I thought it would be a good thing to hear what you guys thought about these.
I have wanted rails on a boat for some time. I like the way they look but I am leaning towards the versatility of a track system.
Truly would like to hear your thoughts from your experiences.
Thank You.
I really like my tracks. Rails are okay for rod holders you never move..
But I use rod trees, electric down riggers, tool holder/cup holder, hand line reel mounts. With tracks the options are endless
I might switch to tracks myself. So I am interested to hear what others say as well.
We have several folks that do a hybrid combination of both. Rails are tough to beat for most walleye applications and are quick to adjust for different rod lengths.
Tracks will work nicely for a combination of downrigger, tree additional rod holders to spec pending species, number of rods, etc etc.
I like a combination of both, but if I had to choose only one it would be tracks. The versatility and speed on switching stuff out is great.
Ryan
We have several folks that do a hybrid combination of both. Rails are tough to beat for most walleye applications and are quick to adjust for different rod lengths.
Tracks will work nicely for a combination of downrigger, tree additional rod holders to spec pending species, number of rods, etc etc.
Although I don’t have any rails on my boat, I can see where this would be beneficial. Although, I certainly would not choose rails over tracks.
I also have trees, downriggers and single rod holders and absolutely love my traxstech stuff. Rock solid and very well built. If you like to troll a lot, the coat is worth it in my opinion.
I switched to Traxstech tracks 4 years ago, really love them for the ease of adjusting rod location and the ability to take everything off, add the insert, and have a nice flat gunnel when I’m casting for muskies or panfishing with the family.
The one thing I really miss about rails is the ability to quickly rotate a holder up or down to adjust rod tip height and help a lure get up over a shallow rock or down a touch deeper to an arc spotted on the sonar. With my Folbes on the track, it’s not possible to just quickly hit the rod butt and get the tip adjusted by spinning the railmount.
That limitation has been solved by the ratcheting tube-style holders, as you can almost immediately tip them up or down and have them lock back in the new position. They also free up a bit more cockpit space by keeping the rod butts outside. Next season I’ll continue using the Folbes for planer board rods, and add a couple ratcheting tubes by either Cannon or Traxstech for my boat and propwash rods.
Thank You Every One for your replies. Very helpful indeed.
Concerning track systems, Are there any that should be avoided?
Thanks Again!!
JW
I’ve had rails, rails and tracks, and now just tracks. I prefer the tracks for the way I fish. I use them for rod trees, rod holders, downriggers, sonar mounting, etc. They really give you a lot of options, but you do have to swallow hard at the cost of all this stuff……
As far as brand, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. They are all the same size, so you can use one manufacturers stuff in another track’s, etc. I’ve got Cannon tracks, Cannon DR swivel mounts, Bert’s racheting rod holders, and Great lakes planer rod trees. It all works just fine. Cannon makes some really nice stuff, but their rod trees and holders are spendy.
As far as brand, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. They are all the same size, so you can use one manufacturers stuff in another track’s, etc. I’ve got Cannon tracks, Cannon DR swivel mounts, Bert’s racheting rod holders, and Great lakes planer rod trees. It all works just fine. Cannon makes some really nice stuff, but their rod trees and holders are spendy.
And my guess is that traxstech works with all of these. I have some Bert’s tracks and they are identical to traxstech except for the finish.
All the brands I e seen in person seem to be very comparable as far as quality. Maybe it’s just my perception, but it appears as though traxstech has more accessories.
As far as brands, traxatech, cannon and Burts are alm the same size. And all items fit in others tracks. I will add this, Ive had some warranty claims with traxstech and they have gone above and beyond to take care of the issues. They even overhauled some swivel bases that were getting old and sloppy that I offered to pay for but there was never a charge other than shipping the item to them. Great CS.
On my MX 1825 I added a track behind the rail for electric downriggers. On mycurrent boat Ranger 621FS I took the back rail off and replaced with 36″ Cannon tracks.
Tracks are tracks are tracks, all cosmetic. All brands are the same and Cannons are the least expensive.
Thank you everyone for your information. It really has helped me out greatly.
I do believe I will be going with the track system.
Just make sure to post pictures of the final product for helping you spend $1000. 
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
