A question for Lund owners - mounting riggers

[Billy V]

I have a 2002 Lund Baron and mounted tracks on it recently and backed it with 3/4" oak. We're still getting some flexing even with 5' of oak (through bolted with 2" fender washers) under the tracks. I love the boat overall but I'm not very impressed with how Lund built the gunnels on this boat. Theres really no structure under them other than the 3/4" pmywood that they put in when it was built. What are you Lund owners doing to re-inforce the gunnels on your boats so that they don't flex when a rigger is deployed? We typically run 16lb weights and the gunnels flex more than I'm comfortable with when we have them out. Maybe it's just because I'm used to a heavy fiberglass boat and a rock solid platform for my riggers and I just have to get used to aluminum? There's an awful lot of paper thin aluminum in the gunnels and no real structure to tie into. Any suggestions?

[LongLine]

I don't have a Lund but my rigger board on my aluminum boat is backed with doubled pieces of 1/4" aluminum and the board mounting brackets are bolted thru both.  Absolutely no flex. If you can cut wood, you can cut aluminum on the same equipment.

 

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Billy V]

It's not the wood that's flexing. It's the aluminum gunnels. I could put 6" of wood under the tracks and the aluminum would still flex. It's a pretty poor design. The gunnels are shaped like an upside down rain gutter. All Lund did was put wood up inside the top of the gunnel and left the sides of the gunnels as bare aluminum.

[Frisco]

I have a 2008 20' Tyee with big Jon riggers. I had 5" X 5" steel plates fabricated at a local metal shop and mounted them under the gunnel I believe the design as not changed. I use the forward riggers tipped up to use for planer boards (Otter boards) without any flex however I only run 10 lb weights when used as a downrigger.

[Billy V]

It doesn't flex much but like I said, I'm used to zero flex whatsoever on my Penn Yan. I can't see how steel, aluminum, or even titanium will keep it from flexing. There's just bare aluminum on the sides of the gunnels and no amount of backer is going to keep it from oil canning.

[Billy V]

I should clarify - its not flexing where we have backer under the tracks. It flexes rear of the tracks.

[LongLine]

Did you extend the backing plate as far as you can or does it stop at the end of the track?   How close is the track to the transom?  Can you post a pic?

 

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Sk8man]

I would think that if you were to have a piece of aluminum with an exact fit width wise (i.e. against the side wall edge wise and 1/4 to 3/8ths thick) and running a couple feet long it should distribute the weight of the downrigger and weight pretty good. I think the key to it may be leaving absolutely no "play" (an exact fit) width wise on the gunwale. If there is any "wiggle room"  left between the edge of the reinforcer and the gunwale sides it wouldn't distribute the weight right to the sides of the boat lessening the strain on that spot....just my guess. Also you may consider some sort of "bracing" underneath the reinforcer against the side wall itself.....That 16 lb weight combined with the boom length (if you are using long booms) creates a lot of torque to overcome. I know the current trend is to use real heavy downrigger weights but I would try going to say a 12 lb weight and test it out to see whether it will do the job in that application.

Edited May 27, 2014 by Sk8man

[slimjim]

I have a 2003 Lund Fisherman 17.5'. My Cannon Mag 10's are mounted directly to the gunnels and with a 13# weight I have no flex. I also have Bert's tracks mounted in front on my riggers on the gunnels. The gunnels are backed with wood and I believe the wood is mounted tight to the sides of the gunnels.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[landingzone]

Billy,

For what its worth,

I had a "95" Lund 245 HT and had similar flex with similar backing.  I just lived with it for 5 yrs. and saw no issues.

[Billy V]

I think  you may be right Sk8man.  There's probably some wiggle room between the backer and the sides of the gunnels.  I'll look into having a full width aluminum plate made and put that under the backer that we already have in place.  I;m also afraid that mounting the riggers on the tracks like we have them is compounding the problem.  I have some 12 lb weights and will try those to see how much of a difference that makes too.

 

Tom, the backing extends 5' under the tracks, but doesn't go much more than a few inches beyond each end of the tracks.  We just couldn't get a longer piece in there without taking the side panels off of the boat.  Here's how I have the boat set up now:

 

[Frisco]

My gunnel is 10' wide but where the track is located it's reduced to 6" with 3/4" pressed board under the 6" this is where the plates are mounted. Your design must be different I don't have any flexing.