I bought some used manual downriggers from a buddy this winter. I struggled with where I was going to mount these on my boat. I really didn’t want to have to tear apart my rear deck to get sheet metal under the deck for strength, and really didn’t want big raised downrigger bases taking up room in the boat when I wasn’t using them.
I knew my Lowe had a gunnel track system, but wasn’t sure what setup to get, or what brand etc… I stumbled onto Trackstar by Phischon Engineering. They have a 2 pack of the track mounts and downrigger plates for $125. Which, if you look at these kinds of setups, is actually a really good price. I ordered a pair.
I got them, and let them sit in my garage for a few weeks. I went to install them yesterday, and realized that I didn’t have anywhere on the track system that served as an access point to install the bolts into. I emailed customer service asking if they knew of how to do this on my particular boat. I got a return email within 30 minutes with 3 options. I ended up removing the aluminum transom caps on each side, and using a drill bit to widen out an area in the track (under where that cap goes), to slide the bolt in. Perfect,
Fast forward to today. I decided that while the two included t-bolts that screw the downrigger to the adapter plate held very tightly, I’d like to have some extras, and maybe even use 4 on each rigger. I thought about buying something similar at menards, and just make it work. I once again emailed Phischon, and asked if they sold those bolts (with the knobs) seperately, and said I’d like to get 4 more. I fully expected to see a $5-$10 each cost on them, but was pleasantly surprised to get an email with a paypal invoice for a grand total of $5, including shipping for the 4 new bolts. I honestly couldn’t find a generic option at Menards for that price. My interactions have been very positive, and I have to recommend these guys. They have all sorts of adapters for track systems, I might get a few rod holder adapters too. I’m not affiliated with them in any way, but want to make sure people know when a company treats customers this well, and when they have a quality product as well.