TM Project : Problem #1-Removal Any Ideas?

[James D.]

This will probably be the first of many threads regarding a trolling motor installation. my new trollin motor is at ups and will be delivered monday. i figured (2) days to get the old one off, no sweat. This should be the EASY part of the project. WRONG! seems somebody may have tried this before on my boat cause the phillips screw heads are not in good shape at all.



Problem #1: mg trollin motor mount on boat with the standard mg rubber screw mounts. phillips threads in screws from the top semi stripped (my luck!) but i can still turn them - barely. I've tried prying up on the mount to put some force on the screws while i turn them but they ain't coming out. Before i resort to power tools like a sawz-all, to attempt to cut the bolts, any ideas? the sawz-all is going to be tuff to use without messin up the boat. i will be heading to sears tomorrow to get some of those magic cutting bits for stripped screw heads (they will surely work as well as they do on tv - won't they?).



reminds me of the commercial.



"helpppppp! my trollin motor is on my boat and won't come off!"



never mind that last tid bit. i've heard humor really helps if your getting po'd.







jd

 

[Rob LaMoy]

James,

Just drill them out. That way you save your glass and your @%$! LOL

 

[JAMES MOORE]

My old Ranger I took a drill and just Drilled the screws out. On my Avalanche I have plenty of room for reaching in under the cap to remove bolts/nuts and washers. Just take your time and you'll get them out. The joys of the home mechanic.

 

[James D.]

what r you doing online rob? thought you just was on in the mornings. guess i'll have to put my titanium nitrous oxide carbide tipped drill bits to work! thanks for the quick response.



jd

 

[James D.]

wow! bassin fool thanks to you too. we should be on chat. this board is awesome! you almost get an answer before you type the questions.



jd

 

[JEFF WHITE]

drill them out,use a 7/32 bit on them in the cross of the head.drill through the head only,it will take it right off easy.then you can get a pair of vice grips on the remander of the screw.



bolt the new one down with stainless bolts.shim the deck so it sits level.use locking nuts,nylock stainless and fender washers to spread out the space on the deck so it doesnt crack anything.dont use those stupid jacknuts,nutserts,or whatever there called.thery are useless in my book,look at the trouble you have getting them off now.



use a little neversieze on the threads of the bolts so they will come off in the future if need be.

 

[James D.]

thanks magna! 7/32 bit. cool! i'm goin to get my drill and give it a try. sounds like a majority decision to drill those puppies out.



jd

 

[James D.]

Got those puupies drilled out in no time thanks to you guys. found out that there were nuts on the bottom after all and that is why i couldn't get the screws to come out. i put a trollin motor on another boat once and don't remember the nuts being on there. Anyways, drilling them out was probably a lot easier than trying to get a wrench on the bottom side. going to get me one of those 3-prong flexible grabber things to get the old nut out as they are laying on the bottom.



Mat, i can picture what you are saying as i was thinkin the same thing. use the top part of the rubber to isolate the mount and the inside portion as a bushing. by cutting the rubber off to the right length, using washers, everything should tighten right up. my boat is a lx700 and it looks like the mount area is level so i should not have to worry about the mount twisting. i was concerned i might have to level things up.



I'm thinkin the dealers or tracker must have some type of tool for installing these brackets OR isoloator jacknut quicknut bracket isolator screw thingamajigs are put on the cap before it is installed to the hull OR they have some kids with little bitty arms puttin these in. the holes up front are very small and i cannot get my hands in let alone my arms. i have small hands too. I guess i'll have to enlarge the holes just a little bit with my roto-zip tool.



another thing, found out that my 7' rods go all the way to the tip of the bow! thats why they get so tangled up.



Phase 2 Tomorrow: Installing new battery tray for 2nd battery.



thanks so much for the help.



jd

 

[JEFF WHITE]

were they actual nuts?or were they knurled round things?



if you want to you could leave the insulator in the hole,and put the 1/4" bolt down through it.the only bad thing is that the rubber might cause it to come loose.the best thing is to put the 1/4"or if possible 5/16"bolts and nuts down through.what type of tm you installing?the mg will take the 5/16"bolts,the mk will also.



tiny hands do come in handy.use a box end wrench with duct tape(is your best friend) on the end to hold the nut in or on the wrench works great,it will also hold the washers in place also.once you tighten them down they will push the tape off the wrench.old mechanics trick ive learned from a wise old mechanic.

 

[James D.]

took off the motorguide 48# and puttin on a minn kota maxxum 65#. been hearing good things on this board about them. my mg is just plain wore out. the mount is bad, the cable broke, and the steering gear at the top has a busted tooth, and a plastic bushing in the pedal finally broke too, and the motor is noisy. i figure too much to have fixed right. i've been looking for a while and finally came across a great deal. i think i will be real happy with it and enjoy my boat a lot more. it is sitting at UPS in OKC right now and it is sched to be delivered monday - can't wait to see it.



it looked like the nuts were on after the rubber ended. i'll know better when i get them out as they are still in the bottom of the hull and i cant' reach them - yet! i shone a flashlight in there just to see them. they probably are smaller than the top hole and are there just for something for the rubber to tighten up against so it will expand. thanks for the duct tape tip as that will definately come in handy. looks like i'll be takin a trip to the hardware store monday night.



thanks again,



jd

 

[JEFF WHITE]

i took a 7 yr old motorguide off mine and put a 65lb powerdrive on.remote electronics and what a good motor.mine just gave out using it.it was due for a change.never replaced anything in it except props and drive pins.the origional pedal,cables and motor.even the mount was still in good shape,except i broke the block the shaft mounted in,but that didnt affect it anyway.



watch the mounts might have diffrent holes on it.mine didnt mount in the same holes,had to drill new ones,but i replaced my wood on the bow,so it didnt matter any.



get the good stainless hardware.dont skimp there.tighten them up tight,but be careful,stainless will strip easy and will break also.i have over $200 worth of stainless and aluminum tied up in my boat so far,and will be putting more into it soon.

 

[Staci Matheis]

When I replaced the jacknuts with washers and nuts last summer, I removed the panel at the bow of my boat that holds the tm plug and trim switches. I was able to reach the base of the bolts through that openning without the use of any extensions to wrenches - even with my shirt arms!

 

[JEFF WHITE]

yea,but scott,youre only 4ft tall!



how are us normal people going to do this??



just kidding,buddy!!

 

[Craig Roberts]

Hey Magna. How do you like that powerdrive? Tracker is putting the PD's on all the deep v's this year, and I'm getting lot's of questions about reliability, strength, etc.



Craig

 

[Staci Matheis]

5'6" with a 28" reach!

(On a good day when my bursitis isn't acting up!)

 

[JEFF WHITE]

it took a little while to get used to the pedal,but if you turn it like the motorguide to heel toe it works great,i leave mine on constant and use the variable sped to control the boat.i havent has any problems with it.mounting it was fun though,the bow plate on my 19 is big enough,but the 2 outer bolts where i had to mount it were out past the deck,i had to drill down through the outer cap of the boat and use 2"long bolts,but it is solid,doesnt flex a bit how i mounted it.and i got the 60" shaft on it.the softstart feature is good,saves wear and tear on the mount.it pulls the boat on full to 2.4mph on the gps,but will let me get down to .8-1.0 and still be able to maneuver with it.



ive been using it to troll for the walleyes on a 10hp restricted lake last year and killed them.my catch ratio was up from using the 8hp merc .



the only thing i wish they had on it was when stowing it would be some kind of cable or rope to pull it back to the mount to lock it on,you have to make sure the motor hits the 2 small ramps and that means holding the head after releasing the lock and pulling up and twisting it.



scott,was that 4ft 6 inches?or were you stretching your height like the fish you were catching?

 

[Bill McElroy]

Scott,...are you proud of that fish,...or merely straining to lift it?? (It is one of the BIGGER one's you've landed!)

Good Job Roland!!..LOL

 

[James D.]

most fish look bigger when you stretch your arm out to the camera. why doesn't this happen with this pic? in this case it makes SCOTT look bigger! ha! can't wait till it warms up and the daylight savings time switches. :^)





jd

 

[Staci Matheis]

Please, God! PULL-LEEZE!!!!!

Daylight savings time and warm weather!!!!!

HURRY!!!!!