So i’m a bassboat guy who will be transitioning to a MX1825 and I will need to have a bow depth finder setup for how I fish. I never see fish finders installed in the bow console area of the MX series in any of the pictures from Skeeter. Is it possible to flush mount a simple depth finder (Lowrance Elite 5x) in the bow console plate? Is there a reason why you never see pictures of them installed this way? I don’t want to install a RAM mount on the deck or the carpet.
I would think there would have to be to much modification needed. Ram mounts for this guy. Personally, I like having the graphs elevated higher anyways.
There is not enough space for a locator to flush mount there. You will need to use a ram mount for your locator
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There is not enough space for a locator to flush mount there. You will need to use a ram mount for your locator
Or you could go with a stabil-mount.. I have had them on my last two boats and love them. They don’t move an inch even in rough water!
I’m just curious, but why would you rather cut a big hole and flush mount a graph vs. adding a simple RAM ball that you can easily remove and either:
1. fill the 3 small holes with gel coat or
2. unscrew out of the carpet and brush it and no one would every know it was there?
I would say because flush mounting is clean, and keeps things out of the way. If your going to do something, do it right.
That being said the access plate is small and plastic. No way to flush mount to it. The front deck of a 1825 is small as well. Not much room up there for much of anything.
I’d put it on a RAM, that way if the sun is bad, you can tilt the graph to a position where you can see it with polarized glasses on.
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I’d put it on a RAM, that way if the sun is bad, you can tilt the graph to a position where you can see it with polarized glasses on.
I just fished out of a boat that had a flush mounted graph at the front and it was very difficult to see it clearly from a casting position as I moved around the bow. Each to their own but if I bought a boat with a flush mounted graph one of the first things I’d do is RAM mount it so I could adjust the angle.
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I’d put it on a RAM, that way if the sun is bad, you can tilt the graph to a position where you can see it with polarized glasses on.
I just fished out of a boat that had a flush mounted graph
at the front and it was very difficult to see it clearly from a casting position as I moved around the bow. Each to their own but if I bought a boat with a flush mounted graph one of the first things I’d do is RAM mount it so I could adjust the angle.
x2 
I suppose you can drill more holes, put a big old 1100 series out looking like a TV on your dash. Or you could just fasten a shade to it in conjunction with a UV screen protector and not deal with angling it at all I always preferred built in myself. Just looks cleaner and helps keep the deck/dash clear etc… For bow mounts most people are not using the larger screens up there except the pros who are pumping endorsements worse than nascar. They are pretty much stuck with ram’s on the larger screens. I have seen some pretty ingenious built in’s. My favorite setup I have seen was on a lund tiller model with the slide out shelf. Don’t care much for tiller boats but that setup sure ,ade sense for what it was.
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For bow mounts most people are not using the larger screens up there except the pros who are pumping endorsements worse than nascar. They are pretty much stuck with ram’s on the larger screens.
I would argue that this is pretty inaccurate. A lot of us like bigger screens in the bow.
Another RAM mount guy here. I like adjustability.
I’m looking for a simple small depth finder for up front, I just want to know depth and I like the out-of-the-way factor of a flush mount installation…I only fish the lake I have a cabin on, so the high tech fish finders do nothing for me..I know where most everything is under the water from experiance over the years…
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I’m looking for a simple small depth finder for up front, I just want to know depth and I like the out-of-the-way factor of a flush mount installation…I only fish the lake I have a cabin on, so the high tech fish finders do nothing for me..I know where most everything is under the water from experience over the years…
It wouldn’t be flush, but could you have a low profile bracket made that will hold the Elite 5 flat to that plate up front?
When it comes times to do anything, i’ll probably have a thin aluminum plate made to replace the plastic factory one and mount it as flush as possible…
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I’m looking for a simple small depth finder for up front, I just want to know depth and I like the out-of-the-way factor of a flush mount installation…I only fish the lake I have a cabin on, so the high tech fish finders do nothing for me..I know where most everything is under the water from experiance over the years…
I will pull mine apart take some pictures and give you measurements. I know you can cut the fiberglass around the cutout. But I can not remember from memory how much room there is exactly.
If you dont want to put a ram on the floor we have had people mount the gimble directly to the plastic cover on the boat before.
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When it comes times to do anything, i’ll probably have a thin aluminum plate made to replace the plastic factory one and mount it as flush as possible…
Here you go, inside there is plenty of room as it just goes down to the carpeted bilge area and up to the front of the bow. You can cutout below the access plate by about 2.5 inches however you will need something pretty beefy like a sawzall to accomplish it, the curvature of the fiberglass gets pretty thick in places. I would not attempt the cut without taping the heck out the surrounding glass either. There is no cutting above the plate at all, you would be taking out the top deck portion if you did. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the pics, I looked at this area alot while out at the SBC, I think i could countersink a small finder a bit in there, but it would also stick out a little ways too..
You could definitely gimble mount the cover, I would not suggest going with anything more than a 5″ unit for that though. Unless you do replace it with a metal cover. I would be pretty upset if I lost a $1200 unit over the side in rough weather. That plastic cover is cheap with a capitol C.
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