Am I the last one to realize scotty mounts suck?

I am not usually negative, but I was pretty dissapointed with the way my scotty mounted. Its a new electric scotty and the swivel mount is garbage. Do i really want the four thumb screws that fall out and get lost every time I take it off? Why am I screwing down into blind holes with captive nuts that will fill with garbage over time? These dudes need to take a look at the penn mount. simple.

I know guys out there have made their own mounts, so lets see them. I am thinking about a pipe in pipe with a UHMW bearing. Help me out with good ideas for an aluminum boat.

Thanks!

Just take the one long screw out that holds the DR to the swivel base. Quick and easy.

Crank those four short screws down tight, and do what fishranger said. I only take mine off between seasons, but even if you did it every trip, the long one is nothing.

I changed to braid. Not sure how I feel about it yet.

You should have used the search feature on this website.

I was looking for pictures of home made mounts that are better. No one has built any custom mounts?

this is how mine is mounted...have no problems except the big pin on the passenger side only needs to be tightned every once in a while...
hope this helps...had it done at Three rivers when i bought the boat, but they did have to redue the screws to the boat because they didnt go all the way through the boat and busted loose, but that was not the fault of Scotty...c

the mount to the boat and how it mounts...c

makes it nice to take on and off quickly for outside storage...c

Thats what I do. The Scotty mounts work fine for me.

I have the side mounts which gives me another removal option:

http://www.scotty.com/marine/products/product/downriggers/drmounts/1025.html

Hey Mojo,
You're not the last one. Just the latest...
The swivel mounts bind when you hang a ball from the boom.
The closed design keeps moisture on the spool, rotting your cable.
You can't see the depth counter until you stand on top of the 'rigger.
Hands free lowering of the ball is not a possibility.
All of this on top of the fact that we're talking about the s l o w e s t rigger on the market.
They are dependable though.... but far from convenient & handy.
When I switched to Cannon I did a side by side retrieve speed test from 150 feet. Cannon was 10 seconds faster. It might not sound like much but when the big one is coming to the net I want the wire out of the water.
The clincher was the fact that Cannon's Positive Ion Control is a built in black box that attaches directly to the cable end rather than a sleeve that merely rides the rust... I realized that there is a better, faster American made downrigger out there with a counter you can see without falling overboard.

Cannon is about #x the price.
I had 4 cannon's, and when the electronics corroded inside after about 5 years, they said they no longer made them, butthat I could easily bypass it the e-board and jsut have a up/down switch. A lotta good that does! Just makes the $1000 downrigger a $100 cheapie!

Cannon is nice in that you set "down 100" and it does that and auto-stops.

For a simple machine, neither is 100% perfectly engineered.

I have had no problems with mine. I just remove the single screw to take them off, quick and easy. I switched out the wire pretty soon after buying the riggers. Now I am thinking about giving braid a go.

I dont mind the mounts ! i wish they had a good lock on them!

I don't take mine off much, so I haven't figured out that they suck yet. Anybody have a recommendation on braid to replace the stock cable?

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Thanks you guys, this is good stuff.

This is what my brother in law did.



The downrigger is always mounted on a pipe and can be yanked in and out easily.

I will post what I am building as soon as I get a photo. I went a diferent route, relying on the scotty mount and now I am sad.

Dave

Cannons might have a faster retrieve rate but they draw almost twice the amps and try and get warranty service... no thanks. Twice I have had emergency failures in twenty years of fishing and both times I was in and out in one day for no charge.

There is no problem with the scotty swivel mounts. They sell lock kits for the swivel mount. If you wanted to permanently mount the swivel, there are tamper resistant stainless fasteners. As for the cable issue I have not had a problem, but it is possible there was a bad batch.

I think the mounts are ok.

never had a problem with them and usually put atleast 400 hours a year on them

Wow...I've read like 20 "What Electric Downrigger to Get" threads over the years and Scotty's always win in popularity it seems. I've had my (3) 30" 1100's since 1997 and they get a decent workout (couple hundred hours per season). Rebuilt 2 clutches (I think) and changed wire once. No problems for me.

Lovetofish is the only one who got the question and that is a good idea.

Thanks for the comments about scotty's quality, but.....

If anyone has made custom swivel mounts or has the perfect setup due to customization, Id love to see photos.

If you never take your downrigger off and have never noticed that the thumbscrews fall out, dont answer. If you never leave your boat where someone will rip your downriggers or the swivel mounts off, dont answer.

I know theres a lot of experience within this group, just trying to tap into it as I make the mounts and finalize my boat.

Thanks,

Dave

Scotty makes a lock kit for the swivel mount and the pivot bolt-problem solved.