transducers inside jonboat

[shorefisherman]

anyone done it in a aluminum hull, herd u can take a regular ducer and engulf it w epoxy it will work w good results
just lookin for depth reading

 

[ghosthunter]

Do you mean actually letting it read throgh the aluminum?

 

[rukiddin]

No, it only works with fiberglass boats. They have just came out with a specifically made transducer just for mounting inside aluminum boats, but there pricey and accuracy is not absolute.

 

[shorefisherman]

yep, heard it works.
goin to try it on my jon boat

 

[ghosthunter]

I've heard it works also. Let us know how it works. I've got an aluminum boat that I'd like to put a finder in.

 

[shorefisherman]

im goin to install it sometime this week and will let u know the results, the key is its gotta be solid to alum hull

 

[TNLynn]

Won't work. As Rukidding said, only one transducer made to shoot through aluminum.

 

[rukiddin]

As I stated earlier, IT WILL NOT WORK. Been there tried it and did not know that only fiberglass was shoot thru. I just hate to see anybody go through the trouble of doing it and then have to worry about how to get the transducer un-stuck from the bottom of the boat and then you'll waste hours gently trying to get leftover epoxy of the transducer. I got that t shirt.

 

[gil1]

I have one on my aluminum jon boat, but I have the wire running over the back with the transducer screwed into a bracket on the back of the boat (near the bottom on the outside). It's been that way for over 10 years with no problems.

 

[TennesseeRains]

My 'Jimmy Houston' flasher reads through my aluminum hull. MY 2 LCD depth finders I have won't. I experimented with all three to see, as I didn't want to drill any more holes in my hull (I completely tore my boat down to the ribs and refurbished it).

Here's whatcha do:

Put boat in water - go out to a depth you know (I used my trolling motor depth finder for reference) fill your bilge with enough water to cover your transducer. Then put transducer into your bildge's flattest surface - and check to see if it works.

Like I said, my flasher did (makes a very audible clicking sound through the hull too); the others didn't read.

When I got home, I epoxied the flasher transducer to the bilge...it works fine and is quite accurate for me. I use it when I'm running wide open - which is about 20-25 mph with my 50hp Merc. on a good day.

I also have an LCD unit to help me see structure at slow speeds - usually, it's transducer flips up when running.

 

[TNLynn]

If a Jimmy Houston flasher works through aluminum, the company that spent a ton of money on research and development to invent a transducer that would shoot through aluminum wasted lots of money. They also don't deserve the awards they won!!!! The one that will shoot through aluminum is called an AlumaDucer and is available on Vexilar Fl SerieS Sonar.

 

[TennesseeRains]

OK.

I really do NOT care if anybody believes me or not....I only did it because my father-in-law did it to his Aluma-Craft.

That's TWO confirmed 'in the field' experiences - not 'research'.

I would show ya - but the only time my boat gets in the water is to fish - and I ain't showing you my hot spots.

 

[shorefisherman]

well, here is my preliminary result on my jon boat,
launched it in the creek this evening, just wanted to see if the average skimmer ducer would work inside aluminum hull. my hull is not hevy duty its prolly .010 or less i would assum. flooded the boat with water bout 3 inches,held the ducer to the bottom of the hull and it read the depth. it read 3.6 ft, took out the measuring tape and it was dead on, moved the boat to deepest spot 4.8 feet and back to shore, it read it.
thats all im interested in...the depth...20ft max. now i dont know how it will perform while moving, will let u know this weekend especially shallow water 1 ft or less

 

[shorefisherman]

btw the fish finder...morelike depth finder that i got is a eagle cuda 168

 

[AllOutdoors]

vexilar makes one called an aluma-ducer. It works great except for running. My tunnel hull causes this problem I believe. Otherwise it is accurate on depth and contour.

 

[shorefisherman]

i didnt get to try the ducer this weekend, wanted to go today, but the river i wanted to try it on (roaring river) and all the river was washed out to fish.
i am goin to fill the boat with water and head up river, while locating the best spot on the hull to permently mount it
they sell special epoxy for this, but im goin to use a commercial grade plastic epoxy which has no air bubbles that i already have.
maybe sometime this week or weekend will let yall know the finall results of this so called myth.

 

[shorefisherman]

update..it does work.
it works like its mounted on the transom(outside). for those of you who fish shallow rivers this would be the way to go, as outside transom mount transducer will eventually get knocked off.
this is what i did....take your transom mounted transducer and put it in a sandwich size ziplock bag w zipper and fill with water and zip it shut twards cable, it will hold itself upright byitself, but you may have to support the cable vertically, while your moving u can move the bag to different spot of your hull till it gets the best reading. my jon boat dont have a center ribline so it was easy to get good location.
after u have your final spot, u can epoxy it to the hull, i think lawrance sells epoxy for shoot through transducers.
if you dont want to permanently mount it just leave it it the bag.
btw my ducer makes ticking noise too!

 

[AllOutdoors]

With the aluma ducer you just remove paint from the hull with the included pad and squirt the aluma ducer epoxy to the prepared spot and push the transducer down giving it a 1/4 to 1/2 turn and your done. Nice job getting everything to come together, I hope it works well for you.

 

[TennesseeRains]

update..it does work.
it works like its mounted on the transom(outside). for those of you who fish shallow rivers this would be the way to go, as outside transom mount transducer will eventually get knocked off.
this is what i did....take your transom mounted transducer and put it in a sandwich size ziplock bag w zipper and fill with water and zip it shut twards cable, it will hold itself upright byitself, but you may have to support the cable vertically, while your moving u can move the bag to different spot of your hull till it gets the best reading. my jon boat dont have a center ribline so it was easy to get good location.
after u have your final spot, u can epoxy it to the hull, i think lawrance sells epoxy for shoot through transducers.
if you dont want to permanently mount it just leave it it the bag.
btw my ducer makes ticking noise too!

Great! Did it 10 years ago and epoxied it - still working!

 

[imograss]

nice to know as mine doesn't work while moving, so I will give this a try

 

[imograss]

Just to be sure, your depthfinder is NOT specially made to mount inside hull correct?

 

[wobblegobble]

:grin:

 

[shorefisherman]

Just to be sure, your depthfinder is NOT specially made to mount inside hull correct?

correct, mine says skimmer on it