Trolling motor question
 

I have an 18 foot G – 3 boat that has an 80 pound Minnkota trolling motor on it. I keep having problem with the bolts on the head breaking the plastic casing due to excessive bouncing of the trolling motor while in the store position. has anyone else had this problem and/or any suggestions on how to prevent this from happening again. I have repaired this five or six times and do not know at this point what else I can do to prevent this from happening again.

1/2 " rubber mat between mount and deck.?

I had a short 6" or 8" 2x4 with a notch in it for the shaft to lay into and a door hinge to secure it to the deck so the 2x4 "holding bracket" lays flat when not in use. this was also held firm with a bunge. the problem I had with this is it still let the head unit absorb a lot of shock from bumps so the head bolts stayed a little loose but I resisted overtightening them and just left it that way so it didn't break.

after a while I wanted something better so I cut off the last top most notches so the motor can fully pivot down to the deck when fully up, I did this because the first notch was in the way of it sitting at the correct angle to the deck, then I layed it flat on the deck with a piece of carpet under it and used a bunge to hold it down. this works great.

I had similar problems.

I cut the shaft shorter so that the "head" is up next to the mounting bracket. I installed a I-bolt under the head so that I could hold it down with a bungee cord.

I then installed a bold to the mounting bracket with a piece of heavy rubber hose on the end.

This just about eliminates any vibration. I have not been out enough to really give it a good test to see if this solved the problem I was having.

Install a ram mount.

let me add that the comments about what I did for my motor was about a bow mounted transom mount TM bracket (because that is all that would fit on the open seat bow of my flatboat) and obviously yours is not like that but the problem as well as the solution to it is the same, just make a short brace that lifts up to secure and cradles the head when stored and folds flat when not in use.