transducer mounting to kayak

Bought a kayak and sent it to my parents for my vacation in CT, want to temporarily mount my transducer and start fishing ASAP when I arrive. I found someone who used plummers putty at bottom of transpducer and duck taped it in place. Says it worked great. Any one tried this before or do you have a quick and easy way to mount transducer without the drying time of goop?

Is 24hrs too long to do the job right one time vs some odd/hacked way to install it temporarily? If you really want to go temporary, you could build a mounting bracket you can hang off the side of your yak. 

If you want to temporarily mount the transducer, you could do it the way I did with one. I attached a suction cup and just reached over the side and stuck it on the bottom of the yak. It stayed on unless I got in the kelp or paddled pretty fast, then I just retrieved it and restuck it.  It worked o.k., tho the donut method is easier to deal with.   
 I got a 3" suction cup from Ace Hardware (had to order it online, but it came quickly) with machine screw in the top.  Then I made a little U bracket with a hole in the bottom on the U, and holes on the two tops.  My transducer had a plastic protrusion with a screw hole in it for transom mounting, this wouldn't work (or you'd have to devise something else to hold the hockey puck type td to the suction cup.)if yours doesn't.  Then I used the U bracket to connect the transducer to the suction cup.  I also attached a short piece of small rope so that I wouldn't be yanking on the electrical cord to retrieve it when it came unstuck.   By the way, I also made the head unit portable by attaching it to a piece of 1x4 and putting suction cups on the bottom of the board, and used bungie cord to secure the 8 AA battery box to the board.  I might have posted pics of it on this forum, I can't recall. You need to have a smooth area (not pebbled or scratched)on the yak to stick suction cups to it.  I didn't worry about using stainless steel fittings, because I rinsed it off after use, and the parts were cheap if I needed to replace them.
  I saw a guy use some pvc pipe to hang a TD over the side of a yak, but his design didn't work at all well, it kept popping up and eventually broke.

If you want to locate your transducer inside the hull, and make it easily removable, make a foam block or donut (pipe insulation works well) the transducer will fit into snugly, adhere the donut to the inside of the hull with Goop or Lexel making sure to seal it to the hull all the way around.  Put a small amount of water in the donut then push the transducer into the donut.  The transducer will read through the water and the hull, and you can remove it and use it in any other craft.   

Humminbird has a new mounting system that is permanent, but ideal for this situation.  I'll post some pics manana.

Bought a kayak

What kind?

want to temporarily mount my transducer

What unit?

Knowing this info could determine the quality of the advice.  As my father-in-law says, "results received are only as good as directions [information] given."  Or something like that.

Michael

It is a Tarpon T10 2009 kayak and just a pirana 180 FF. I used on my second Kayak here in CA. I used the foam block method inside the hule with vasiline. Works great. I was just looking for the quick fix to get on the water when I land and max out my fishing.

Whole point of the doughnut method is to retrain either water, or some use vasiline, so the transducer doesn't reflect on the hull.  If you cut it right, you make the opening snug so water does not run out of it, once properly seated.

If you go without the doughnut/foam then make sure you sand the bottom where your mounting the transducer, put a LOT of goop on it, and use a stick, or something to pressure it in place overnight, probably longer, and let that stuff FULLY dry, or you will be doing it all over again.

hmm, ok, thx!

I think Ill go with the goop method.....

so do i actual cover the whole transducer with goop?

or just enought to cover the bottom of it and come up the sides of the transducer?

also will i be able to tell if its not working right?

AND..... What is that poll at the top of the page? I dont get it?

What is that poll at the top of the page? I dont get it?

I dont either...and nobodys voted....

Well, wasn't the original intent of the post to go into install details, just temp vs perm mounting...

Do some searching man, there are tons and tons to read on this stuff before you jump into mounting.  Here are a few to get you started.  I expect YOU to share the experience when your done.  Take some pics!

http://www.anglersafloat.co.uk/Prowler_Fishfinder.htm
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,10523.0.html
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,3665.0.html
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,17140.0.html

you just need enough goop to cover the bottom of the transducer. Make sure you scuff of the yak with sandpaper and carefully push down the transducer. Don't push it down then pull it to make sure its covered. You want to avoid air bubbles. That is the drawback to the direct goop method. And you'll want to let it cure for three days. Seriously it takes that long.

Al, that first link is killer dude, thx!

As for the research ive done tons, guess im not good at it, cause this first link you found is GREAT... I guess I just like open live, person to person dialogue as well. Ill report back for sure, and as far as pics, i LOVE pics too..

Thanks for the links..

EWB, as usual you rule, thanks for the info.

here ya go Al,

Started my install, finally, and IM posting my experience and pics thus far..

So far pretty basic... i decided to go with the pool noodle and water technique. The vaseline looks nasty

The hardest part so far was finding the larger pool noodle, Big 5 finally had them, well they had ONE! I got it, and i searched everywhere. My transducer is sorta big, so i cut the screw mounting tabs off, hope this doesn't ruin the transducer!

Anyway, i cut up the noodle, and fit the transducer into it, fits nice and SNUG, easy! I had to cut pretty close to the side walls of the noodle, so after i placed the transducer into the noodle, i ran some black duct tape on the out side of the noodle to make it strownger and prevent it from ripping, PERFECT!

Next i sanded my yak inside, applied some goop to the noodle contact points, set the unit in place and pressed down, then i grabbed a brick to rest top of the pool noodle to keep it in contact with the yak as it dries (3-4 days), so far so good. next, i'm gonna wire it up... ill re-post when i get there... first yak, first FF install, so far it was basic.

the brick i used for weight is off center in the pic, i fixed that for even weight distribution.

Not the cleanest, most pimp job, but im sure it will work great, and that's all i ask!

looks like you got it nailed. when you mount just coil the extra wire and zip tie it. I (and others) zipped tied it to the underside of the top deck of the yak. Right by the sonar shield. That way it stays outta the way if/when you stow rods, etc. With this heat you should be dry in 36-48 hrs. At least enough to get OTW