1436 Tracker Topper Conversion

[FBRDrifter]

First post. I figured it would be easier to do this all at once. I picked up a 2011 Tracker 1436 (you can tell the year by the paint flaking off), trailer and a 1980 model 9.9 Johnson all for $1100.00. The boat had only been in the water once before I acquired it. Motor from original owner. I did a good deal of searching here before I decided what I wanted to do. A bit lower front deck for a bit more stability, No seat bases as I prefer to fish standing, storage under front deck and under front bench seat, battery in front to be closer to trolling motor, blah, blah blah. Pretty much standard issue build here with a couple exceptions. I made up a rotating mount for the non-rotating Lowrance fish finder and a nice mod for the front mounting of a transom mount trolling motor. It is an old Motorguide T28 with the plastic pin release for the tilt. I built a steel/brass pin and got rid of the notches for different angles (no need for them on the front) and added plates to the side that ramp up the pin to fall into the last notch. All I have to do is to pick up the trolling motor and drop it in the water. NO pushing the pin what so ever. And to pull it back up, just push the pin long enough to get it out of the bottom notch and lift /tilt the trolling motor back into the boat. Below are the pics I took during the build. The trolling motor pics are at the bottom of this post and should help show what I did, as to the mod.

 

[CaseyP]

Good stuff!

 

[FBRDrifter]

Thanks. If anyone else has suggestions or comments, I would really like to hear them. Good or bad. :shock:

 

[fool4fish1226]

Nice clean mod - How does it handle while on the water :beer:

 

[FBRDrifter]

I don't know yet. I literally had just finished yesterday when I posted the pics. It was built to fish on the French Broad River and perhaps, on a RARE occasion, on a lake. The next step is to get the tag for the trailer before it goes anywhere.

 

[IDAHOAUGER]

Very nice mod! I like how you built your trolling motor mount. I would like to do something similar myself.

 

[FBRDrifter]

Thanks. The mount wasn't all that hard to do. 3" aluminum channel with one side cut off. The surface that it's mounted to is angled down towards the inside of the boat. I just used a 2x4 5" wide and cut the bottom to match the angle so that it would be perpendicular to the rest of the boat. It bolts through the hull to 1/4" aluminum plates, drilled and tapped 1/4-20 for the bolts to screw into. I didn't think that flimsy fender washers and nuts would be strong enough and I wanted to spread out the load.

What I really like is what I came up with for the front of the clamp. All I have to do is to pick up the trolling motor and let it drop into the water. No more pressing the button and holding it for 90 degrees until the shaft is at the bottom. Same with bringing it back into the boat. Just press the button enough to clear the bottom notch and lift/tilt rearward. MUCH less fussing about.