Shoot Thru Transducer

[capt chris]

Grady Friends,
As I work towards the purchase of my new Tournament 225 I need your help. I am considering using a shoot thru transducer w/ a Lowrance LCX 38C HD. Grady says a shoot thru is their recommendation and just in front of the fresh water tank is their preferred location. I am told the hull there is 5/8 -3/4" thick. Lowrance says that should be no problem for that unit.
Does anyone have any real world experience w/a shoot thru on the 225? I trailer the boat and it would be preferable if a shoot thru would work satisfactorily. Thanks for your help!

 

[eppem]

I have used "shoot" thru on other boats (22 pursuit) in the past and not had a problem..just make sure there are no air bubbles in whatever you use to hold the transducer to the inner hull...an easy diy job.

 

[liz]

I have a shoot trough 1 KW on my 283. It works great but will lose the bottom if I reverse significantly (my through-hull never did this).

 

[dheywood]

shoot through works fine

I installed a shoot through on my 81 weekender last spring and it works great. Just make sure you read the instructions and don't cut any corners.

 

[ocnslr]

Shooting through the forward part of the hull, under the companionway steps, with an Airmar M256. Works fine with an LCX-19C, and I expect it to be even better with the new LCX-112C (once I redo the entire flush-mount to get it installed).

 

[Fishtales]

Have one on my marlin and it works great.

 

[White Horses (Mike)]

I had an Lowrance LMS-522c igps in myEastern 18. I installed the shoot through myself and I'm happy to say it worked great. It would lose bottom at about 20 mph though, so that part wasn't the best.

As discussed on other threads, we're putting Garmin stuff in our 225. The Grady dealer recommended the through hull as follows: Garmin makes a bronze through-hull which is a low profile bezel - no football shaped gizmo under the boat. The bezel is almost flush with the hull. Housed inside it is a transducer which is already offset for the boat's 20 degree deadrise at the transom. It can not detect speed, but it does provide temperature which the shoot through design can not do.

Here is a picture - its part number 010-10182-00

I went to look at the Lowrance unit you described - looks great! We always liked out Lowrance on our last boat. I am sure it will serve you well. I don't know if the have a good through hull that would be safe with a trailer, but you might check into that. I'm looking forward to hearing about your new boat!

 

[capt chris]

Mike,
Did you get the last 2007 @ Catalano & Sons? Also I'm really apprehensive about cutting a hole through a perfectly good hull for a thru hull. How do they keep those things from deteriorating over time and leaking? Two dealers have begged me not to use the shoot thru and to go with a transom mount. I'm really confused now............... I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

 

[White Horses (Mike)]

Hey Capt. Chris - I believe our boat was the last 07 225 that Catalano had.

The concern about drilling a hole in the bottom of a perfectly sound hull is one that concerns me too. Maybe some folks on this site with more experience with through hulls can comment. I know that millions of boats have below the waterline through hull fittings for everything from transducers to raw water washdown intakes and livewell plumbing. I have to believe that if a competent person does it right, it should not be a problem. I also know that my experiences on a mooring with a transom mount were really a pain in the neck.

Anybody out there have some more direct (better) advice?

 

[catch22]

Pro's and con's to everything.
You could try the shoot through method, but use a silicone type sealant instead of a permanent epoxy. This way, if your not happy with it, you can move it. I did one on an Overnighter, back in 2000, using Life Seal, and to this day it still works fine. Like Mike said, you won't have water temp.
Personally, I wouldn't have a problem going with with the thru-hull, especially since your going to be trailering it, so there's no paint issue, or full time exposure.
Concerns with drilling, mounting, leaks, etc., are the same as a washdown pick-up. The way I look at it is, it's just part of the boat. As long as it's sealed properly, you shouldn't have any problems. Just make sure the thru-hull won't be hitting any rollers/bunks on the trailer.
Imo, transom mount is the way to go. Yes, it's the ugliest, and you have to drill holes, lol, but you get full performance, (temp is important to me)at the lowest cost. I did a Lowrance X-510C, about a year ago, and I was really surprized how well it holds a clean signal, even at speeds over 30 mph.

 

[White Horses (Mike)]

Catch 22 has hit the nail on the head. If you are going to trailer it, why not a transom mount? You get depth, speed and temp - affordable and no maintenance problems because it is not in the water getting a paddle wheel full of barnacles.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

I agree with the above, if planning on trailering the boat, transom is the way to go, if you do not mind about aesthetics.On my bimini i had an airmar shoot through and never had a problem, but i had to drill the bottom to put a flush mount temp & speed ducer .I did it that way because when they lift the boat with the straps, i won't have any problem hitting it with them.Straps are by 90% the reason of getting loose the through hull ducers.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Two dealers have begged me not to use the shoot thru and to go with a transom mount.

I think you may confused with terminology, or else I don't understand why 2 dealers would beg you not to do something really simple and non-invasive to accomplish. "Shoot thru" usually refers to a transducer mounted inside the bilge and shooting "thru" the hull. "Thru hull" usually refers to a transducer mounted by means of a hole in the hull. Not a thing to worry about with the "shoot thru" except that you may not have clean water under it (same as a transom mount). "Thru hull", on the other hand, presents special mounting problems. IMO, "thru hulls" limit the brand of finder you can use, create a hassle if it goes bad, and doesn't offer much, if any, of an advantage over the others until you get into deep water and/or big water boats. Just an opinion, agreement not solicited ... :wink:

 

[BobP]

Both inhull and thru hulll transducers are much more difficult to complete an installation on than transom mounts.

Transom mounts are zip, zip, zip, to install, that's probably why the dealer said that. And just as easy to not seal the screw holes properly!

Of the three, transom mounts probably have the least chance of offering the best performance overall.

There are other ways to get speed and water temp. Speed is already covered.
I'm surprised Yamaha has not figured out how to get sea temp back to the Command Link gauges (or have they?).

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Bobp, they haven't.I had an optimax 2001 with smartcraft gauges and was giving the air and sea temp.

 

[BobP]

Ok, so there it is, a plan for the GG members

1. Next time at the Boat Show - Yamaha display, just don't gawk at the F350, bypass the greeters by asking to speak to the "factory rep", say you have a "technical" question. Ask the factory rep when Yamaha will have a sea temp sensor available for the Command Link system. Whatever the response is, act dissapointed, then remind them what Merc already has.

2. Call your local Yamaha parts center, say you heard there is a sea temp sensor available for the Command Link system. Say you want to be the first to get one, how do you order one ?

Ought to shake Yamaha USA HQ up a bit.

 

[Frank]

You can avoid drilling holes in the transom with a transom mount by epoxying a piece of starboard to the transom and drilling into it instead of the transom.

If you are using the boat mostly in lakes and other water that isn't particularly deep, I think you are better off with the transom mount. The thru hull may perform better in deeper water but you won't take advantage of it. The shoot thru works worse than the thru hull and the transom mount in the tests and write-ups I have seen.

The dealers' reactions are likely based on the thought that you won't benefit from the thru hull so why put a hole in the boat and the transom mount performs better so why use a shoot thru.

 

[BobP]

What write-up as are you referring to?

And what specific characteristics of performance differences are you writing about ?

 

[Frank]

The last write-up I can recall was in The Fisherman magazine a couple of months ago where they comparison-tested the three. They focused on the ability to hold bottom as the water became progressively deeper and the ability to resolve fish, bait, thermocline, etc.

There are probably a couple of threads on THT that come to the same conclusion.