So I'm looking for ideas to rig a sonar for ice fishing. The budget won't allow for the ice kit, so for now going to rig a lowrance mark 5x pro. I have the factory skimmer transducer, which will also be used on my 9' toon on soft water. I'm thinking of using PVC in some fashion to attach the ducer. maybe a bucket or other container for the battery, which would double as a storage compartment for the finder during transit. Maybe mount the fish finder bracket to the lid of the bucket? Wondering what y'all have done? Pics would be great!
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Use a small cooler to hold your battery. Screw your mounting bracket for your finder to the lid of the cooler. the cooler can hold your finder and battery during transport. Search the archives, lots of pics of different setups. Mount your trans on a piece of PVC.
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The night before I went to the berry I took the HDS 7T out of the box, looked at it, scratched my bald head, grabbed a beer and went to the garage. I got a piece of 1" PVC, two 1x1x3/4" tee's, a piece of 3/4" PVC and got my freezing butt back in the house.
My boat is in storage but my MG TM is in the man cave so I took the ducer off of it. With one tee I put a 1"x6" PVC on each side to hold it above the hole. I cut a piece of 3/4" PVC that eyeballed about 15" put the bullnose of the other tee on it. The 'roundness' of the 1" tee did not match the trolling motor mount but it was close so I used zip ties to attach the ducer to the 1" tee. Perfect. ATV battery out of the Yamaha in a battery box.
It's not fancy but it worked so great I wondered how many fish swam by in the last years that I never knew about. I'll show you some pics of my simple Pinky and The Brain invention tomorrow
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[#0000FF][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=554542#554542"]HERE'S A LINK[/url] to a post I put up a few years ago. It shows how I mounted a Humminbird 565 "regular" sonar before I got my Showdown flasher. It works.
One of the main things to work out is mounting your transducer to an extension rod...or under a float...so that it will shoot straight down from the hole. After that you need to mount your display so that it is both visible and protected...and easily removable for storage and transport.
One word of caution. Most LCD sonars are subject to freezeup in extreme cold. It is a good idea to run them with the back light on to add a tiny bit of warmth. You can also make a foam "jacket around the back and sides of the display for additional insulation.
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I snapped a few photos this morning of my setup.
I happened to already have the tackle box, which has a bulk storage area in the top just right for a battery and display.
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The post holding the transducer under the ice, and back from the hole is just 1/2 inch pvc, 1 elbow, and one 1/2 coupling (without the stop in the center, so it can slip all the way over the short horizontal piece out of the elbow the transducer is mounted to - using the coupling adds more wall thicknes, and larger diameter for easier mounting and ruggedness).
An appropriate sized hole was drilled/cut into the short horizontal section to fit the transducer mount, and two part epoxy putty was used to fill the hole and mount the transducer perpendicular to the vertical shaft (so I will point straigh down if the vertical shaft through the ice hold is verticle). Cover the putty with thin plastic wrap, and push the transducer into it to mold it so the transducer is held level. Don't push it in too far, or you will have a hard time getting it out next spring. Just enough to conform well and hold securely. The way I have it, is sort of "snaps" in. Nice snug fit, enough to hold it secure, but not so much I can't get it out. Zip ties are used to make sure I don't bump it out. (a screw through the pvc pointing up to the bottom of the ice really helps hold it in place.
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The sliding portion of a pipe clamp is used to hold the entire assembly tight against the ice. I've used it without a couple screws in it to bite into the top edge of the ice, but the two screws are a huge improvement in stability.
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One downside is the pipe clamp can build some ice if exposed to the cold air. It still works fine, but you have to force it to slide up and down the pipe rather than being able to use the built in locking mechanisim. I fish out of the hole the transducer is in, and have yet to have an issue doing so. I don't bother to pull it out. While its not as simple as pulling a ducer held by a float, it is a really simple one handed operation to push it down to open the clamp gap, and tilt and lift it out.
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I use a metal ammo can and my battery, display, and transducer all fit inside. I have used this for more than 10 years, but if I ever re-do it I would change a few things.
My box is metal which does attract ice build up. This is rarely an issue inside my tent. In the tent, with a heater on it will begin to melt inside the ice. Now, I've never been worried about it melting through, but it does begin to slip around. That can be pretty annoying.
My display secures to the top of the box with a permanent bolt and a medium sized wing nut. This is kind of a pain to set up with gloves on and heaven forbid I drop the nut in deep snow.
However, once it is set up it works well and the little things that annoy me aren't enough to motivate me to redesign it.
Whatever you decide to do, post your pictures for us to see.
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Great ideas and pics thanks everyone!! I like them all for different reasons. i'll come up with a "Frankenstein" that will utilize ideas from your contraptions. If I can use the same transducer bracket for ice fishing on my pontoon boat, that would be ideal. at that point, I won't have to invest in a second transducer. i'll send some pics of the finished product. working in the electrical field I have an idea that will utilize conduit straps to attach the PVC ducer bracket to either my pontoon frame, or an ice fishing container. at that point, i'll be able to slide the pvc up or down to adjust for ice depth, and/or draft of the toon.
[ul][li]Overall it seems these are the most important considerations...[/li][li] keeping the transducer horizontal to the bottom[/li][li]Protecting the fishfinder from damage/elements[/li][li]making it all work conveniently [/li][li]saving bulk/weight[/li][/ul]
thanks again..
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Ok, so here it is. I came up with a foam float for the transducer for the hard water (see pic). Nothing too unusual here.
Then, when the ice melts I'll thread the sch 40 extension onto the sch 80(see pic). I'll attach the metal conduit straps to my pontoon frame and another pair to the plywood motor mount on my 14' aluminum, and should be able to use 1 transducer for ice fishin, inflatable toon, and my aluminum boat. The conduit straps allow the pvc to be adjusted for depth just by turning a wing nut, and re-tightening. Seems to be a light weight, cheap, and hopefully sturdy setup. Time will tell....
Lastly, found a tote to mount the finder to, we'll see how well it holds up. It's light weight and not too spendy. Has enough room inside for finder, battery, and ducer.
Thanks to all for your time and ideas!
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