Transducer placement

You know the drill..

Moderators: Redneck_Randy, badmoonrising, lakerunner

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
wijames
Posts: 210
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:17 am
Location: Leesburg, FL
Contact:

Transducer placement

#1 Post by wijames » Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:20 am

I just bought a new Tracker Bass Buggy 16 and want to run two Fish finders but there's a mounting plate on only one pontoon and I understand that two transducers will interfere with each other if mounted together. Has anyone tried mounting a transducer on the engine pod? Possible other options? By the way, I didn't buy a trailer so it would be a lot of trouble to have another bracket welded on the other toon.
Capt. Butch James - "Water and sunshine are the cures for all problems"

2015 Tracker Bass Buggy 16 w/ 40 hp Mercury four stroke

(old) 2000 Sylvan 20' Tritoon
(old) 1993 Tracker 30' Party Hut
(Old) 2011 Tracker Baby Bass Buggy 18

User avatar
Bamby
Posts: 1409
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 7:30 am
Location: Near Wheeling W.V.

Re: Transducer placement

#2 Post by Bamby » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:01 pm

wijames wrote:I just bought a new Tracker Bass Buggy 16 and want to run two Fish finders but there's a mounting plate on only one pontoon and I understand that two transducers will interfere with each other if mounted together. Has anyone tried mounting a transducer on the engine pod? Possible other options? By the way, I didn't buy a trailer so it would be a lot of trouble to have another bracket welded on the other toon.
Why would you wont to shoot the same fish twice? How about something to this order and maybe put one on the front of the boat.

Transducer Mount Assembly for Bow of Boats and Pontoons
Respect Our Recreational Resources
Leaving Only "The Footprints of Your Passing"

Boating the Muskingum River
1972 35' Crest Pontoon Houseboat
2007 90 hp. Yamaha

User avatar
wijames
Posts: 210
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:17 am
Location: Leesburg, FL
Contact:

Re: Transducer placement

#3 Post by wijames » Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:45 pm

Bamby wrote:
wijames wrote:I just bought a new Tracker Bass Buggy 16 and want to run two Fish finders but there's a mounting plate on only one pontoon and I understand that two transducers will interfere with each other if mounted together. Has anyone tried mounting a transducer on the engine pod? Possible other options? By the way, I didn't buy a trailer so it would be a lot of trouble to have another bracket welded on the other toon.
Why would you wont to shoot the same fish twice? How about something to this order and maybe put one on the front of the boat.

Transducer Mount Assembly for Bow of Boats and Pontoons
Thanks, I hadn't seen that one, it should work fine. One of my finders works great for shallow stuff and the other works better deeper.
Capt. Butch James - "Water and sunshine are the cures for all problems"

2015 Tracker Bass Buggy 16 w/ 40 hp Mercury four stroke

(old) 2000 Sylvan 20' Tritoon
(old) 1993 Tracker 30' Party Hut
(Old) 2011 Tracker Baby Bass Buggy 18

RcgTexas
Posts: 2656
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:37 am
Location: Texas

Re: Transducer placement

#4 Post by RcgTexas » Fri Jul 03, 2015 8:20 pm

I just bought one that will attach to the troll motor tube with a clamp. I'm not sure yet if I will be able to switch
back and fourth or have to swap the pugs at the sounder unit. I guess a new sounder screen up front would be nice! :roll:

Oh and my new I-pilot riptide will be in Monday ! yahoo whoopiiii! I am so looking forward to the anchor mode!
1995 beachcomber conversion to tritoon with Honda 135 ,

Link to rebuild [url=http://www.pontoonforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19016][Knot Normal][/url]

God Bless America

User avatar
mzodarg
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed May 27, 2015 1:07 am
Location: S.W. Oklahoma

Re: Transducer placement

#5 Post by mzodarg » Sat Jul 04, 2015 1:52 am

RcgTexas wrote:I just bought one that will attach to the troll motor tube with a clamp. I'm not sure yet if I will be able to switch
back and fourth or have to swap the pugs at the sounder unit. I guess a new sounder screen up front would be nice! :roll:

Oh and my new I-pilot riptide will be in Monday ! yahoo whoopiiii! I am so looking forward to the anchor mode!
You'll love the Ipilot. I had one on my bass boat (still have it, actually). I'm tempted to put it on the toon, even though it's only a 48" shaft. According to Minkota I will need 20" from the deck to water, I measured and it's 18".

The anchor feature is amazing.
[color=#0000FF]2015 Sun Tracker 22' DLX Fishn Barge-Schwintek power Bimini-Merc Eco Monitor
2015 Mercury 90hp (Simon Motorsports tuned )Command Thrust FourStroke[b] not worth the coin

[/color]

bivey79
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:46 am
Location: Huntsville, AL

Re: Transducer placement

#6 Post by bivey79 » Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:10 am

I mounted mine at the bottom of the bilge pump on the back of the pontoon.
Attachments
PART_1436461619780_20150701_193540.jpg
PART_1436461619780_20150701_193540.jpg (745.55 KiB) Viewed 9388 times
[color=#800000]2015 Sun Tracker Fishin Barge 20 DLX with Merc 90HP Command Thrust[/color]
[color=#FF0000]Keep calm and Toon on![/color]

RcgTexas
Posts: 2656
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:37 am
Location: Texas

Re: Transducer placement

#7 Post by RcgTexas » Thu Jul 09, 2015 1:45 pm

I mounted mine at the bottom of the bilge pump on the back of the pontoon.
That's a good idea!

Any problem with it at higher speeds?
1995 beachcomber conversion to tritoon with Honda 135 ,

Link to rebuild [url=http://www.pontoonforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19016][Knot Normal][/url]

God Bless America

bivey79
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:46 am
Location: Huntsville, AL

Re: Transducer placement

#8 Post by bivey79 » Thu Jul 09, 2015 1:56 pm

not sure yet.. Just mounted it this week, haven't put it in the water yet. stay tuned to the same bat channel for further updates..
[color=#800000]2015 Sun Tracker Fishin Barge 20 DLX with Merc 90HP Command Thrust[/color]
[color=#FF0000]Keep calm and Toon on![/color]

JBO
Posts: 128
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2014 9:19 pm
Location: Kansas

Re: Transducer placement

#9 Post by JBO » Thu Jul 09, 2015 2:13 pm

RcgTexas wrote:
I mounted mine at the bottom of the bilge pump on the back of the pontoon.
That's a good idea!

Any problem with it at higher speeds?
We have ours mounted similarly at the bottom of the pontoons. The only issue arises when you end up in very shallow water and you risk damage to it.
2017 Lowe SD224 w/ 150HP Mercury

User avatar
BobG
Posts: 1842
Joined: Mon May 14, 2012 6:24 am
Location: Gilpin County, CO

Re: Transducer placement

#10 Post by BobG » Fri Jul 10, 2015 7:25 am

Mine is mounted similarly. I found it sometimes has issues above 8.5 or 9 mph. Goes to zero depth.

I suspect it's from turbulence and/or air coming under the toon.
2012 Tahoe 24' Fish-n-Fun Tritoon, with Mercury 115 HP 4-Stroke
"Trine SS Cape" (Trying 2S Cape)
Add a battery: viewtopic.php?t=13546&p=105893#p105893
I'm not a liberal, but I play one on this site.

RcgTexas
Posts: 2656
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:37 am
Location: Texas

Re: Transducer placement

#11 Post by RcgTexas » Fri Jul 10, 2015 8:47 am

Yep! that's my problem as well. it will go to 1 foot at 16 mph. I also thinkits because of "bad" water coming from under the log.

I wonder if I put it on the center log right in front of the motor mount and just stuck it to the 1/8 aluminum plate that is the bottom of the center log ? That would take a special transducer though wouldn't it?
1995 beachcomber conversion to tritoon with Honda 135 ,

Link to rebuild [url=http://www.pontoonforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19016][Knot Normal][/url]

God Bless America

bivey79
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:46 am
Location: Huntsville, AL

Re: Transducer placement

#12 Post by bivey79 » Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:00 am

what brand/model unit are y'all running? Also, how close is the transom to the motor? My instructions (de-structions) said to mount the transducer no less than 2ft from the motor. I have the Humminbird Helix 5 DI GPS. I will find out if mine works this weekend or not..

Also, just curious as to why you want to know a depth when making waves at speeds 8mph and above? :donno
[color=#800000]2015 Sun Tracker Fishin Barge 20 DLX with Merc 90HP Command Thrust[/color]
[color=#FF0000]Keep calm and Toon on![/color]

User avatar
BobG
Posts: 1842
Joined: Mon May 14, 2012 6:24 am
Location: Gilpin County, CO

Re: Transducer placement

#13 Post by BobG » Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:04 am

bivey79 wrote:what brand/model unit are y'all running? I have the Humminbird Helix 5 DI GPS. I will find out if mine works this weekend or not..
Also, just curious as to why you want to know a depth when making waves at speeds 8mph and above? :donno
I have a Humminbird 385ci. Great little unit. Seriously? I want to know the water depth no matter WHAT speed I'm running. Also, because I'm using my unit to do 3-d mapping of the bottom, the faster I can gather my data, the better. I can't collect data above 3,000 rpm. :(
2012 Tahoe 24' Fish-n-Fun Tritoon, with Mercury 115 HP 4-Stroke
"Trine SS Cape" (Trying 2S Cape)
Add a battery: viewtopic.php?t=13546&p=105893#p105893
I'm not a liberal, but I play one on this site.

RcgTexas
Posts: 2656
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:37 am
Location: Texas

Re: Transducer placement

#14 Post by RcgTexas » Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:50 am

bivey79 wrote:what brand/model unit are y'all running? Also, how close is the transom to the motor? My instructions (de-structions) said to mount the transducer no less than 2ft from the motor. I have the Humminbird Helix 5 DI GPS. I will find out if mine works this weekend or not..

Also, just curious as to why you want to know a depth when making waves at speeds 8mph and above? :donno

I have a hummingbird 899 HD DI SI GPS combo

My boat will do 33 mph, if the water gets skinny and I am in an unfamiliar place a bottom pic could save a prop job or a lower unit. Now I don't run fast in an unfamiliar place much but I also don't like surprises. Even at 22 I want to know the bottom and what its made of. If you are running along in deeper water and it starts to shallow up a bit, if one knows it, you can react and slow and trim up.

Ideally, a sounder that projected depth at a hundred feet ahead would be nice! :wink:

I have a transducer on my troll motor for slow speeds while fishing
1995 beachcomber conversion to tritoon with Honda 135 ,

Link to rebuild [url=http://www.pontoonforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19016][Knot Normal][/url]

God Bless America

bivey79
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:46 am
Location: Huntsville, AL

Re: Transducer placement

#15 Post by bivey79 » Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:59 am

RcgTexas wrote: Ideally, a sounder that projected depth at a hundred feet ahead would be nice! :wink:
I like your thinking..
[color=#800000]2015 Sun Tracker Fishin Barge 20 DLX with Merc 90HP Command Thrust[/color]
[color=#FF0000]Keep calm and Toon on![/color]

Post Reply