I know it Jan. but I got my new riggers! (mounting)

Typically, you mount them directly to the boat and on the underside (up through the gunal) you use a piece of marine plywood backer. The wood isn't nice looking so you hide it up underneath and out of the way. I personally have 3/4" marine plywood in my boat. The guy who originally bought the boat from the marina purchased the downriggers at the same time and they did the installation for him including the plywood. That stuff is really expensive so buying a full sheet is something to avoid.

If you don't want to shell the money out for marine plywood use wolmanized plywood for exterior house use.

I'd cut the biggest and longest piece of wood possible to the shape of the boat. Then mount your rigger bases and tracks are to the same piece of wood. It's all about surface area. Rather than pulling on one little area of the aluminum or fiberglass you're pulling on the entire piece of wood.

It really depends on your boat. The topsides of my gunnels are 3/4" ply under the glass. My tracks were 3' with 8 bolts in each. I mounted my tracks right to my gunnels. I used the biggest washers I could get(probably 2") on the underside. Remember to reverse drill first and then countersink your holes to prevent cracking in your glass now and in the future. I applied a huge gob of sealant in each of my holes before I put the bolts through, as to keep any water off the wood inside. I dont actually run my riggers from the tracks(I use my tracks for rod holders), but you should have no problem handling the riggers. Thats what theyre made for. If you are unsure about your gunnel strength, make some backer boards as Beave said.

I was thinking about how wide the track was, and i'm thinkin it might not even fit on my gunnel. has anyone used a scotty Right Angle Side Gunnel Mount. here's a picture, hopefully it works





then i put the swivel mount on this and use backing on the inside to secure the riggers. I just don't know how strong this would really be.

golfpercy,
First off, congrats on your scotty's. I own 4 and really like them. If you have the 5 ftrs, really make sure they are mounted sturdy. Those 5ft stainless booms do not flex so your boat better be strong. I actually turnbuckled the base of the rigger to the floor of my boat because I was worried they would flex too much. I've never used that side mount you are showing, but that would put a lot of torque on the side of your boat. Just make sure its beefed up.

Golfpercy,

Just for reference, this is how I mounted my track and riggers. Very basic, for what it's worth. 17 foot Lund, aluminum hull. I wanted to be able to strip the gear off the boat if I wanted.

After losing a rigger on the way home because he didn't have an end cap, I'm not sure I'd take BJ's advice on the subject of securely fastening downriggers to anything.

I used a backing plate like Beave described but instead of plywood, I used an aluminum plate.

My tracks are mounted right to the gunnel, no problems so far with the set-up but the mounts do flex alot running 12# balls with short booms.