1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
MarkCz
Posts: 131
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 3:44 pm

1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated

Postby MarkCz » Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:48 am

I show how I mounted a trolling motor to the bow on my 1987 MONTAUK in Figures 1, 2, and 3.

I could not through-bolt the trolling motor mount to the deck. Instead, I made a plate out of High Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) that is 1/2-inch thick and cut in a shape that matches the Starboard corner of my 1987 Montauk.

fig1.jpg
Fig. 1. The 90-degree corner of the white, high-density polyethylene mounting plate needs to be trimmed.
fig1.jpg (57.24 KiB) Viewed 1943 times


The HPDE plate is through-bolted using the lip under the rub rail to hold 2-inch-long sections of 7/16-inch OD round aluminum rod drilled to accept a 1/4-inch bolt. The rod spreads the load over a larger area, and that part of the boat is quite strong. I used four bolts spaced evenly.

fig2a.jpeg
Fig. 2. Unusual round spacers or washers were made from 7/16-inch aluminum stock and fit in the groove of the molded hull.
fig2a.jpeg (27.09 KiB) Viewed 1942 times


The trolling motor is attached to the custom made HDPE plate using four machine screws and four stainless steel T-nuts. I also used two stainless steel wood screws. I drilled a pilot hole for the two middle screws that were in the area of the embedded plywood backing that Boston Whaler inserts into the bow gunwale corners.

fig3.jpeg
Fig. 3.
fig3.jpeg (29.5 KiB) Viewed 1943 times


The 9-inch shuttle slide I am using allows the whole trolling motor to retract inside of the rub rail. You can see the different positions in Figures 1 and 3.

I highly recommend the shuttle slide trolling motor mount. It allows you to retract the trolling motor so that it retracts behind the rub rail to avoid damage when docking, but allows you to slide the trolling motor forward to deploy.

To run the Motorguide Xi3 Pinpoint GPS 24-Volt 60-inch-shaft trolling motor I bought two 12-Volt 100-Ampere-hour LiFePO4 batteries; each weighs 25-lbs. It's the best addition to my boat I have made. The anchor mode is very helpful for bottom fishing.

jimh
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Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: 1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated

Postby jimh » Mon Jul 04, 2022 10:32 am

Thanks to MARKCZ for the illustrations showing his approach to mounting a trolling motor on the bow of a Boston Whaler boat. The use of the round sections to fit into the groove on the underside of the gunwales is very clever.

ThePetrel
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Oct 28, 2023 1:31 pm

Re: 1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated

Postby ThePetrel » Fri Nov 03, 2023 12:04 pm

This is a very interesting set up. I love the quick slide mount and the ability to preserve the rail. Thank you for sharing. To hear that you're happy with the results makes me glad.

Q1: how did you decide on drilling four holes and using four bolts?

Q2: why not three holes and three bolts or five holes and five bolts?

I love the idea of a bow mounted trolling motor like this, but I hate the idea of putting holes in the hull.

Q3: what made you feel comfortable drilling holes in the hull?

Q4: is there anything that you would change or do differently?

MarkCz
Posts: 131
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 3:44 pm

Re: 1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated

Postby MarkCz » Sat Nov 04, 2023 6:40 am

ThePetrel wrote:Q2: why not three holes and three bolts...?
I probably could have used only three bolts.

ThePetrel wrote:Q3: what made you feel comfortable drilling holes in the hull?
Drilling the first hole is the most painful.

ThePetrel wrote:Q4: is there anything that you would change or do differently?
Were I to do this again I would use G10 [fiberglass laminate board] as the plate.

jimh
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Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Contact:

Re: 1987 MONTAUK 17 Trolling Motor Installation Illustrated

Postby jimh » Sun Nov 05, 2023 12:57 pm

MarkCz wrote:Were I to do this again I would use G10 [fiberglass laminate board] as the plate.
The term "G10" seems to be associated with all sorts of laminated material and epoxy produced in sheets of varying thickness.

Did you have a particular type of G10 sheet and a particular vendor in mind?

The price for G10 in certain sizes and materials seems quite expensive.