Transom 'pole' mount for transducer?

[Trackskinz]

Mounting a combo depthfinder/plotter, and despite what Humminbird says, the shoot-thu-the-hull is pretty terrible. I can make a pole mount and hang it over the back, also windvane rudder mount is an option. Thoughts/ideas?

[Jim Cate]

what is "terrible" about shooting through the hull? It has worked for many, including me!

Jim

[Allied39]

Yup, gotta agree with the shoot thru, works great for me too. Not using a humingbird transducer though. Airmar m260 , excellent unit.

[Trackskinz]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

what is "terrible" about shooting through the hull? It has worked for many, including me!

Jim

It lost all definition.

Here is what I did: I was going to use west system epoxy, so I mixed enough to make a puddle sufficient to mount the transducer and immersed it about 1/4" in the liquid epoxy with the unit turned on. Incorrect depth, maybe 5% definition. I have a hard time believing the reason was the epoxy being in a liquid state, but maybe. It worked ok with the ziplock bag of water trick.

BTW Allied 39 - we have the same boat.

[Reefmagnet]

1) Try a slightly different spot (with the water in the ziplock bag first)

2) Don't use epoxy. Polyurethane sealant works fine, and you'll be able to remove the transducer for upgrade one day
3) Mush the transducer into the puddle of goop. Even a small amount of trapped air bubbles will cause problems.

[Sparx]

Is that a cored hull? Best results are achieved by removing the core under the transducer so it is shooting through solid fiberglass.

[skipmac]

One caution, if you do try a pole mount make it very, very sturdy. I lost my depth sounder just before a trip down the ICW and got an old Hummingbird that I tried this with. I didn't want to rig a permanent pole mount since I was going to replace the thru-hull transducer to attached the Hummingbird transducer to a pole for temporary use, mainly when entering an anchorage.

Even at dead slow speed we could not hold the pole in the water at the transom to use the Hummingbird. Based on that experience I would think that at speed it would be difficult to rig a setup that would work or lastd.

[Secondshift]

We've used "shoot through hull" on a couple of boats. We made a temporary with a plastic container sealed to the hull filled with water. When the spot tested good we made a level platform on the bottom with epoxy and mounted to that.

Will not work with a cored hull.
Will not work well or at all with an air pocket.

Try another spot and let us know how it turns out.

We made a temporary once using a PVC pipe
with the sounder line running though it. Lots of fittings available to make a bracket and glues well. Use gray electrical conduit as it has UV inhibitors built in.

Good Luck,
Ed W

[Ramona]

Transducer mounted as far forward as possible and pointing slightly forward will be far better than a transom mount showing where you have been!

[P3sailor]

I've mounted a transducer to a length of 1X1 square aluminum tubing which, in turn, was adapted to slide down a short length of aircraft seat-track which I had permanently attached to the transom. The use of seat track allowed me to raise, lower, or remove the transducer whenever required. The stoutness of the seat-track allowed me to locate all attach points above the water line which worked out very well. This method also allows the operator to easily remove or replace the transducer. Worked well for me with no issues.