New pontoon rigging / sonar-GPS question

[danbob]

Hey Jim Hatch, seems like posting about pontoon boats in this forum is OK? I think it's a GREAT place to put all boat questions.
If not, then ARRR, Matey, yer forum's been hijacked by pirates! The captain of the Renegade gives no quarter (but sometimes a buck)! LOL

Anyway, here's how I have my new toon (The Renegade) rigged up, and I have some info, comments, AND questions!


The milk crate is held on with cam straps. The pirate flag needs a new mount, it's not shown (grin). The Scadden anchor hangs under the back deck, and the trolley is by my right front foot. The standing platform and lean bar were removed for this trip, a long portage to the lake.

The rod holders are the metal ones from DownEast, recommended by GnuBee. My only complaint on them is they are a bit noisy when grabbing or stowing a rod. but with practice you can do it quietly. They work great, though--best rod holders I've ever had, and will never break or wear out.. 2 holders (visible in pic) are set for storage while rowing, the third lets the rod sit accross my lap while rowing and trolling.

The sonar unit is the big Fishing Buddy 4200. I'm probably going to sell it and get something else, even though it works OK. I'm not happy with the battery life (3 D cells do NOT last all day fishing). But the big problem is having it mounted behind me, I get a sore neck turning around to look at it. A mount on the pontoon gets in the way of rowing. and in shallow water I have to remember to lift it up when I come into shore....and so on.

Which brings me to my question -- anyone here use a combination chartplotter / sonar on a tiny boat, like a pontoon, kayak, etc? I'm thinking something with a rechargable 12v battery that rides in the milk crate. I want a small, permanent transducer mount; how would I mount a transducer on the boat? Inside the pontoon? Make a PVC mount that hangs off the frame? How much battery life can I expect, and how big a battery should I get? And, lastly, are there sonar units out there that will map a lake bottom via GPS? While criusing around I'd like to be gathering data on depth, structure, etc. to have available when i return to the lake next time. I'm very new to boating electronics, but my background is in computer mapping.

Thanks for any and all advice!

DANBOB (captain of the Renegade)

[bigdaddyjohn]

Is that the Madison River? If so, how do you like it? Did it not come with the aqua lok standing platform?

Thanks

[ducksterman]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more response..I know there's a lot of ideas out there because I've seen them.

As far as the battery question goes you might want to consider a wheelchair battery...deep cycle and small and can be tipped over...I use them for a 32# thrust electric motor....

[Jack Hise]

danbob;
In lookiing at your set up I have an idea for the fish finder mount. I have an ODC 816 and the frame for the seat is almost identical as well as the seat. I raised the seat by modifying a bass boat swivel seat mount. I have filled in the open space with white plastic peg board and carry the battery on one side. My built in saddle bags are not as big as yours so I could mount the fish finder on the other side, under the seat and could open the screen out to the float and be able to look down to see it. I wish I could post pictures!!
I've also built a rod holder out of pvc pipe that protects the rod while keeping it well at hand.
I'm going to see if you have your email in your profile.

[ducksterman]

I have large side pockets like you but my display is smaller....I put my display in the pocket and can move it around depending on the sunlight...very simple...it's not attached...now the transducer is a different story.....

Jack, with what you have to offer this board you owe it to us to learn to post photos

[Avalon]

Dear danbob,

Mounting the transducer can be done a zillion ways. The first thing I'd try is simply attaching it to a webstrap and strapping it around one of your pontoon tubes. I've seen others build fancier mounts using a section of PVC pipe like you use for indoor waterline, some of them even rigged the transducers to tilt out of the water so they don't get hung up.

As far as a battery for the depth finder Cabela's sells small 12 volt rechargeable batteries. You can get two batteries and a charger for about $ 30.00. The batteries aren't any larger or as heavy than a 6 pack of canned beer or soda and you could easily fit one into one of the pockets on your toon. I think if you look you can also get dual chargers that let you charge from both 12VDC in your car and 120AC at home so you can always have a fresh battery. I'm pretty sure Joni "the inflatable boat freak" has those batteries from Cabela's. I definitely remember her posting about them somewhere on the WWW.

Mounting the sonar unit can easily be done with a couple of u-bolts attached to a convenient place on the pontoon frame. RAM makes all sorts of mounts for electronics that can be swiveled, or interchanged, or removed when not in use. The sky, and your wallet, are the only things limiting what you can do with a sonar unit. I'm pretty sure the high end units are far more sophisticated than the navigational equipment that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon and back in 1969.

Best Wishes,
Avalon

[danbob]

Thanks for the info and ideas, folks!
BDJ, yes it's the Scadden Madison River. The standing platform and lean bar were removed for this trip to save weight since the portage to the lake was fairly long. It's a great, well-designed boat, and extremely durable. The anchor trolley system is awesome! I fixed my only major problem with it by putting stick-on grit tape on the standing platform---it was too slippery for my flippers.
Thanks for the battery info too, all -- my first run with the trolling motor was NOT successful, but after reading this thread, and checking the internet, I think my battery was at least 3 times larger and heavier than I needed! I was up at 100 amp hours, and it was too heavy. I have a #30 lb thrust troller, and duckster's battery says 33 amp-hour on it....that's more like it! How many hours do you generally get, duckster? Also, I'm familiar with the smaller batteries mentioned, Sportsmans Warehouse has them. I think I'll go with the 33a-h battery for when I use the troller, and the smaller one when I'm not.
Great ideas on transducer mounting, too!
Now the hard part, figuring out which sonar/gps will do the lake bottom mapping i need!
DANBOB

[ducksterman]

Danbob,

This is an estimate as I've never kept close tabs...but I get about 4 hours on one battery ...that would be at the slowest trolling setting [one I think] on a Minn-Kota 32# thrust...in calm conditions.

I have two batteries...usually leave one on shore and switch when I come in at noon...they carry very nicely and are protected in the little Wal-Mart coolers you see in the picture.
I have put both on the platform at once at times and the balance remains good.

Here is a closer picture I made for Jack Hise on another thread showing the specs better...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/ ... ery004.jpg

[Jack Hise]

Duckster, If this works you may have created a monster!!

[danbob]

WOW, that is cool Jack!