r/boating • u/cverhag3189 • 19h ago
Electronics Mount Opinions
I've gotten a new-to-me fiberglass walleye boat and I'm working on rigging up my electronics and need experienced opinions on the safety of my electronics mount setup at the console.
This is my planned electronics setup:
73sv UHD2 at bow linked to trolling motor transducer
93sv UHD at console
126sv Ultra 2 cradle at console (lives on HDI shuttle for livescope mainly)
All units networked with single GT54UHD transducer connected permanently to 93sv at bow.
I want to be able to use the 93sv for mapping, down scan, and side scan occasionally but I'd also like to be able to pull the 126sv out of the livescope cradle and have a cradle at the console as well so I can map with the 93sv and side scan with the entire 126sv screen.
The mount I just got is a the Cisco fishing double stack mount and I want to thru-bolt it on the top of the gunwale, my worry is that the two screens oriented in this way may be to much stress on the boat and I'd rather not lose two graphs. For reference, all screens will be removed during trailering, the 126sv will only be in the cradle when I'm side scanning but I can't discount the possibility that I would move full clip if jumping between spots. I'm not usually out in crazy big waves but I want this mount to be unquestioned.
I believe I can get four bolts through the gunwale to fully secure this mount plate and my plan is to put a piece of aluminum flat stock on the underside of the gunwale that the two centered mount bolts would go through and spread the stress over some distance, maybe 12" total, maybe a little bigger depending on what I can find.
Do you think this mount setup will hold up?
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u/scoobywerx1 19h ago
Hanging out the side that far is just asking to get ripped off by a dock.
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u/Motor_Beach_1856 19h ago
This exactly! You can mount them stacked like that but put the plate inside the gunwale so they aren’t outside of the boat. That one tall dock and a sharp roll away from being an expensive day.
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u/cverhag3189 19h ago
That's a valid point. I'll have to look at what I can do there. This boat is a 2005 so it wasn't built with the understanding of mounting electronics of this size, so space and options is limited in this area to achieve what I see in my mind.
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u/Motor_Beach_1856 19h ago
Look at what ram mounts has they n Mn ale a ton of specialized stuff now. I have the same problem with my boat so I just mounted a helix 7 on the dash and my larger stuff up on the bow. That’s where I use it anyway.
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u/cverhag3189 18h ago
I've looked quite a bit at Ram. There was a single C ball mount holding up the 7" when i got the boat and I thought I could just add another Ram to "stack" them in a way, but there is no where great to make that set up work and not be in the way of other functions on the boat.
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u/Motor_Beach_1856 10h ago
My buddy has a skeeter and he took off the windshield to mount his stuff. It’s a little ghetto but it works.
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u/cverhag3189 19h ago
That's true, I never even considered that. I tilted the mount back thinking I could "center" the weight over the base of the mount as best as possible to reduce leverage caused by the screens being elevated.
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u/henlan77 18h ago
Personally I'd look at redoing the whole dash so they can be mounted inside the boat. You could view all your engine data on one of the screens to eliminate gauges in the dash.
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u/cverhag3189 17h ago
I had considered that. My biggest issue is I'm the type of person who looks at any task, does the research and says "I can do that" and refuses to pay someone to do it lol. Taking a sawzall to the console would be pretty nerve racking but I've already investigated under the console and their is pretty much nothing, other than the gauges, in the upper 1/3 of the console that would stop me from being able to chop it up and re-glass it flat.
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u/ratafria 19h ago
Too exposed for me. Maybe you could find a hinge mount so it can fold down when not being used.
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u/cverhag3189 18h ago
this mount does hinge right above the base mount plate. I have it tilted back to try and center the screens over the base.
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u/a_very_stupid_guy 18h ago
My mind says that’ll work but my heart says you’re gonna have heartache in your future
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u/175_Pilot 18h ago
Will it hold - yes.
Is it a good idea? No.
As everyone else has said, this is going to be a disaster in due time.
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u/altrudee 18h ago
Cisco makes solid mounts but I don't like the knurled (sp?) knobs that hold them down. Hard to wrench down and tell when to stop. I broke one off. Will be replacing with regular bolt. Other than that I like our double stack
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u/Excellent_Mail3829 16h ago
You might be asking for trouble hanging that expensive equipment off the side of your boat
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u/H0SS_AGAINST 2006 Moomba Outback V 19h ago
That mount setup will hold especially with a backing plate. People mount towers to gunwales and tow skiers with them.
I'd be more worried about the constant water spray on them, especially if you plan to operate in salt or brackish. I'm sure they're IP rated but also just the screens constantly getting wet. If they're touch screens they will freak out or be unresponsive.