www.iFourWinns.com

Bought a new GPS/fishfinder, going to hook it up to my VHF for emergencies and when (if) I ever go fishing. The Lowrance "should" hook up to my standard horizon. Planning on mounting the control head to the Left of the steering wheel. Maybe to the right just underneath the side window - But I would have to buy the RAM mount for it.

Transducer mounting. How do I go about it? I know where it goes, but what are people's preferences? Direct mount or using a "transom saver" block of plastic? I would mount it directly to the hull, but I would like to be able to see the temperature as well.

Also looking for how to run the cable from the unit up and into the boat, and attach it to the transom.

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2008 Four Winns h180 Bowrider
3.0 Volvo Penta

2013 Dodge Durango HEMI

If your boat has never had one mounted before, its a good idea to use one of those transom savers. This way you mount that once, and then if you have to move it or change to a different unit in the future you are not making any more holes in the transom. I have used 2 different ones on my boat, the original Humminbird was on it when I bought it. Finally last year I upgraded to a Garmin 441S combination GPS/Sounder. I was able to use the holes that were there from the Humminbird transducer. The most important thing is to properly bed those holes. I used Boat Life Caulk and I had the transducer off a few times and I never saw water come out of the holes which is very important. I don't know for sure what they use in the transom of newer boats for coring but the old ones like mine are wood of course. I force the holes full of the caulk, then screw the screws in with the mount part way and then let it sit. This keeps it from being all squeezed out. Then after it sets up for a while I tighten them the rest of the way. Follow the instructions about the height of the transducer and not putting it behind a strake, etc. They need clear water to work. This one works much better than the Humminbird did, the transducer will read depth, speed and water temp on plane all the way up to WOT. My old one used to cut out all the time.

Running the cable, well you have to make a pretty good sized hole because of the size of the terminal connector on the end of the cable. I made it well above the waterline on the transom. Seal the edges of the hole with epoxy. Seal the cable itself with Boat Life Caulk. Then cover it with one of those clamshell stainless steel covers.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II