Share Your Innovations

[dsafety]

I have never played with the grease. I would have two concerns. Does the grease transmit as well as water? More importantly, does the grease flow when it gets warm?

I store my kayak upside down so if the well were partially filled with grease and flowed to the lid while in storage there could be some issues when the yak is flipped over if all the grease is stuck to the lid of the well.

I suppose you could completely fill the well with grease but why do that if water works?

Bob

[dtownfan]

never used grease.....i vote water. i made a version of bob's wet mount and love it. it has worked very well and you never will have to worry about the mess you could have. i have the 2010 570 hummingbird. i have been out on 3 full day trips and love my readings.

water = no bubbles......grease i am not sure about.

plus++++++ water is free!

[fongman]

The wellnuts/screws on a Hobie Adventure can easily be used as mounting points. I used the ones near the front hatch to fasten a polycarbonate shelf for my fishfinder base. When I changed from a Humminbird to Garmin, no big deal; I just drilled new holes. Polycarbonate is very strong and will not crack like acrylic.


I made aluminum mounting plates for the ones behind the seat. These are used to support the pvc rodholder I made. The plate provides front-to-back stability while the V construction provides side-to-side stability. Other features that I like of this rodholders design is that they are angled at about 45 degrees, they have a low center of gravity, the mass is kept close to the centerline of the kayak, and the rods are within easy reach.

In addition, they point slightly forward or back, depending upon which direction they are mounted. When pointed forward, the tips of the rods can be seen without much effort.


I also built some extension tubes for the builtin rodholders. I use these for my bass rods. Electrician tape wrapped over one layer of corktape on 1 1/4" pvc creates a snug fit. Instead of using lanyards to secure the rods, the bungies are looped over the reel handles.

[dsafety]

Very cool Fongman. I really like the bungee loops on the rod holders. I will be adding them to all of my rod holders. What a great idea.

Can you post a photo that details that design? What did you use to attach the bungee cord together to make the loop?

Bob

[fongman]

Originally Posted by dsafety

Very cool Fongman. I really like the bungee loops on the rod holders. I will be adding them to all of my rod holders. What a great idea.

Can you post a photo that details that design? What did you use to attach the bungee cord together to make the loop?

Bob

Bob,

Those are pre-made for tarps. You can get them at any DIY store. I just shortened the ones on the extenders and slipped a 1" piece of plastic tubing over it so I could attach the zip tie.

[TheNewGuy81]

My vote goes to Jim....

[newguy01]

my plan is bait tank/ rod holder, rod holder and the pipe transducer mount. i have found a scrap 13 inch drain pipe about 12in long when they were doing the sewage repair at my work, that i will be using as a bait tank with built in rod holder and make a contraption rod holder that will use the existing molded rod hoder on my recently bought revo. the bait tank will be kinda like the hobie bait tank, i am thinking may be 5-6 rod holder n built in batery holder too. and i thank everyone here for the great ideas and insparation. right now i am gathering the material i might take me a week to finish the project due a little 1yr todler running around that touches everithing she see .

[JPBeck]

I don't know if this qualifies--
I got rid of my Jeep and got a new truck, my Yakimal towers wouldn't fit, nor did I want to spend another $500 bucks on Yakimal's truck bed tower system.
Soooooo I bought a $150 dollar ladder rack.

But..
I didn't want to drill holes in my truck.
So I welded two pieces of pipe onto the side of each bracket-- and got some "J" bolts. The "J" bolts run through the pipe and down along side the truck's rail-- the J part hooks under the rail and then I crank a bolt down to tighten the brackets down. The bar at the top of the rack puts more pressure against the brackets (horizontally) at the bottom.

They aren't going anywhere. To top it off takes me about 10 minutes to remove the whole thing!

Then I just installed my old Yakimal Hullyrollers and Mako Kayak saddles via stainless steel hose clamps.

So for a total of about $200 bucks I got a nice solid kayak rack.









The yellow yak is my wife's Navigator the white yak is my Fish'n'Dive

Haven't figured out how to transport my son's Cobra Explorer... any Ideas?

[dsafety]

Originally Posted by JPBeck

Haven't figured out how to transport my son's Cobra Explorer... any Ideas?

You seem to be pretty handy with a welding torch. Why not make a bracket that attaches to what you have which creates a second level so you can stack another row of kayaks. Make it removable so it will not be in the way if you only have to carry two yaks.

Bob

[sandydiego]

I have a shell on my 2009 f150. I have a 6ft bed and put my pro angler in the back. The shell has a yakama rack on it for two more on the top.

[newguy01]

check out harbor freight and ask for the truck bed extender the connects to your square hitch receiver it only cost me 35$ its quisk and easy to removed/install

[roadx]

i made a davit out of 1 1/2" EMT (Electrical Metal Tubing)
to make hoop net pulling easier. the tubing fits the molded fishing pole holder on the outback nicely. i have not tested this yet and not sure if the leverage and weight from the net will make me tip or not??? will see

[eDUBz]

I do autobody and paint and use these stand's to work on part's or paint with and use them for my OK Malibu two xl and work perfect it adjust with the chain's and fold's right and light weight just thought i'd share since it can be very useful.
http://www.tooltopia.com/astro-pneumatic-557003.aspx

[Jzo]

Originally Posted by eDUBz

I do autobody and paint and use these stand's to work on part's or paint with and use them for my OK Malibu two xl and work perfect it adjust with the chain's and fold's right and light weight just thought i'd share since it can be very useful.
http://www.tooltopia.com/astro-pneumatic-557003.aspx

Wow, nice!

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by roadx

i made a davit out of 1 1/2" EMT (Electrical Metal Tubing)to make hoop net pulling easier.... i have not tested this yet and not sure if the leverage and weight from the net will make me tip or not???.

I think you may have some trouble with that setup.


I built and use a boom on my FND..




There's a couple of things I'd suggest.

You don't want the boom leaning out over the water but instead even with the edge of your kayak. If it's out too far it will actually try to pull you over, and you could easily roll your yak with the setup you have shown.

The deal with the boom is that you can use your weight to your advantage and pull down rather then lift up. Which means you can put more torque on it and move the net faster through the water. The closer to your body the pulley or block is the more advantage you have. Also you want the net as close to straight under you as possible, so it does not pull you around. The boom should be fixed so it can't move around or turn, and as you want that block right where it gives you the most advantage.

Like I said mines right even with the edge of my kayak. That keeps the rope from rubbing too hard on the side of the yak but gives me maximum toque or pull speed. I find when pulling with my boom there is a point where my lanyard float clears the side of the yak, and then I pull the last pull with my right hand down while guiding the net upward around the side of the yak with my left hand. It sounds complicated but it's not.

Another issue is that you want the boom high enough that when your lanyard float hits the block the net is completely out of the water, other wise bugs can flip up and out of the net while your trying to get the rope off the block.

On the same theme you want an open block or pulley so it's easy to get the line off and on. I made mine fixed so it will not turn or twist with a extra wide opening.




It's also nice to have some kind of light on it.




I would be very concerned that your setup might pull the kayak over or worse break out the rod holder. I tried two setups that failed before I built the base for mine.



You'll be amazed how much torque a boom like that puts on your yak or on a holder.

Jim

[roadx]

THANKS Jim the EMT boom is scrapped. i need to get some hoop time on the kayak and steal your design .

nice work by the way!!!

[Jimmyz123]

Originally Posted by fongman

The wellnuts/screws on a Hobie Adventure can easily be used as mounting points. I used the ones near the front hatch to fasten a polycarbonate shelf for my fishfinder base. When I changed from a Humminbird to Garmin, no big deal; I just drilled new holes. Polycarbonate is very strong and will not crack like acrylic.


I made aluminum mounting plates for the ones behind the seat. These are used to support the pvc rodholder I made. The plate provides front-to-back stability while the V construction provides side-to-side stability. Other features that I like of this rodholders design is that they are angled at about 45 degrees, they have a low center of gravity, the mass is kept close to the centerline of the kayak, and the rods are within easy reach.

In addition, they point slightly forward or back, depending upon which direction they are mounted. When pointed forward, the tips of the rods can be seen without much effort.


I also built some extension tubes for the builtin rodholders. I use these for my bass rods. Electrician tape wrapped over one layer of corktape on 1 1/4" pvc creates a snug fit. Instead of using lanyards to secure the rods, the bungies are looped over the reel handles.

I know exactly what I am going to do on my Yak now instead of installing the Ram Mount Rod holders. I'll post up photos of my creation when I am done.

[Jimmyz123]

Using something I saw Fongman do I made this Milk Crate


Then when you buy a Kayak from Jim Sammons you get some of his great creations that come with it.


Mounting the Transducer with a make shift bracket. I noticed in the photo it was a little off center so I corrected that after the photo was taken. I'm just about ready to take her out for the first time.


I love this stuff.

[Jzo]

Originally Posted by Jimmyz123

Using something I saw Fongman do I made this Milk Crate

Great work!

[dsafety]

Jimmy, that rig looks great. Where will you put your bait tank, in the crate? One thing that Fongman did which you might consider is to somehow move the trolling "V' forward a bit. If you have it too far back, you will have a tough time watching the rod tips, not to mention getting your hand on the rod quick enough to deal with a soft bite.

It looks like you could move the V about six inches forward by building a mounting bracket that attaches to the crate so it positions the rod holders right behind your seat.

An even better way to handle things would be to create a rig that moves the rod holders to where they are about even with your shoulders. I have experimented with this and found that there is a sweet spot for the rod holder location that makes it easy to watch the rods without getting in the way of paddling.

You can't to this with a "V" setup but using ABS or PVC pipe, you can create individual rod holders that mount to the crate, extend forward to the appropriate place. At the forward end they will need to be secured to the yakl with straps to make sure everything stays where it is supposed to.

If you are like me, you will find that tweaking your setup until it works perfectly for the way you like to do things is almost as much fun as going fishing. It gets even better when your idea works perfectly and helps you catch a trophy fish.

Bob