Ipilot Brace
 

I'm trying to figure out something I can buy or make to support the head on my Ipilot while it isn't deployed. Has anyone made or bought anything to do this? I know it flexing a tad probably won't hurt anything, but I'd rather not have it happen just incase it eventually does.

I don't have a pic in front of me but I installed a ram mount on mine to brace it while on the road and in rough seas.

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-108

Awesome! Thanks for the reply, I never realized they made RAM mounts like this.

I went through same thing and was making something from PVC when I found this. Actually have them in stock at Superior TM in Laffy but I picked mine up online somewhere.

I was considering making something out of pvc as well, but this would definitely look better and probably work better. It's a shame MK doesn't already make something for this.

Agreed, they say it isn't needed but can'y tell me it's ok to have electronics bouncing around on 4 hour round trips every weekend...

The mount looks good and takes all of 20 minutes to install, installed mine 3 years ago.

thats what i was thinking. I hit some waves so frikin hard this past weekend that it flexed and actually hit the deck.

Wow I've never had that happen. You must have been in some crazy rough stuff

lets just say.. my rods were buzzing, hair was sticking straight up off my head and arms. We were hauling butt trying to get away and it wasn't close to calm

Gotcha... Yeah those aren't fun to run from

nope... we ended up getting out the path and catching a solid limit of trout though lol

yeah a buddy showed me a picture. I wanted to go where yall went Sunday but knocked a chunk out of prop and skeg Saturday am in Big lake..... Now boat is out of commission for the weekend....

We did bring my buddies nephew and he had an awesome trip besides that. We had about 25 really nice flounder and a couple slot reds.

I just got mine installed - love it btw - and was thinking about installing a mount in the stern to lessen the pounding on long, rough ingress and egress. Has anybody have thoughts about this?

Or at the very least, placing it in a cushioned bag or box. Watching it get pounded makes me queasy.

I had a lot problems with my trolling motor head due to vibration.

Here is my "fix". I also install a small bungee cord inside the head to hold the 5 speed switch in place so it would not become disconnected from the handle. The 1/4" bolt that held the "vibration bumper", broke off last trip so I need to get something a little bigger.
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Believe it or not but not adding a support to the trolling motor actually reduces the impact to the ipilot head.

With the support attached, the head of the trolling motor has no give what so ever (shock absorber so to speak). Trailer suspensions are very rough riding... so you need as much absorption as you can get.

If you leave the support off, then the flex of the shaft acts as the shock absorber and will be help to prevent damage to the internals of the motor. This is why MK does not recommend this.

If you call MK and are able to get one of their tech's on the line they can explain this a lot better to you.

Sent from my KYOCERA-E6560 using Tapatalk

I had heard the same thing and it makes sense. I just feel like it was bouncing way too much. Especially when I had a single axle trailer. With the ram mount it can still move and there is still absorption.

Mine bounce so much, it was causing damage inside the head.

1) wire came unplugged.
2) metal connector on end of wire broke.
3) wire broke off where it connected to the metal connector. Problem was not corrosion.
4) 5 speed switch move and disconnected from handle.
5) bottom portion of the head cover cracked where it bolts to the shaft. Replace cover.

All these problems made for much aggravation while out on the water. Over a years time.... I only had one or 2 fishing trips..... without the TM breaking.

I cut off about 10" of the shaft and secured the head. I have not had any problem since. See pic in my last post.

Hate to hear that about your prop and skeg. Would you mind sharing some info on the location this happened to prevent myself and others from the same accident?

We were near the old jetties. I was following my gps trail from previous trips and had past the last jetties that are visible heading to the bayou to get back to the ship channel. I was approximately 100 yards past the line of jetties to the west and another 50 to the south of the line of jetties as well.

The whole south end of Big Lake was filled "Junk" after hurricane Rita. I could count 30+ things sitting in one spot. There was everything from big trees, boats to refrigerators scattered every 100 yards going out a 1/4 mile or more. No telling how much stuff was just under the surface of the water. Sure wish I had a camera with me back on that trip.

A year or so later, I was on a boat 2 miles from the south bank and we hit something solid while doing 30+ mph. Bent the prop a little, but the lower unit looked ok. We had no way to mark that location.