Bowmount with no Universal Sonar??

[hanson]

So what the heck do you guys do with the wire for the transducer?

I have a Minn-Kota Powerdrive V2. The trolling motor shaft slides up and down through the mounting bracket, so you cannot zip tie the wire to any part of the shaft or it will catch.

Whats a good solution for this? I've got some ideas but they all would look bush league IMO. Want it to look and function like it was done "right".

[Ralph Wiggum]

Mine is zip tied to just under the unit head and just at the top of the motor housing, so the cable running the length of the shaft is loose enough for deployment and to allow it to turn freely. Just gotta be careful it doesn't pinch when you deploy the motor.

It's not ideal, but that's what I found most guys have done. Kind of makes me wish I would have splurged for the universal sonar

A tip: put a few wraps of electrical tape around a part before you zip tie it. It helps so the zip tie doesn't slip around.

If you come up with a better idea, lemme know!

[hanson]

That was one of the ideas I had so I guess I wasn't too far off.

Would have loved to have US2 but I got the motor used at an awesome price so I couldn't be too picky.

[marine_man]

Ralph's right on.. that's pretty much your only option.

Pass the wire through the grab handle in between the two zip ties.

marine_man

[JohnMickish]

Yep, that's the only option. Be careful since if your going thru the slop the cable will catch weeds and put pressure on it. They shouldn't make a trolling motor without it.

[BoxMN]

We actually leave the top loose, and it goes through two slightly larger (than the cable) cable clamps (those little black plastic piece, like you see on hockey helmets to hold the mask on...) that are attached to the top of our bow. It is almost the same as the other guys mention, but held not as tight to the shaft. Just to the starboard of the troll motor mount.

So when you drop the motor, the cable just slides effortlessly through the cable clamps (cause they are larger) but then it hold cable from sliding more through the clamp area. (We have always used Lowrance skimmer xducers up front.)

The problem we had using tie wraps is that the xducer cable, when tight, seems to break right at the tie wraps where it bends. We have been doing this for two boats now (about 15 years?) and it works pretty good. You can grab the excess cable and pull it back through when you run if you want, but we basically just let it hang, as it doesn't droop much, and we have 60" shaft. It can collect some slop if fishing in slop, but not any more or less than if it was tie wrapped to top.

Another reason we like this is that when the TM is stowed, you don't have that xducer cable hanging off the head of the motor, it is all neatly stored/laying on the little bow area, and away from "in-boat snags" etc. More for the cable to "grab on to" when stowed than when actually using it.

Just another option to think about. It has worked well for us. Ask my brother, he can give you more info if you are interested. Good luck.

[PerchJerker]

Same answer here --- cable tie it at the bottom, run it through the handle, leave just a little slack, and cable tie it at the top. Been doing it for years, it works great and I never notice it or think about it.

[SandBayFishCamp]

I had a similar situation but I took an entirely different approach. I tried strapping the transducer to the bottom of the trolling motor but it was too much of a hassle so I decided to punt.

Instead, I mounted the transducer seperately. I bought a Tite-Lok gunnel clamp mount. The side of the mount has pre-drilled holes. I cut off an old hockey stick, bolted it to the side of the clamp and mounted the transducer bracket to the bottom. It works really well. Also, when I am drift fishing it is much faster to drop in the transducer in than the troller. For me it was a much better and cleaner solution.

[mojoputter]

I use to have the same issue but I used velcro straps so they could be moved wherever needed.

[Northlander]

I also do the zip tie gig.

[moreyes]

Here is a picture I found a while back