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Hello all- newbie member onsite hoping that someone has experience in strengthening the rod holders on my 1989 outrage 22' so a large fish (bft) that hits a trolling setup doesn't crack the glass etc....
Thinking aluminum back plate under gunwale somehow might help spread the force but I'm unsure of the size and scope of install.
Thanks to any and all for your comments
Redline
Hi,
I added 100mil aluminum backer plates to to my 1985 Outrage 18 to make me feel better about installing a heavy pot puller to the gunwale. The setup has worked fine for me, but I cannot know if the original teak gunwales might not have worked just fine too.
At any rate, adding the plates to the entire length of the gunwales was pretty straight forward but rather time consuming. I attached the plates to the boat, and screwed the thinner teak boards to the plates from the bottom. They now can slide off after removing the bottom fasteners and railing through-bolts.
I milled the holes in the plates on a small mill, but a drill press, router, or hole saws would work fine too. I also tried to minimize galvanic corrosion between the non-anodized aluminum and stainless fasteners by using nylon washers and Tef-Gel for isolation. Hopefully it will do the trick.
There is a photo of the plate segments on my personal page. Good Luck.
