Big mod project...

Here goes...
I bought a Lowrance Elite-4 HDI to replace an aging (20 yrs?) portable Eagle Ultra fish finder for my fishing raft and needed to fit it to my FishCat 4 LCS also. So, the first project was to make a battery pack that could be used on the tube as well as on the raft to isolate the finder power from the trolling motor battery. Here are some pics:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The Plano box is from Walmart, battery from Gander Mtn., wiring from the auto parts store. Measure, cut, glue, etc. a section of floor work mat.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Drill a hole in the corner of the top and silicone a grommet and the wire to prevent leaks.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A couple of clamps from the auto parts store will secure everything nicely.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Voila! Above is the finished product inside. Next I had to modify my raft setup to accommodate the new finder which isn't portable. I cut up one of my old seat boards to make the mounting board and also to mount new rod holders and then made a new front seat board. So far so good and below is a picture from the shakedown cruise.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

See next post for the FishCat mods...

Now the object would be to re-use the finder mounting from the raft on the float tube. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures while building the framework but you can see below the semi finished product. At the front is a trolling rod holder. Towards the rear is the anchor holder and below and behind that is the transducer. There is plenty of extra exposed 1 in. tubing to use for tool holders or whatever in the future.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Now that the sonar side is pretty much done it is time for the rod holder side.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Above you can see some cut and loosely assembled parts for the general framework.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Holes for the mounting eye bolts were drilled prior to assembly.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Holes were drilled and tapped for the swivel rod holders. Trial and error ensures the correct position as you can see.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

More parts either complete or ready for more work. Drain holes are present in the bottom elbows, T's and rod holder caps. Notice the stainless socket cap screws inserted into the threaded holes.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The 1.5 in. T's/rod holders need slots for the head of the socket cap screws to ride in, allowing a range of swivel action with solid stops at the ends. Trial and error here caused me to trash the first one. A round file will radius the two ends of the saw cut slot.

Let's continue in the next post so as not to bore everyone...

OK, let's move along.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A little router work on the anchor holder will allow me to rig some sort of velcro strap if needed in the future.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Router work on the 1.5 in. dia. rod holder tubes. A couple of the tubes were heated with a heat gun and squeezed in a vise until my bait castor handles could fit in the elongated area.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Here are the routered parts including the two trolling holders for the front of the racks. Notice the 'squeezed' holders.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Assembled rod holders in the rear facing direction. A little grease was needed to allow the fairly tight fitting pieces to swivel.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Straight up for close to shore lure retrieval.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Forward position for when necessary.

On to the next post to see the results!

It is off to the pond to give the rig a try.
Pre-launch pictures:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Sonar side.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Front view.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Rod side.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

View after return from second outing.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

And here we are, a cell phone picture and grinning. Can't you see? What do they call it, a selfie??

Although I didn't really get into detailed plans or measurements I hope someone may still take something away from this project. Happy fishing and modding!

Dan

Dan that is a killer set up bro. lots of detail and looks like you put some thought into it. Thanks for sharing I am sure some one will get something from this, thanks

That's rad! Lot of work/thought there, awesome job!

First off, welcome to the forum Hunt! (Satellite builder/engineer/ overkill/showoff guy)

I love your idea for the swivel holder.
Chop saw and router, great idea for making the slots, what size router bit and was it a single flute or two? I like your jig for the straightness, but did you eyeball or is there a jig stop I can't see?

Yep, you gave me a few things to ponder with this.

Thanks for sharing that.

I did not see the other picture earlier great tutorial I am sure you got some guys minds turning now, we will see who comes up with what next.

Nice job! Thanks for sharing. And welcome to the forum!

Nice work, thanks for sharing

Nice elaborate setup. Wish I had the patience to actually make all the mods I want like you did =) one thing though: where's the kitchen sink?

Wowzers, good stuff, way to break that down for the site....great job, it looks champion!!!

Jerdon wrote:First off, welcome to the forum Hunt! (Satellite builder/engineer/ overkill/showoff guy)

I love your idea for the swivel holder.
Chop saw and router, great idea for making the slots, what size router bit and was it a single flute or two? I like your jig for the straightness, but did you eyeball or is there a jig stop I can't see?

Yep, you gave me a few things to ponder with this.

Thanks for sharing that.

Thanks Jerdon, I used a 1/2" 2 flute router bit to do the rod holder slots. I marked the end of the tube for the slot width and with a steady hand routed to the depth of the stop, pulled back and did the other edge to get the width. Then at depth I just twisted in both directions to get the locking slots done. Flip over and repeat. All eyeball measurements.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

See the black marker marks on the pipe ends where I had scribed guide lines. Also notice the two on the right have expanded bases to fit over the 45 deg. elbows for trolling holders. Soften with heat gun and push over elbow, let cool, glue. No insert needed.

SirMixALot wrote:Nice elaborate setup. Wish I had the patience to actually make all the mods I want like you did =) one thing though: where's the kitchen sink?

I'm working on the kitchen sink but need to finish the bathroom first since I don't seem to have one in any of my waders.

jeffcpr wrote:I did not see the other picture earlier great tutorial I am sure you got some guys minds turning now, we will see who comes up with what next.

I can't take the credit for everything. I searched everywhere for ideas and came up with the plan based on everything I found.

For added detail, here is a better look at the swivel section of the rod holders:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Well, my fishing partner moved up from a float tube to a semi-pontoon (FishCat Scout) to be able to move around with oars. The problem with that craft for me would be the lack of storage, even less than a standard FishCat 4 LCS. This year I evened things up by buying a Colorado XTS. I skipped all the how-to pictures but here is the end result with 4 swivel rod holders, 2 front and 2 aft trolling rod holders and fish finder mount. Now I have vastly increased storage and can use oars and fins.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Works nicely!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Looks great again.

How about a compare contrast report on the Colorado and Fish Cat?

Comparing the FishCat 4 LCS to the Colorado XTS is almost comparing apples to oranges. They are both nice and have their uses.

The FishCat occupies smaller space in the vehicle and has faster set up, even with the extra PVC. You are more intimate with the water but slower at propulsion. It is a little tough to use on windy days.

The Colorado has to be broken down a bit and mostly deflated in order to store folded over the basic frame in a vehicle but is heavy and unwieldy removing and putting away, at least single handedly. It has much more tackle storage room and can be propelled more easily with the oars. If you decide to also wear fins you can continually adjust position and bearing while fishing. The removable wheel makes it easier to gear up at the vehicle and make your way to the shoreline. Only your calves are in the water so wading pants would be a nice option. The XTS has a swivel seat which is very nice. I registered the XTS but haven't tried my trolling motor yet so I can't comment on its performance under power but I imagine it will be fun.

If you are traveling with a friend in his/her vehicle the tube will take up less space but if you have the room, the 'toon is far more functional.

NIIIIICCCCCEEEEEEE well done sir.

Nice job on the rack........GT

Well, on 8/10/2016 I fished with my son on Canadice lake. He used his kayak with trolling motor and I outfitted my pontoon with my trolling motor for the first time. Here are my observations.
My old Minn Kota motor is not too big or heavy, however my marine battery weights a ton. With both in/attached to my rack it seemed to pull my back end horribly toward the water. To make matters worse, as the day cooled down my bladders really lost a lot of pressure (no pump on board) and the battery rack ended up under water as well as the bottom few inches of my battery. Since this experience I have moved my seat as far forward as possible but have not yet tried the motor again. I also purchased a pool noodle with which I plan on using two small sections to cover the frame tubing cross bar sections in the rear to perhaps elevate the rear of the frame a bit off the top of the pontoons.
Any other suggestions are welcome.

Here is a shot of the XTs with the nose high as I hold up a pickerel.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Well congratz on getting out and catching a few. Are you going to move things around to redistribute the weight? I am really looking forward to the next phase of this build.

Thanks for sharing.

Great detail Hunt. Was wondering, could u show me, us, how the tube rack is disassembled for travel.

I used pvc unions at the ends of the crossover. Just curious as to how your rack travels. Thanks for the pics and design.......GT

Hunt wrote:

SirMixALot wrote:Nice elaborate setup. Wish I had the patience to actually make all the mods I want like you did =) one thing though: where's the kitchen sink?

I'm working on the kitchen sink but need to finish the bathroom first since I don't seem to have one in any of my waders.

Let me know when you've completed your BR Design!
Ha ha ha!! I could sure use one of my own.

Thanx for sharing your float and your well thought out mods.
Welcome to the Forum!

SP Dan <"))><