamp to put it on the trolling motor head and you wont have any trouble...By putting it on the trolling motor head you can adjust it to make sure it is pointing the right direction under the boat and such...

[coyotewhacker]

Most marine dealers carry the kit to mount your transducer to the underside of the trolling motor power head. Cost is usually about ten bucks more or less. They are brand specific, because of the way different pucks mount, but once the puck is attached to the mount, they all clamp to the motor housing with a stainless steel clamp. You can use nylon ties to hold the cable to your trolling motor down tube, or if you prefer, plastic electric tape does a good job. Just make sure you have some slack at the upper end to allow for r-a-i-s-ing and lowering your trolling motor. In most cases, if you adjust the cable slack with the motor in the transport position it will then have enough slack to swing into the down position. There may be "issues" with your motor trying to lock down on the cable, but those are easily fixed. Good luck. Oh yeah, one more thing....most guys mount the transducer BEHIND the trolling motor skeg to protect it from being hit by "stuff"....i.e. between the skeg and the t/m prop. If you keep the power head at least a foot or more under the surface, you won't have any cavitation bubble interference.

[Warmouth]

Thanks fella's.

I now have a fully liscenced and registered '92 Aries with 90hp Evenrude. It is a step up from the 16' Lowe john boat and 9.9 Johnson that I've been using for 3yrs. Lady Angler and I fish 3-4 times a week from March-June, and again Sept-Oct. Now we can strech that into the summer and not be run off so easily by the pleasure boaters.

I plan on fishing Smithville, MO river, and Jackson Co lakes, along with weekend trips to Truman.

I will figger something out with the 2nd fishfinder this weekend. My folks were more into canoeing streams and small lakes so I don't have a ton of "bass boat" experience. It's looking good so far though.

[coyotewhacker]

Cabela's out on west 435 will have everything you need to put your project together. The guys in the boat and sonar area can point you to the right stuff. Make sure you can tell them what brand of transducer/fish finder you have so you don't have to go back. My canoe doesn't have a fishfinder (yet), but it does have a 3.5 hp outboard on back and a 30lb thrust electric motor on a special small boat MinnKota bow mount that Cabela's carries. It also has a set of Cabela's outrigger pontoons so I can stand up in it without tipping the canoe over while bowfishing. Pretty slick little rig for those times when I don't want or need to hook up the big bass boat. For regular floating, the pontoons come off with the removal of one pin per side.

[Warmouth]

I had my set-up on the water all weekend. Boated some crappie, and the wife and I each caught a short walleye.

Thanks for the tips fella's it worked great and now LA is hapy to have her own fish finder at the back of the boat.

CW- that canoe sounds great. I've never had much trouble being stable in one when sober.

[BornBad]