Help mounting trolling W-55 motorguide on bowrider

[relstabw]

I've been reading through these forums for a while now and have seen some great responses and great advice, so here is my problem. I have a 1976 Lucraft bowrider. I want to mount my Motorguide W-55 trolling motor on the bow. The space where the bow light and the rails mount is narrow (4-5 inches wide) behind that the space where the bow seats are located drops down another 5 inches so I need something to fill the height gap between the seat area and the bow cap where the front of the motor mount plate will fasten. The bow seat area is backed with 3/4" plywood and is 16" wide. The bow cap area where the bow light and rails mount is also backed with a narrow strip of plywood. I have no access to the underside of either point. My idea is to mount a pin type seat base to the dropped down seat area then use a seat mount to raise up and fill the distance to the bow cap area and bring it level. I have a piece of 3/8" aluminum the size of the motor mount plate to bolt on top of the seat mount. That will be the rear mount. Then I plan to mount the front end of the aluminum to the top of the bow cap next to the bow light. I plan to use stainless wood screws bedded with 5200 for the adapter mounting. After all that is in place I will bolt the motor mount plate to the aluminum. What do you all think about this plan? Will this withstand the torque strain from the motor? I'd like to have as nice looking a mount as possible when I finish since this boat is in really good condition. I appreciate any advice. I wish I could post some pictures but I don't have that capability.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Help mounting trolling W-55 motorguide on bowrider

Pictures, pictures, pictures.

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Help mounting trolling W-55 motorguide on bowrider

I have a similar situation on my 16 ft Tuffy, the rail sticks up about 3 inches above the front bow pad so to mount my trolling motor it had to be raised and projected out to clear it.

In the end I bought a 6' length of 1 1/2" square aluminum tubing and using SS threaded rod I bolted down a stack of three tubes on each side of the quick release mount to raise it up and project it from the bow. It turned out pretty well and is very sturdy, I used 4-5/16" SS threaded rods to fix it to the deck and hold the assembly together.

If I had access to some nylon blocks I would have rather made it out of that but this was light, sturdy and easily fabricatable and most important...available locally. There are also marine grade plastics that no one around here carries that would have been suitable also but more expensive. The last owner had a cheesy wood concoction on the bow that looked horrible, this at least looks professional.

It sounds like you have a sturdy enough build scenario for a trolling motor mount, mine for example is sturdy enough to use as a diving board off the bow (yea I tried it ) I was expecting the trolling motor to put a lot of strain on this component since I had never used one before but the torque output is pretty low in comparison to a gas motor.

If you are interested I could take a picture tomorrow and post it if you would like to see it.

 

[mt3]

Re: Help mounting trolling W-55 motorguide on bowrider

If you are interested I could take a picture tomorrow and post it if you would like to see it.

PHOTOS PLEASE!!!!!

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Help mounting trolling W-55 motorguide on bowrider

It's pouring rain and dark outside but the pics turned out OK;

The AL tubing is open on the ends and that bugs me so I am looking for "furniture plugs" to cover the tubing ends, still haven't found any in 1 1/2" size. I marked and drilled the tubes individually 3/8" so alignment once assembled could be corrected and I also used the factory rubber washers under the quick release for vibration isolation

The 5/16" SS threaded rods have SS nuts red loctited to the studs so they don't rotate when I tighten the nuts from below, large SS body washers underneath spread the load out on the 5/8" thick plywood deck.

Once I find suitable plastic plugs for the open ends it will be perfect, anyone who knows where I can find square plastic plugs for 1.5" square tubing gets a free fishin trip on me! I would hate to have to fabricate these myself.

 

[mt3]

Re: Help mounting trolling W-55 motorguide on bowrider

that looks GREAT!




PS. sent you a PM for the end cap/plug situation ....came across this when i was building a rod holder for the back of my jeep ...

 

[relstabw]

Re: Help mounting trolling W-55 motorguide on bowrider

This is an update. I made an access under the bow, used 3/4" plywood backing and stainless fender washers with nylock bolts. This works great and I could lift the boat by this!