Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

My new-to-me has the fish locator transducer bracket screwed to the little rib under the float. I don't think the lowest spot on the boat is ideal. I tired searching here for a solution and I found plenty of mentions about transducers bending, dragging, etc but no luck finding a fix.

The manual says to mount it in a non-turbulent location. Does such a place even exist on the rear of a pontoon?

No bracket:

guy48065 wrote:My new-to-me has the fish locator transducer bracket screwed to the little rib under the float. I don't think the lowest spot on the boat is ideal. I tired searching here for a solution and I found plenty of mentions about transducers bending, dragging, etc but no luck finding a fix.

The manual says to mount it in a non-turbulent location. Does such a place even exist on the rear of a pontoon?

No bracket:

the rear of my starboard side toon has a square aluminum piece mounted off of it. like this one.



i haven't had any issues with it. I'm assuming that having something like that welded onto yours wouldn't be too tough. Plus you can mount a live-well pump inside the bracket.

But if you read this article: http://www.louisianasportsman.com/details.php?id=1536

it has an interesting idea of making a custom mount.

Interesting article. According to him mounting the transducer anywhere behind the body of the tube guarantees there will be too much turbulence at any speed above idle. If true then mine is mounted in a pretty good location--for sonar function but not for lifespan

I don't know if I should be concerned the transducer will hit bottom some day.

Mine does work good and shows depth, contour, and speed at all speeds--although I imagine the speed comes from the GPS rather than the transducer. Not much good for locating fish at 20mph but I have no gauges at all and rely on the locator for speed.

guy48065 wrote:... Does such a place even exist on the rear of a pontoon?

No bracket:

My 28' Party Hut Tracker's bracket is on the port side long which leave the transducer's cable short to the FF. I fabricated a bracket with 1/8" thick aluminum flat bar, bent it and made a bracket to accommodate the transducer and wheel speed sensor. I used JB weld to attach the bracket to the starboard log. Worked great w/o any issues.

guy48065 wrote:Interesting article. According to him mounting the transducer anywhere behind the body of the tube guarantees there will be too much turbulence at any speed above idle. If true then mine is mounted in a pretty good location--for sonar function but not for lifespan

I don't know if I should be concerned the transducer will hit bottom some day.

Mine does work good and shows depth, contour, and speed at all speeds--although I imagine the speed comes from the GPS rather than the transducer. Not much good for locating fish at 20mph but I have no gauges at all and rely on the locator for speed.

ehh - i think he overstates it. They do make removable mounts that kind of "wrench" onto your deck and go down into the water. But I wouldn't trust them underway.

I wouldn't be concerned about it hitting bottom. If it hits while you're underway, your engine and toon will have hit too (unless it's just a rouge object). Repairing those is much more expensive than replacing a transducer. Just watch it when you're beached that you're not getting too shallow.

Just watch it when you're beached that you're not getting too shallow.

Well by definition...

Seems that's the way all the manufactures do it. Way mine came with the stock transducer on the stock Garmin 99. I got a Huminbird and added it putting the transducer on the transom. Works very very good there up to about 35MPH

I'm liking the idea to try JB Weld the bracket to the back of the log.

Unless...

Anybody every use those aluminum welding rods that only need a propane torch to weld?

guy48065 wrote:

Just watch it when you're beached that you're not getting too shallow.

Well by definition...

Haha touché

I just wish the water I boated on was as clear as the water in that first picture!

guy48065 wrote:I'm liking the idea to try JB Weld the bracket to the back of the log.

Unless...

Anybody every use those aluminum welding rods that only need a propane torch to weld?

Don't use them, If you need a bracket have one welded on. Those things look easy but they are not

lakerunner wrote:

guy48065 wrote:I'm liking the idea to try JB Weld the bracket to the back of the log.

Unless...

Anybody every use those aluminum welding rods that only need a propane torch to weld?

Don't use them, If you need a bracket have one welded on. Those things look easy but they are not

I completely, absolutely agree. Have an experienced welder put it on. I have a bracket for the transducer and it works even at higher speeds.

I saw this at a boat show. A place for everything. I read recently that you shouldn't mount the transducer on the port log due to turbulence from the prop.

Mount a bracket. Check.
Starboard tube. Check.
Lowest point. Check.

Any reason for using a large, deep bracket if I don't have a live well? Does spacing the transducer a few inches away from the tube smooth the washer flow over it?
I would think there might be a turbulent eddy right behind the tube...but I don't really know what's going on under the surface.