My trolling motor hates me

[Jay K]

Last Friday, just before Memorial Day Weekend, my prop fell off my 2001 Motorguide trolling motor. I had to order it online, and it just got here yesterday with a shear pin that did not fit. Thanks to some good advice from this board, I was able to fish this AM with a finish nail sawed down enough to fit the shear pin slot.



Well, after being out there from 7:00am-11:30am, suddenly my trolling motor isolation mounts gave way on the left hand side. 2 of the isolators had cracked, and the metal sleeves had come out.



Now I'm facing a week and a half vacation waiting for my new isolation mounts to come in on the 10th. Does anyone have a good substitue for this? I went to the hardware store and got some hollow wall anchors and some o-rings to try and rig it. I also got a sheet of gasket rubber to cut out some temporary mounts.



Also, what do I do if the new mounts do not fit the holes tightly? Fill the old ones with silicone and drill new ones?



Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Jim B]

Jay,

There is a couple of things you can do.



#1 would be to use thru bolts and be done with it. If you take whats left of the isolator and trim it to is fills the hole and acts as a spacer you can get some nylock nuts and big fender washers and thru bolt it to the deck. Its the most secure trouble free way to mount it if you can. You would need to take off the bow panel to get in there to do it but that should be no big deal.



The other option since i noticed you live in NH is to take a drive over to Northern Bass over on rt 125 in Brentwood and pick up the new isolator bolts and the pins you need too. They stock tons of motorguide stuff and should have both in stock and you can be back on the water tomorrow.

 

[Jay K]

I had forgoten that Northern Bass Supply carries Motorguide stuff. It's been a while since I was last there, but it's only an hour drive from where I live.



Thanks for both pieces of advice! You helped a lot!!!!

 

[Tim King]

Go with the first piece of advice and never look back!!

 

[Mini]

thru bolt it. forget it.

 

[Jay K]

Yeah, I put 2 new isolation bolts in, not realizing I really had to replace all of them. Another day cut short when one of the remaining old mounts broke. I had some tools with me, but not enough for the job after I dropped my screwdriver into the water.



I've got them all in now and it seems tight, but I'm less than confident about it now after the last two problems.



I'm not sure how to get at the front of my boat to get to the thru bolts(removing the bow panel I guess?). Could someone explain that one? Do I just got through the storage lockers?

 

[Dan J.]

Without knowing the boat model I'll be guessing, but you usually access the inside of the bow (underneath the TM) through the bow panel. (It's the beauty plate holding the front trim switches on many bass boats.) Through there I'll echo the other recomendations of cutting the rubber isolators top's off, using them as cushion between the mount and the top cap, and through bolting at least four points on the base mount through the top cap with SS nuts, bolts, and fender washers/lock washers. Good luck!

 

[Jay K]

I've got a 2001 Nitro NX 750 DC. I know that plate you mentioned wit hthe trim switched. I got the nuts, bolts and lock washers today. I'll give it a shot as soon as the mount I just finished shows any signs of starting to get weak. I'm going to keep a toolbox in my boat from now on.