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1980 17 foot Montauk transducer location in transom.
I'm going to ask the same question that the fellow asked about his 13 foot. I liked the idea of mounting it on starboard and gluing it to the transom. I need some advise on the proper location, position and how low from the hull.
I have a 1980 Montauk 17 foot with an 1989 90hp Johnson
I have always located the transducer on the left side. I think the idea is there is less prop wash with a right hand propeller. I also have just screwed the transducer bracket directly on the transom. I do not know about making a starboard pad and gluing it to the transom. I have a picture on my personal page to show where my transducer is located. I have always kept the bottom of the transducer above the bottom of the boat just in case you hit something in the water. I am not sure how far that is off center. I also tape a ruler to the bottom of the boat right next to where I mount the transducer to get an idea of how much of the transducer will be in the water when the boat is on plain. The brackets usually have slots so you can move the transducer up or down a little. I have always erred on having the transducer lower than too high. Good luck with your project.
In the past year, I mounted a transducer on my 1988 Montauk 17 on the starboard side on a "Stern Saver," aligned pretty much directly underneath the splashwell drain tube. I mounted it as far up the stern as allowed depth to be read at speed to avoid as much drag, etc as possible. I started with the transducer mounted so its base was flush with the bottom of the hull, and then moved it up and down from there in small (1/4") increments to optimize after seeing how it performed in the water at various speeds.
My prop wash comment is BACKWARDS! Like cys said, the starboard side looks like the better choice. Sorry, it has been 17 years since I mounted a transducer.
I'll second the advice about not drilling into the fiberglass and future generations of Whaler owners will thank you for it. Starboard material will stick well with M5200 if you scuff it first with coarse sand paper.
As an alternative opinion, I think 3M 5200 adhesive glue will do more damage to a transom than a few screw holes. If done correctly, the I believe the screw holes are easy to repair if done correctly, and if screws are sealed correctly when transducer is installed, are completely water tight. All transducer brackets have room for adjustment. At least for me, that is the way I do it.
Regarding the Montauk transducer location, I run the line bundled up with all of the engine cabling, then down along side the engine bracket to the transducer. The side of the boat that has the engine cabling determines the side for the transducer for the cleanest installation. In most cases that would be the starboard side, with mechanical steering. In my case, I have BayStar hydraulic, with all cabling on the port side, which is also where the battery and stern light are located. A picture is worth a thousand words.
As an addendum that I almost added last night, I went with the Stern Saver at a point where I was more worried than I am now about holes in the transom. At the time I installed my transducer I was reworking a new to me Montauk and there were a dozen or so holes in the transom filled to varying degrees with silicone and 5200 that I had just filled with epoxy. In the case of the Stern Saver it goes on with a secret adhesive that I think is *very* similar to West System Gflex. In any case the only way the Stern Saver is coming off is with a saw of some sort. You can see I installed trim tabs (link below), bedded in 5200, so I've gotten over putting screws in my transom. In any event, I did benefit from the Stern Saver as I moved the transducer around beyond the intrinsic up and down slide adjustment, which was truly no problem with the Stern Saver.
