transducer

[darthawk]

Has or does anyone have there transducer sent up in the front of there pontoon. I would like to see where I am going not where I have been. Thank you

 

[A.F.C. 8511]

Thats actually funny and interesting too.
But how would you mount it?

 

[dingbat]

Interesting concept but not feasible given the limitations of conventional sonar.

Take a look at Garmin’s Panoptix for forward reading sonar

 

[Scott Danforth]

Transducers wont work up front

With GPS/sonar/maping units for under $200 you will know the depth of your boating waters before you even launch the boat

 

[Silvertip]

At virtually any speed, by the time the transducer senses an object or shallow depth, you have zero time to react and the object you see or are warned about you would have already hit. Know the water you are boating on and watch the sonar under way so you can see gradual changes in depth/contour.

 

[HotTommy]

Nobody here wants to think out of the box. Just cantilever a 30' long bowsprit off the front with a 4" wide leg going down into the water about as deep as the bottom of the logs and mount the transducer on the aft side of the leg. At 10 MPH that will give you a full two seconds of warning before you arrive at the obstruction. Of course the spray from the leg at speed will be annoying and it will be a b***h to park. But it can be done.

 

[5150abf]

As stated, you would have virtually no time to react if you did see something and you would have to stare at your screen the entire time, not a good option either..

Most people boat the same waters all the time, just take your time and learn the water, ask locals about spots to avoid.

In a lake there are rarely sudden rises in the bottom so a trans mounted the conventional way will give you plenty of warning that the water is getting skinny.

On a river 1st rule is stay to the outside of a bend, almost always the deepest water and stay a good distance from islands, most of them used to be much larger than they are now, especially the front and back.

Learn to read the water, you can see things just under the surface if you know what to look for, if the water in a spot looks different than the water around it there is a reason so avoid it.

As Tommy said you could probably jury rig something up but again you would have to stare at your fish finder the entire time.

 

[Scott Danforth]

or simply get a gps depth finder with sonar and stay in the deeper areas

 

[Cat nip]

Yes i have one for the front of my toon. It was the only option i had at the time due to crapy old tubes with no brackets for a ducer. It works good for seeing what is about to hit the motor at under 10-12 mph. But much faster than that you need to pull it up because the pole the ducer mounts to gets a bit sketchy. Witch isn't a bad thing because being in the front if the biat means it is also unprotected from impacts. I dint remember the name if the mount but i found it by googling something like pontoon bow mount transducer its basically a thick plastic like plate that mounts to the deck with a tapered and slotted hole and a pole with a adjustable stopper with a key that fits the slot so it dosent turn and the pole has a plate on the bottom that the ducer mounts to and the cable comes up the center of the pole. I have not tried this but they say with side imaging if you spin the pole 90° you can see in front of you how ever far the screen is set to. I think it was around $65 for the mount and it has worked good for me for the last 3 years.

 

[darthawk]

Thanks for everyone's input. I want this for when I go a new lake. When I actually use it I will be idling. We like to go to different lakes

 

[HotTommy]

If you're idlling, you could mount a piece of angle aluminum bolted to the side of the boat with the transducer on it. Lower it when you want the depth info and swing it up the rest of the time. Use a pin or something to secure it when retracted.

Another thought: Mount a larger short square tube to the side of the boat and insert a smaller but longer square tube inside it. Put the transducer at the bottom of the smaller tube and drill holes in the tube for a pin that can adjust its height. Lower the tube and pin it for depth readings, and raise it and pin it other times. Looks a little like this:

 

[icwingman]

your depth finder gives you depth, a fish finder show 1 ft diameter for every foot of depth, got to hummingbird site and it is explained there. your on a toon not a sub. you will never see a object in shallow water until you hit it, know your waters ar get a nautical map thats up to date. learn how to read it and take it easy in shallow water.you can buy a side scan model or a 360 degree view one less than 500