I show how I mounted a trolling motor to the bow on my 1987 MONTAUK in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
I could not through-bolt the trolling motor mount to the deck. Instead, I made a plate out of High Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) that is 1/2-inch thick and cut in a shape that matches the Starboard corner of my 1987 Montauk.
The HPDE plate is through-bolted using the lip under the rub rail to hold 2-inch-long sections of 7/16-inch OD round aluminum rod drilled to accept a 1/4-inch bolt. The rod spreads the load over a larger area, and that part of the boat is quite strong. I used four bolts spaced evenly.
The trolling motor is attached to the custom made HDPE plate using four machine screws and four stainless steel T-nuts. I also used two stainless steel wood screws. I drilled a pilot hole for the two middle screws that were in the area of the embedded plywood backing that Boston Whaler inserts into the bow gunwale corners.
The 9-inch shuttle slide I am using allows the whole trolling motor to retract inside of the rub rail. You can see the different positions in Figures 1 and 3.
I highly recommend the shuttle slide trolling motor mount. It allows you to retract the trolling motor so that it retracts behind the rub rail to avoid damage when docking, but allows you to slide the trolling motor forward to deploy.
To run the Motorguide Xi3 Pinpoint GPS 24-Volt 60-inch-shaft trolling motor I bought two 12-Volt 100-Ampere-hour LiFePO4 batteries; each weighs 25-lbs. It's the best addition to my boat I have made. The anchor mode is very helpful for bottom fishing.
1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated
Re: 1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated
Thanks to MARKCZ for the illustrations showing his approach to mounting a trolling motor on the bow of a Boston Whaler boat. The use of the round sections to fit into the groove on the underside of the gunwales is very clever.
Re: 1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated
This is a very interesting set up. I love the quick slide mount and the ability to preserve the rail. Thank you for sharing. To hear that you're happy with the results makes me glad.
Q1: how did you decide on drilling four holes and using four bolts?
Q2: why not three holes and three bolts or five holes and five bolts?
I love the idea of a bow mounted trolling motor like this, but I hate the idea of putting holes in the hull.
Q3: what made you feel comfortable drilling holes in the hull?
Q4: is there anything that you would change or do differently?
Q1: how did you decide on drilling four holes and using four bolts?
Q2: why not three holes and three bolts or five holes and five bolts?
I love the idea of a bow mounted trolling motor like this, but I hate the idea of putting holes in the hull.
Q3: what made you feel comfortable drilling holes in the hull?
Q4: is there anything that you would change or do differently?
Re: 1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated
I probably could have used only three bolts.ThePetrel wrote:Q2: why not three holes and three bolts...?
Drilling the first hole is the most painful.ThePetrel wrote:Q3: what made you feel comfortable drilling holes in the hull?
Were I to do this again I would use G10 [fiberglass laminate board] as the plate.ThePetrel wrote:Q4: is there anything that you would change or do differently?
Re: 1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated
The term "G10" seems to be associated with all sorts of laminated material and epoxy produced in sheets of varying thickness.MarkCz wrote:Were I to do this again I would use G10 [fiberglass laminate board] as the plate.
Did you have a particular type of G10 sheet and a particular vendor in mind?
The price for G10 in certain sizes and materials seems quite expensive.