TM Project: Problem #2 - Installation

[James D.]

ok. managed to get the tm out of the box in the living room and went to the hardware store and bought some extra stainless steel fender washers. haul the motor out to the garage, figure out what holes are which, and put the screws in. i'm thinkin, hey, this looks cool! decided to lower the motor and check for clearance. I need some good advice on this situation.



Looks like i only have about 1 inch between the tm shaft and the rub rail of the boat. the end of the tm bracket is about 1 1/2" inside the rub rail or about 1/2" inside the end of the boats fiberglass. Is the 1" clearance from the shaft to the rubrail enough? I would think that it should be more to allow the bow mount to have more room to move. If i hit something hard head on, i don't want the shaft to contact the boat and cause damage. i figure the rubrail would give 1/4 inch or so and the bottom portion of the shaft would flex some too. It is close. I was wondering what you guys think and what the clearance might be on your rigs. My boat is a lx700 and the new tm is a mk maxxum 65.



Option #1 - 1 inch is enough clearance, drill a couple more holes and mount the puppy.



Option #2 - not enough clearance, move the motor mount forward and drill 4 new holes and have 2 holes left over in the top cap. use those motorguide jack nut rubber thingamajigs to plug the holes left over.



Option #3 - get one of those minn kota $75 quick release mounts and hope it has the flexibility to align up with the original holes. anybody used one of these yet?



Option #4 - i'm out of options. don't really want to leave 2 holes but want the motor on there correctly or i will just have to do it all over again or cause damage to the boat. i fish the shallows and get the tm hung up a lot.



what do you guys think?



thanks again,



jd

 

[JEFF WHITE]

i think i have less than 1" clearance between my shaft and rail.but i havent hit anything with mine yet hard enough to bend it to hit the boat.



read the directions well,they will tell you how much clearance is needed.if i remember they want you to have enough so the shaft doesnt hit the boat when in the down posistion.just as long as it turns and doesnt hit,its ok.



you might have to drill new holes anyway.the mk doesnt line up with the mg holes.



go to home depot,or lowes,they sell the rubber plugs you push in to plug holes.they work well when plugging unused holes,if needed,use one of them to fish your trasducer cord through.i had 1 in my aluminum cap,i drilled it out big enough to fit the eagle/lowrance connector through it,then put clear silicone over the hole.works like a charm.or buy the plug to fit,cut a slit in it after drilling a small hole for the cable and install that in the hole.either way it works.



the instructions are detailed fully on the proper mounting of them.read them and you will find its easier than you think.

 

[John Reppert]

JD,



Had a similar problem with my prior boat...



I ended up getting the mk quick hitch plate, drilled it to match the holes and used carridge bolts (needed them to get clearence for motor)and used a small file to square the holes then pressed in bolts..still holds to this day (sold it to my brother) no problems (painted heads black to match)



just my 2cents

 

[Staci Matheis]

1" is plenty of clearance.



If the motor should happen to bend back that far, the chance of it having enough force to do any damage is pretty slim. If it does have enough force, then you've hit something SO HARD that it's going to take more than another inch of clearance to save your behind!



me!

 

[Rob LaMoy]

You should be fine. Like Scott said, if you hit something that hard, you will just destroy the TM. It won't hurt the rubrail any, the shaft would give first. But you will have to hit something mighty hard. I have hit submerged pilons with mine and I believe Bob G was there, no biggie. The shaft just bounced us off it and away we went. The trick is to watch where you're going and not hit anything that hard. If you're in an area with hazards, slow down. LOL You're fine James, now put that sucker on and go fish!

 

[Jim B]

You will need more then i inch of clearance on that motor. If i remember correctly mine has about 3" or so mabye more form the rub rail. the reason you need more is to allow the breakaway feature to work. if you hit tomething even somewhat lightly the spring will move and you want some clearance to let it do its job. the manual will tell you how much clearance you need, if it dosent call fosters trolling motors or minnkota directly to find out what you need. if you have to drill new holes just plug the old ones up and dont worry about it.

 

[James D.]

Thanks for all the reply's. I went to bed last night and slept on it and decided "james, you are just toooo darn picky about your boat, drill some new holes, and put the puppy on there the way you want it, and be done with it".



i'll take another look at it this evening and see what i think. thought i'd see what the group thought, and maybe avoid a problem later. thanks again,



jd

 

[Rob LaMoy]

There you go, and like Jim said, just fill the old holes with epoxy. The mount will cover them anyway. Just don't drill too many because then you weaken the integrity of the fiberglass in the "footprint" of the mount. Geesh, wish I could just fly out there and help ya! It's frustrating trying to explain with text when you could just help do it if there in person. Someday when we all have those 3-D holographic phones.......! LOL

 

[James D.]

yeah, someday i'll go out and buy a digital camera as it would sure be handy. i do know that sometimes little things make a difference. i'm thinkin if i do get in a bad situation and loose a tm, that is bad. but if i loose a tm and have to get the bow repaired, that is really bad. wierd situations happen on the water especially when you mix in a lot of wind and timber and waves. i'm settled with drillin new holes now. i think that it will work out probably either way that i'm thinkin, but i've decided to add more clearance. might also keep the prop from scratchin those sparkles when i'm deploying the motor. i'm going to cut off the top of the mg islolator mounts and reuse the front two holes. the bushings will take up the space of the 1/2" hole and still allow the mount to sit flush with the top cap. then, 4 new 1/4" holes and plug the remaining 2. i should end up with about 3" clearance that will allow the full capability of the bowmount to work its magic. i spoke with foster's and they told me that they use this rule of thumb for most boats - set the motor down and set it up so that the edge of the mount is even with the end of the rubrail and that will allow proper clearance and the breakaway function to work. i think this is what mg suggests also and makes sense to me. i believe what fosters tells me more than some of the yahoos here locally (where i live, not this site). the 1" clearance might be enough also, but it is hard to tell for sure. mk thinks 1" is enough, but i'm still not sold, so that is my story and i'm stickin to it. i think greg got it right - i am a brainsucker. ha!



wish i could come up there and catch some "toads" and you could come here and catch some "hawgs". that would be a lot funner than puttin on a trollin motor.



thanks again,



jd