deep finder mounting

ggpostal

Cadet
Joined
Jun 25, 2014
Messages
8
Hi, i have a 24' pontoon boat i want to mount the transponder amidship to get the beam closer to the front liking to go in shallow water and wanting the most heads up on water depth. What are the draw backs if any to doing that. Will be mounted at bottom of toon depth and braced for forward motion. Thanks
 

MinUph

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
466
How about when you pull the boat? Will the transducer and mount clear the trailer? When it is in the back it doesn't go on the trailer bunk. I run in some shallow waters and do touch bottom sometimes. My transducer is adjusted to kick up when hit and I can fix it from above with an oar. You won't be able to get at ti from midships.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,758
Transducers are typically mounted at the back of one of the tubes or on a trolling motor. There is nothing inherently wrong with mounting in any other position but if you want it to read at speed, between the tubes is NOT the place to mount it. Transducers must be mounted where the least amount of turbulence is encountered. The water between the tubes is very turbulent. Next, consider the beam shape provided by the transducer. It looks like a cone shaped paper cup turned upside down. The shallower the water, the less area the beam covers. At speed for example, you would likely run aground long before the depth finder showed the shallow water and you had time to react. Locators cannot read forward except in deeper water and even then, there is little to no chance to react at speed to avoid a rock or stump.
 

BrianMc

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
177
On lakes your best bet for "looking ahead" at speed is a GPS/Sonar unit with some good mapping software. It will show you depth contour lines,humps,channels,etc. like a topo map. Of course you have to factor in current lake levels. They will also get you back to the dock after dark,or in heavy fog.
 

ggpostal

Cadet
Joined
Jun 25, 2014
Messages
8
Thanks for all the replies, the depth finder is a Lowrance Elite-5 HDI with GPS, want it more for going slow and up channels not sure how far ahead of the boat it can see, mount will clear trailer both while trailering and loading. This transducer is shaped like half a boat with the flat part at the back. Will check out the turbulence between the tubes before mounting. Thanks again.
 

MaPaHa

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 6, 2012
Messages
239
Has anyone mounted the transducer inside a pontoon on inside an aluminum boat? I know they read through fiberglass boats but I don't know about aluminum.
 
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