Elite-5: how to mount transducer on a pontoon??

HELP!

I picked up a used pontoon boat about 2 weeks ago for a steal… which freed up enough $ to invest in decent electronics. So I got a Lowrance Elite-5 Combo (sonar and nav) at Cabella’s yesterday with the latest MN Lakemaster chip.

Here’s the issue: I can’t for the life of me figure out where to mount the damned transducer. I don’t want to put holes in the ‘toons (that’s just a really horrible idea, innit?), I don’t have enough transom to mount it to, and since it’s on a scissor trailer I need to be careful where I mount things so the trailer doesn’t smash my transducer when I’m loading/unloading.

Does anyone have any ideas?

I’ll go out and grab some pics this afternoon so I can show you what I’m working with… I know for a fact that’ll make it easier for everyone to contribute ideas.

Thanks guys!!

I’ve only seen this once, and I don’t know how the guy did it, but he had the transducer on a metal pole off the back of the pontoon deck. He had it rigged on some type of pivot so if he hit something, it would flip the entire pole up out of the water. He rigged it himself and was pretty proud of it, but I don’t really know how well it worked. It was a pretty new modification when I saw it and I haven’t seen him since.

Here is a link to a portable transucer bracket sold at Cabela’s for about $45. Portable Pontoon Transducer Mount

I added a photo so you can see it.

Yanno, between the two of you I think I have an idea… off to the garage!

I’ll let you guys know how it works when I’ve had a chance to test it.

Should we pre book you a spot at the ER?

I’d mount a transducer plate near the bottom of my pontoon then attatch the transducer to the plate. Secure the plate tot he pontoon with a good silicone adhesive – worked for me

Off to test the new bits… I’ll let you know in a while how well it worked.

I ended up taking a piece of 3/8″ square steel tubing and a hammer and pounding the ends flat. In one end I bent a hook and the other I bent to be parallel with the ground when the hook is in place.

The hook connects to the middle rail and is c-clamped in place as well as pinned down with a heavy bungee. The wood block attached to the rear side rail has a v-notch in it that serves as a receiver for the lower part of the tubing as it passes below the deck of the boat.

To the opposite end I used sheet metal screws and a large, heavy hose clamp to attach a 1′ length of 2″ PVC pipe to act as a stabilizer (with water flowing thru the tube, the whole assembly is less likely to sway). To the bottom of the other end of the tubing I used another hose clamp to attach the transducer.

The nice thing is that this is removable, so I can use the bungee to hold the whole thing up against the rear wall of the boat when it’s not in the water.

It seems to work great!

I’ve had this in the water 2 nights in a row now and I gotta say: I love it so far. It’s stable, removable, and loosely attached enough that if I DO hit anything it won’t destroy my transducer.

The way my boat sits on the trailer I have to remove it when I leave the lake, so it works out really well.