1987 SUPER SPORT 13: Installing Bow Trolling Motor
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2019 2:09 pm
I would appreciate any additional thoughts that others may have regarding how to install a bow-mounted trolling motor [on a 1987 SUPER SPORT 13], particularly a suggestion which would require no changes to the Super Sport rail.
I would additionally appreciate any thoughts concerning how to install the base of the mount shown below within the [1987 SUPER SPORT 13] rope locker. I had planned to drill a circular hole within the locker’s hatch to accommodate the pole as I had done with the hatch cover of my [SPORT 13]
Fig. 1. A mounting plate to be installed inside the bow locker of a 1987 SUPER SPORT 13.
BACKSTORY: Back in 1986, my wife and I purchased a [1970--always use four-digits to identify a year] SPORT 13 with a [1984] Yamaha 40-HP outboard shown the photo below. This boat served its young owners and eventually our small family as the do-all lake boat until 1996, when we decided that the more spacious interior and more comfortable ride of an sterndrive bowrider better suited our family’s needs. As we didn’t believe that we would need two boats, we sold the Whaler and soon thereafter regretted doing so.
The 13 SPORT boat's small size and shallow draft permitted its use as a fishing platform which only increased in its fishing abilities when I added a bow mounted Minn-Kota Power Drive trolling motor and pedestal seating; the mount was installed within the Whaler’s small rope locker. Fishing from the bow rider was restricted to drifting and anchoring in deeper water and the lack of a trolling motor meant that a relatively small number of fishing spots would be visited on any day.
We’ve been with our second bow rider, actually a deck boat, for the last twenty years. In 2006, I purchased, restored, re-powered, sold, and then re-purchased (this past summer) a [1987] SUPER SPORT 13 shown below.
The challenge that I now find myself with is wanting to rig the 1987 SUPER SPORT 13 with a bow mounted trolling motor and pedestal seat.
However, I fear that the Super Sport rail may prevent me from being able to easily deploy and retrieve the trolling motor.
I had fabricated a trolling motor mount for the Minn-Kota Power Drive trolling motor from 3/4-inch marine plywood, 2 x 6 lumber, and 1/4-inch marine plywood and a simple rotating latch. The mount required no modifications or drilling to the hull and was designed to be installed and removed from the boat without use of fasteners. The mount was installed over the bow navigation lamp. The forward most portion of the mount grabbed onto the underside of the lip to which the rub rail was installed. The bottom surface of the mount then followed the contour of the inner liner below the level of the bow Norman pin. The mount had a slot located slightly lower than the level of the bow Norman pin which would accommodate a notched 1/4-inch plywood retainer plate which would slide beneath the bow Norman pin, prevent the mount from rotating upward, thereby securing it in place.
The rails of my first boat, the SPORT 13, extended slightly forward of the forward bench and as such were not a hinderance. I am currently dabbling with the idea of either replacing the Super Sport single rail with Sport rails shown below.
A co-worker had also suggested that I instead consider modifying the center bow section of the rail such that it could be removed when fishing and then replaced when using the boat for other purposes. Fast pins could be used to permit quick removal and replacement of the center section of the rail.
Also the rope locker of the [1987] SUPER SPORT 13 is much larger than that of the [1970 SPORT 13].
I would additionally appreciate any thoughts concerning how to install the base of the mount shown below within the [1987 SUPER SPORT 13] rope locker. I had planned to drill a circular hole within the locker’s hatch to accommodate the pole as I had done with the hatch cover of my [SPORT 13]
Fig. 1. A mounting plate to be installed inside the bow locker of a 1987 SUPER SPORT 13.
BACKSTORY: Back in 1986, my wife and I purchased a [1970--always use four-digits to identify a year] SPORT 13 with a [1984] Yamaha 40-HP outboard shown the photo below. This boat served its young owners and eventually our small family as the do-all lake boat until 1996, when we decided that the more spacious interior and more comfortable ride of an sterndrive bowrider better suited our family’s needs. As we didn’t believe that we would need two boats, we sold the Whaler and soon thereafter regretted doing so.
The 13 SPORT boat's small size and shallow draft permitted its use as a fishing platform which only increased in its fishing abilities when I added a bow mounted Minn-Kota Power Drive trolling motor and pedestal seating; the mount was installed within the Whaler’s small rope locker. Fishing from the bow rider was restricted to drifting and anchoring in deeper water and the lack of a trolling motor meant that a relatively small number of fishing spots would be visited on any day.
We’ve been with our second bow rider, actually a deck boat, for the last twenty years. In 2006, I purchased, restored, re-powered, sold, and then re-purchased (this past summer) a [1987] SUPER SPORT 13 shown below.
The challenge that I now find myself with is wanting to rig the 1987 SUPER SPORT 13 with a bow mounted trolling motor and pedestal seat.
However, I fear that the Super Sport rail may prevent me from being able to easily deploy and retrieve the trolling motor.
I had fabricated a trolling motor mount for the Minn-Kota Power Drive trolling motor from 3/4-inch marine plywood, 2 x 6 lumber, and 1/4-inch marine plywood and a simple rotating latch. The mount required no modifications or drilling to the hull and was designed to be installed and removed from the boat without use of fasteners. The mount was installed over the bow navigation lamp. The forward most portion of the mount grabbed onto the underside of the lip to which the rub rail was installed. The bottom surface of the mount then followed the contour of the inner liner below the level of the bow Norman pin. The mount had a slot located slightly lower than the level of the bow Norman pin which would accommodate a notched 1/4-inch plywood retainer plate which would slide beneath the bow Norman pin, prevent the mount from rotating upward, thereby securing it in place.
The rails of my first boat, the SPORT 13, extended slightly forward of the forward bench and as such were not a hinderance. I am currently dabbling with the idea of either replacing the Super Sport single rail with Sport rails shown below.
A co-worker had also suggested that I instead consider modifying the center bow section of the rail such that it could be removed when fishing and then replaced when using the boat for other purposes. Fast pins could be used to permit quick removal and replacement of the center section of the rail.
Also the rope locker of the [1987] SUPER SPORT 13 is much larger than that of the [1970 SPORT 13].