# Suggestions for new transducer mount



## Jiggin Jay (Jul 15, 2013)

I recently purchased the “stern saver” glue on mount for my boat so I don’t have to keep drilling holes in my stern. Well, yesterday I installed the mount and let it set for 24 hours as the directions say. Well I jus check on it and it has fallen off my boat, and is now glued to my garage floor... I’m dealing with the maker on this

Anyone have suggestions where I can take my boat to get my transducer (Lowrance totalscan) installed and set correctly? 

It seems nothing ever works as advertised anymore. 


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## Jiggin Jay (Jul 15, 2013)

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## scottymac (Jan 7, 2008)

Yep I would take your boat to Lockemans Hardware and boats. Great small family business and they do quality work. I am sure many on this site would agree. Schedule appointment early though they get swamped fast.


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## J Sibert (Feb 24, 2016)

That sucks jay but you have to admit a little funny - I mean comedy comes from pain right.

I installed my stern saver last year - I bought it at cabelas (recommended from this site) no problem. The kicker was that I also sank a couple screws thru the poly piece into the boat. 

I would say a few of the variables would be the type of adhesive you use, the curing temps you used it under and the additional screws. I’ll try and get you some pics and glue type I used when I get home from work. Hang in there.


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

What are the chances of it falling glue side down? About 85%.


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## Gradyfish (Jan 30, 2015)

Jay, I’ve done a few of these and like JS mentioned I used two screws and made the boards big enough to move and tune your transducer location. Being you already have holes from the last ducer you would only need one more at worst. I always seal them with 4200, not 5200, and this way they can be replaced years down the road if needed. I buy marine board and custom fit it for the application. I’ll attach some pics for reference. I usually lean to larger so I can move the ducer if needed to mark at speed. It is almost impossible to get the perfect location in the garage, usually takes some in water tuning. Unless you have an identical boat to copy or you just get lucky.


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## Jiggin Jay (Jul 15, 2013)

This stern saver mount in particular is specifically for not putting screws in your boat and it comes with their own adhesive which looks like a two-sided syringe where the two separate parts mix in the one at the tip. Bummer 


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## Jiggin Jay (Jul 15, 2013)

J Sibert said:


> That sucks jay but you have to admit a little funny - I mean comedy comes from pain right.
> 
> I installed my stern saver last year - I bought it at cabelas (recommended from this site) no problem. The kicker was that I also sank a couple screws thru the poly piece into the boat.
> 
> I would say a few of the variables would be the type of adhesive you use, the curing temps you used it under and the additional screws. I’ll try and get you some pics and glue type I used when I get home from work. Hang in there.


For sure. I was pissed for about 2 minutes, then kicked the mount to realize it was completely glued to the floor, then I just have to laugh and walk away


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## Jiggin Jay (Jul 15, 2013)

scottymac said:


> Yep I would take your boat to Lockemans Hardware and boats. Great small family business and they do quality work. I am sure many on this site would agree. Schedule appointment early though they get swamped fast.


I will give them a call I have seen their name mentioned many times on this site and down river walleye federation


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## J Sibert (Feb 24, 2016)

What’s the larger inside piece Grady?


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## Gradyfish (Jan 30, 2015)

Structure scan/ side imaging transducer.


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## wicklundrh (Mar 18, 2014)

The one that Grady has is the smaller type Starboard that most places sell today. You "used" to be able to purchase the larger Starboard from Cabela's but they stopped carrying it. 

I've done 7 boats this way so I'll try and explain it.
I purchase a large piece of Starboard (you can find it online). By large, I mean at least 12 inches wide and long enough to go from the bottom of your boat up to the top of the transom.

I put a verticle line with a pencil on the Transom. This is my measurement line. I put a line on the starboard. I measure off from the line to find all of my rivet market, old screw holes etc. I mark them on the board and then utilize a forsner bit to recess the starboard to sit overtop of any rivet or old bolts. I cut the starboard to the exact angle of the bottom of the boat but... It should be around an 1/8 of an inch above the bottom.

Old transom screws: Remove them, put on fresh marine grade silicone and put them back in. On the recess mark on your board, fill it with the same silcone. Whan you put the board on, it will go over all of those old bolt heads and seal it tight. Do this on any recess marks on the board. 

To attach the board, come within 1 inch of the top of the board and put a stanless screw 1 inch from the left, 1 inch from the right, and dead center. Make sure to recess the pocket on the inside of the board and the outside. Silicone both as you put them in the transom.

Come down to 1 inch above the waterline. Put a stanless bolt 1 inch from the left side and one from the right. Do the same as above.

You are done. Unlike the board above, this one does NOT have any screws below the water line. I don't have one drop of silicone or calk around the outside edge of my board. It isn't needed.


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## lastflight (Aug 16, 2005)

I have the Stern Saver on my boat and I am happy with it. The no-screw installation was very appealing to me on a new boat.

I used painters tape to hold the board in place while the epoxy set up.


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## Jiggin Jay (Jul 15, 2013)

lastflight said:


> I have the Stern Saver on my boat and I am happy with it. The no-screw installation was very appealing to me on a new boat.
> 
> I used painters tape to hold the board in place while the epoxy set up.


Wish I would have used tape to hold it. But I just followed the directions verbatim...


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## Gradyfish (Jan 30, 2015)

Wick, thank you for taking the time to point out the design flaws/mistakes in my work. I will spend a few minutes pointing out why these mistakes were made.
Let’s assume we are talking about an aluminum hull boat, more specifically a riveted aluminum hull because that is what the OP has. Up until about 1-2 years ago most of these hulls had a wood transom and many still do today. This wood generally stops just below the lower Outboard motor mounting bolts, usually 4-6 inches above the bottom of the hull. We shouldn’t be afraid of above/below the waterline we should be aware of above/below the wood transom and here’s why.
In my examples two 1/16” holes are drilled to mount the marine board and sealed with 3M 4200 sealant rated for below water line.
In your example 5-6 holes are drilled through the transom and into the transom wood and then sealed with silicone.
Here is the difference in the two, if one of my holes develops a leak, that water drips below the wood and into the bilge just like when one of the rivers or seams leak, and the bilge pump deposits this water back into the lake.
In your case, if one of your 5-6 holes develop a leak the same as above happens plus it soaks the transom wood.
One might ask how yours could leak above the waterline? Your splashwell is well above the waterline but it is full of water most of the time you are not on plane. Your upper motor bolts can leak and they are way above the waterline. Heck roofs on homes leak and they are way above the waterline.
Here is the big difference in the two, if below the waterline but also below the transom wood leaks and goes undetected, your bilge pump will run a little extra and could cost you $50 for a new pump after a few years.
If your above waterline and into the wood transom screws leak you will still need to buy a new pump plus you can pay to have a new transom installed for $3000-5000. Just like the one below.
Here is my feeling if a person is that worried about drilling two 1/16” holes below the waterline. You probably shouldn’t have bought a riveted boat that the factory drills/punches 250-500 holes below the waterline to install those rivets. Because over time they are going to leak, and the factory knows that. The thing is, if the only thing getting wet is the bilge pump, than that’s OK.


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## Hookineyezz (Sep 11, 2008)

You should have hit those screw holes with a ball peen hammer and flattened them. Then you would have gotten a proper bond. Also when you stick it on, masking tape it in place until it cures


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## Sharkbait11 (Apr 7, 2017)

Gradyfish said:


> View attachment 299935
> View attachment 299936
> View attachment 299937
> Jay, I’ve done a few of these and like JS mentioned I used two screws and made the boards big enough to move and tune your transducer location. Being you already have holes from the last ducer you would only need one more at worst. I always seal them with 4200, not 5200, and this way they can be replaced years down the road if needed. I buy marine board and custom fit it for the application. I’ll attach some pics for reference. I usually lean to larger so I can move the ducer if needed to mark at speed. It is almost impossible to get the perfect location in the garage, usually takes some in water tuning. Unless you have an identical boat to copy or you just get lucky.


sorry to hijack but when your marking at speed Im assuming you point the transducer towards the front of the boat more?


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## Gradyfish (Jan 30, 2015)

Sharkbait, when you adjust your transducer for being able to mark fish at speed two things are key. First thing is to find a spot on the starboard side of your transom that is free of obstruction in front of the transducer. You want to avoid strakes, water pick ups, rivets if possible, anything that will create turbulence at the ducer. The second thing will be mounting height. You want to mount it so the middle of the skimmer is approx even with the boat bottom. The height adjust ment is key, generally start with it low and run you boat and see how fast you can read bottom. Make note of that speed, raise the ducer a 1/8” and repeat. Keep doing this till you can maintain bottom at full speed. Then look for suspended fish at a lower speed then go over them at higher speed and look for red/yellow vertical lines on your graph. You will not see arches at speed, the faster you go the narrower the arch until they are vertical lines.
You asked about tipping you ducer toward the front, yow ant your ducer to be parallel to the lake bottom, front to rear and side to side while doing the above adjustments. When you are done with the above you might want to adjust the front to rear level by a click either way. This adjustment are to make your fish arches symmetrical, if your arches are longer on one side or the other that is because of your front to rear level.
Here is my experience, most glass boats are easier to mark at speed, riveted boats are many times very hard dial in and marking fish might only be up to a portion of boats max speed. You might be only able of marking to 25 mph or so.
Be patient while adjusting it make take hours of adjusting.
Good luck!


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## wicklundrh (Mar 18, 2014)

Gradyfish said:


> Wick, thank you for taking the time to point out the design flaws/mistakes in my work. I will spend a few minutes pointing out why these mistakes were made.
> Let’s assume we are talking about an aluminum hull boat, more specifically a riveted aluminum hull because that is what the OP has. Up until about 1-2 years ago most of these hulls had a wood transom and many still do today. This wood generally stops just below the lower Outboard motor mounting bolts, usually 4-6 inches above the bottom of the hull. We shouldn’t be afraid of above/below the waterline we should be aware of above/below the wood transom and here’s why.
> In my examples two 1/16” holes are drilled to mount the marine board and sealed with 3M 4200 sealant rated for below water line.
> In your example 5-6 holes are drilled through the transom and into the transom wood and then sealed with silicone.
> ...


Grady,
I didn't mean to make it sound like there were issues with your design. In fact, this is the recomendation from a lot of guys. I should have worded it differently. Your design is great. I was just trying to show another example of how to install one without putting screws below the water line. Sorry if it came out as me attacking you. That was not my intent and I appologize.


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## Gradyfish (Jan 30, 2015)

Wick, apology accepted, I thought that was a little out of character from you. No hard feelings!
Grady


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