# Mounting the puck to a Minn Kota quick detach bracket



## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

My question is when I get the bracket positioned correctly I’ll end up with three of the holes for bolts going thru the top cap and the overhang of the hull. It’s not exactly flat where the nut and washer come out. Any experience dealing with this?


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)




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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)




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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

I noticed these rubber washers came with the mounting kit for the trolling motor. Maybe put these between the hull and stainless washer could help


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## Gogittum (May 24, 2020)

That's a bad spot and I'd hate to hafta do it to my boat, but looks like you're stuck. Haven't done that, specifically, but on a sorta similar project, I bought some SS nuts of the same size and drilled the threads out of them, making them into spacers. 

(You can buy galvanized spacers at Ace Hardware, as on my anchor setup in another thread, but have never seen one in stainless.)










Then figured angles carefully and ground one end of them to where they matched the angle on the nut side. They tightened up nicely and look good. Rubber or plastic washer would be a nice addition.


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

Great idea! I was thinking also of getting a piece of Starboard and cutting and grinding it to the shape needed.


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## Gogittum (May 24, 2020)

Clubhunter said:


> Great idea! I was thinking also of getting a piece of Starboard and cutting and grinding it to the shape needed.


Should be fine, as long as it's hard enuf to hold the pressure. Seal it well.


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## DBStoots (Jul 9, 2011)

Perhaps cut your puck to fit the contour of the bow so there is no overhang also. Makes for a cleaner look.


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

DBStoots said:


> Perhaps cut your puck to fit the contour of the bow so there is no overhang also. Makes for a cleaner look.


The puck sits within the deck boundaries. It’s the underside of the flange of the deck that I had a concern.


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## Water Bound (Dec 12, 2018)

The flange is actually a strong spot for your bolts to be. It will depend on just how much angle, but if not too much, a washer will conform to the angle when you tighten it down.


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## omegadef (Jul 10, 2011)

Mine is like this, just tighten the shit out of the nut and the washer will conform to the bend. Maybe double washers with 4200 against hull if really worried.


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## Gervais (Nov 28, 2016)

Might get bashed for saying this but, if you can get bolts through the two holes in the back, I might be tempted to try screws for the two forward. You could drill and add a 5holes in the middle of the puck if possible to give you 3 bolts. I’m just thinking worst case the screws start to loosen and you get a little movement in the puck which then you could thrubolt. This just comes from a little experience seeing some really shitty TM installs on boats that surprisingly held.

you are going to trim your Sea deck the size of the TM base I‘M guessing?


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## MGdave (Jul 27, 2016)

I always use these if I can’t get access to the nut from below and in your situation have gone through the flange with the bolt and “bent a washer in there with it. 
Most recently on a Maverick 17HPX and it held up fine



https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-toggle-anchor-kit


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Just me but I would not put holes in my hull. I would find another way. I mounted mine on the front deck. Crawled in there with a buddy out side to tighten the bolts, I could only get one arm on it to hold the nut. Also your puck looks small


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

do not use screws. thru bolts only and big thick washers.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

how well is it going to tighten down with that thick hated material under it?


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## Gervais (Nov 28, 2016)

devrep said:


> how well is it going to tighten down with that thick hated material under it?


its going to be impossible to it the trolling motor on if the puck is mount on the sea deck compressing it. I assume he is going to cut a square out. I guess you could put spacers to not compress it under the puck but that might take a little experimenting to get the right set so the TM doesn’t wobble around


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

Gervais said:


> Might get bashed for saying this but, if you can get bolts through the two holes in the back, I might be tempted to try screws for the two forward. You could drill and add a 5holes in the middle of the puck if possible to give you 3 bolts. I’m just thinking worst case the screws start to loosen and you get a little movement in the puck which then you could thrubolt. This just comes from a little experience seeing some really shitty TM installs on boats that surprisingly held.
> 
> you are going to trim your Sea deck the size of the TM base I‘M guessing?


Yes I’m going to cut out the SeaDek where the puck goes. I ordered a 1/4” thick piece of Starboard to put in its place so that the puck will
Be level with the rest of the surrounding SeaDek.


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

My old skiff had through bolts just like yours would and I had 0 issues and that was a 1992 Silverking that I sold on 2020. Through bolts washers and a lock nut and you'll be good to go.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

What is the reason for mounting the puck in exactly that spot? Move the trolling motor around with it deployed and make sure the shaft is about 1/4” away from the rub rail and you should be able to get better placement than you have.
Have you tried the “guide mount” where the trolling motor is parallel to the centerline of the hull and offset to one side or the other? You can mount the puck with just three bolts and cut the corner off to fit the contour of the outside of the cap and it will not cause a problem.


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> What is the reason for mounting the puck in exactly that spot? Move the trolling motor around with it deployed and make sure the shaft is about 1/4” away from the rub rail and you should be able to get better placement than you have.
> Have you tried the “guide mount” where the trolling motor is parallel to the centerline of the hull and offset to one side or the other? You can mount the puck with just three bolts and cut the corner off to fit the contour of the outside of the cap and it will not cause a problem.


Mounting in that position is most favorable. The offset doesn’t work well and I would be in the same situation. Talked to a few people and they said by going through both the cap and flange of hull is stronger than cap only. Your basically screwing into two layers of fiberglass as opposed to one.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Clubhunter said:


> Mounting in that position is most favorable. The offset doesn’t work well and I would be in the same situation. Talked to a few people and they said by going through both the cap and flange of hull is stronger than cap only. Your basically screwing into two layers of fiberglass as opposed to one.


I’ve installed quite a few trolling motors and never had an issue with thru bolts through the cap only. In your case with the angled lip I would not thru bolt there if I could avoid it.


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> I’ve installed quite a few trolling motors and never had an issue with thru bolts through the cap only. In your case with the angled lip I would not thru bolt there if I could avoid it.


The only way to avoid it is to mount it where the trolling motor will not deploy. Why would going thru one piece of fiberglass be better than two. Where it comes out below the flange you will not see because it’s recessed behind the rubrail.


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## Water Bound (Dec 12, 2018)

To gain additional puck placement options, you can also flip the base that is attached to the actual trolling motor. It allows you to move the puck aft and still deploy the motor. However, I still prefer 3 bolts thru a solid glass flange vs thru core with backer.


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## Zaraspook (Aug 3, 2017)

Here is the positioning on my EastCape Glide. The mounting cap is backed up with star board underneath the deck.


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

Zaraspook said:


> Here is the positioning on my EastCape Glide. The mounting cap is backed up with star board underneath the deck.
> View attachment 214797
> View attachment 214798


I see that when you mounted the trolling motor bottom to the bracket you only used 4 bolts as opposed to the 6. How long have you had this mounted this way?


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## Zaraspook (Aug 3, 2017)

The TM and mount is about two years old. Never had any problems.


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

Zaraspook said:


> The TM and mount is about two years old. Never had any problems.


I called Minn Kota and they said you can use 4 bolts versus 6 on the 12v


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## jonboy (Sep 4, 2020)

Clubhunter said:


> I called Minn Kota and they said you can use 4 bolts versus 6 on the 12v


I had my Terrova mounted this way. It helps cheat about 2". I think the motor mounting (not the quick release) instructions mention using at least 4 bolts if you can't get all 6.


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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)




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## Clubhunter (Jan 22, 2019)

I went ahead and mounted the puck this way. It actually is a more secure fit going through two sets of fiberglass. You can’t see it unless you look under the rubrail.


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