Mounting Downriggers?

Luke Warmwater

Luke Warmwater

Active Member
Hi Guys and Gals, I am mounting 2 Cannon downriggers on my 18' Bowrider. My question is, 'Should I mount them facing straight out the back of the boat, or out the side of the boat at the rear"?

Any suggestions??

Thank you,
Brian
 
If you mount with swivel bases it will never matter. Not sure this is an option but definitely worth thinking about.
 
Get the swivel base like Pinchel says. Inevitably no matter how you mount them at one point in trolling you will want to change the angle. Even so much as when you come into docking. If the units are out to the side then they could strike the dock. If they are pointed straight back then they may not give you the spread you want so you want to change the angle and have them come out to the side more.... get the swivel base.
 
Swivel base is the way to go. Gives you more options. Better for trailering too, fold them in to the center and they won't bounce around as much therefore less chance of them breaking.
 
when mounting them, the underside of your gunnels instead of plywood use dollar store cutting boards as a extra support
 
when you mount the swivel bases, your going to need longer bolts preferably stainless steel counter sunk heads. on my big johns it was 1/4 20 threads i belive 3 inch i had to go with . dont use the nylok or teflon nuts , ive had them snap the bolts in the past get good lock washers . i looked all over hells half acre for them. last time i was in dover @ bridge yachts poof there they were FFS. i ended up in hamilton in search of them. always the way :banghead:
 
chefboyardee said:
when you mount the swivel bases, your going to need longer bolts preferably stainless steel counter sunk heads. on my big johns it was 1/4 20 threads i belive 3 inch i had to go with . dont use the nylok or teflon nuts , ive had them snap the bolts in the past get good lock washers . i looked all over hells half acre for them. last time i was in dover @ bridge yachts poof there they were FFS. i ended up in hamilton in search of them. always the way :banghead:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. :)
 
Great idea @chefboyardee re: bolstering the gunnels. I didn't like the play in the gunnels with the weight of the riggers on, I wouldn't leave them mounted when trailering the boat, it was just another pain and step to launch the boat. You can show me what you did when you get back home, please.

Good tips here @Luke Warmwater, I am going to have to find some swivels because the riggers I borrowed last year are being replaced by the pair I have and need swivels, would you please let me know where you found them and what they set you back?
 
WhatsthePoint said:
Great idea @chefboyardee re: bolstering the gunnels. I didn't like the play in the gunnels with the weight of the riggers on, I wouldn't leave them mounted when trailering the boat, it was just another pain and step to launch the boat. You can show me what you did when you get back home, please.

Good tips here @Luke Warmwater, I am going to have to find some swivels because the riggers I borrowed last year are being replaced by the pair I have and need swivels, would you please let me know where you found them and what they set you back?
Click to expand...

I haven't found any as of yet. I am looking on Kijiji for a pair. Hopefully the price is resonable.
 
i got mine @ fishing world for my big jons, but there were some on here for sale its on the first page of the classifieds and 100 for the pair.
 
Last edited:
chefboyardee said:
when you mount the swivel bases, your going to need longer bolts preferably stainless steel counter sunk heads. on my big johns it was 1/4 20 threads i belive 3 inch i had to go with . dont use the nylok or teflon nuts , ive had them snap the bolts in the past get good lock washers .
Click to expand...

A nyloc lock nut will never twist and snap the bolt unless you're using the wrong nut, especially when it comes to stainless hardware. The actual nut is the same size/thread as a standard nut with the only difference being the nylon collar insert.

If you're going to use lock washers it's a very good idea to use some blue loc tite as well just to be safe. Nyloc nuts are the safer bet as compressible materials (wood, carpet) can eventually cause the nut to loosen, even with a lock washer, and the nut can vibrate loose and completely come off the bolt. A nyloc nut may loosen, but can never vibrate completely off the bolt.

The absolute best is to use both lock nuts and lock washers.




To the OP, you'll definitely want swivel bases. I don't see why they even sell riggers with non swivel bases.
 
well ch312, you come to my house and ill show you snapped stainless steel from those nyloc nuts, after i broke them off the guys at the shop told me that not ot use them for that reason. the size was matched perfectly . this wasnt a torque issue either on my part,. and i wasnt using so called compressible materials thats why i use the cutting boards for mounting as they hold firm. they also give a good surface for the nut and lock washer to bite into. definetly need to use loc tight something forgot to mention.

i got this from a forum that i read on this same problem. so if you go with nyloc make sure to by extras just in case .

Wirecutter
04-14-2011, 09:51 AM
I had a 5/16-18 bolt and a mating nut with a nylon locking insert. I screwed them together, and since I started the assembly by hand, I know it wasn't cross-threaded.

I go to unscrew them, and I encounter more and more resistance, just like it was cross-threaded, but I know that it wasn't. I wound up getting a couple of wrenches to separate them, and the resistance got to be so much that the bolt actually broke.

Let me point out that the nut-bolt assembly had never been torqued on to anything or loaded up. They both were fresh out of boxes from McMaster and were visually okay.

Now recently at work, a similar situation has come up. We have blocks of 6061 aluminum with 10-32 threaded holes and matching 10-32 stainless socket head bolts. All brand new and fresh out of the box. Screw a bolt into a block of aluminum by hand for a length of about .75 inch. Again, not cross-threaded. I go to back it out by hand, and there's that increasing resistance. I get an allen wrench for the bolt and a large pair of pliers for the block and begin to "Use The Force." The bolt broke before I could get it backed out of the aluminum.

This is happening a lot. Does anyone know what could be happening here? Is there some need for lubrication or pre-treatment that I should know about? Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but I'm at a loss to understand what's happening. Thanks, folks.

-Mark

if you wanna read the whole thing and bore yourself here is the link

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/archive/index.php/t-47569.html

you are definetly right on the "why do they even sell downriggers with out swivel bases"
 
Threading stainless into aluminum is not the best. These materials don't work well together ( the aluminum has a tendency to 'load up' on the stainless threads). You can get around this problem by using a 'helicoil kit' which gives a stainless thread surface for the stainless bolts to fasten in. Acklands, Fastenal, and most auto suppliers have them. Very easy to install.
 
I've worked with stainless hardware for years. When stainless hardware starts to bind, your done. You'll snap the bolt or have to cut it off. We always put anti-seize on the bolt to prevent this from happening. The comment on aluminum and stainless is right. There is a corrosion effect when you combine them.
 
chefboyardee said:
Now recently at work, a similar situation has come up. We have blocks of 6061 aluminum with 10-32 threaded holes and matching 10-32 stainless socket head bolts. All brand new and fresh out of the box. Screw a bolt into a block of aluminum by hand for a length of about .75 inch. Again, not cross-threaded. I go to back it out by hand, and there's that increasing resistance. I get an allen wrench for the bolt and a large pair of pliers for the block and begin to "Use The Force." The bolt broke before I could get it backed out of the aluminum.

This is happening a lot. Does anyone know what could be happening here? Is there some need for lubrication or pre-treatment that I should know about? Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but I'm at a loss to understand what's happening. Thanks, folks.

-Mark
Click to expand...

As you mentioned this is common and it is "galling". If you look under a magnifying at about 500 X magnification you will see that both Aluminum and SST (316 SST is really bad) does not finish well and as such when loaded on a the same material it will jam or gall with one and other. SST on Aluminum is the worst. Thread it together once and you will never get them apart if not treated. I have through my business repairs had 1/2" SST threaded rod snap off... nothing to do with anything else but the materials used. Is there a solution... actual I do have one that I/we have been using and so far I have been able to un-thread any of the bolts/nuts that I have threaded together including aluminum interior thread to a SST external thread (my boat plug) The threads look as good now as when they were new. I Do sell the product but will not post it here as it has nothing to do with this forum. If your interested... PM me
 
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