My buddy pulled his HDS 8 Gen 1 off his offshore rig and upgraded so I got a smokin deal on this thing. I have the 1860 Go Devil with the split seat and I am thinking of mounting it either on the left grab bar with a ram mount or somewhere on the left pod just so I can see it when I am running. Does anyone have any pictures of their chartplotter installs or any better suggestions on how or where to mount it. I stand on the right side of the tiller handle and steer with my left hand so mounting it on the left side would be the most practical. I hunt and fish out of my boat year around so I could see where some of y'all would think a HDS 8 would be overkill but a deal came along and that's what I am going with. Thanks in advance for the help.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

PM me your number and I can Txt you some pics of how I mounted my Elite 5. The Ram mount makes it a breeze. I'd post them here but every time I post a pic it looks screwey.

Posted for SETx Longtail

Nice work man !

Thanks! I need to get some better pics now that it's all painted up and wired. I also trimmed the screw tips off and glued a scrap of hydroturf in that piece of channel. Makes a good tray for a phone or to throw a bait you may not be using etc... That RAM mount gives you the ability to mount the thing just about anywhere. With the Elite Series having their own mount from RAM it's a super clean and easy install without being bulky or mounting the factory mount on a universal pedistal etc.

One day I'll finish the hydroturf in the back part of the boat

Here's the mount I used. I actually found it a good bit cheaper locally too.

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-101-LO11

I set mine up similar. When I'm fishing on the front, I can spin the unit forward.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can swing mine around too, works well without needing two depth finders. I didn't want it hanging out to the side vulnerable to limbs and stuff like yours is though, I've already had to straighten out my grab bar once. That piece of channel gave it some rigidity and protection. I probably run in more thick woods than you do on a regular basis though.

It's inside the gunnel, barely, but yes, I don't run much thick woods.
I am also pleased that the unit doesn't "creep" even in a heavy chop with that ram mount!

How's the PVC transducer mount work for you? Does it dance around much?
I'm looking at other options since I bent the hell out of mine the other day when I forgot to pick it back up.

Works well so far. It's thick wall PVC conduit so it's pretty stout, but does have some give to it. It will maintain the bottom all the way up to 25mph or so, which is faster than I'd ever really use it anyway. I actually drilled the holes in the down position ever so slightly off center from each other and it really holds the PVC snug. There is no vibration and it doesn't walk around at all. It cost me a $4 stick of pipe and a hitch pin from Lowes. If I tear it up, I've got the rest of the pipe here, I'll make another one lol. It's not pretty or fancy, but so far it's worked damn well.

Having a full bench, I fabbed an electronics panel for mine. I sent all the dust covers off to colorandcamo in Illinois and had them dipped. I have a tendency to get carried away...






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Coot for the win!

One more...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My set up





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Damn those are some nice set ups. I think I am going to do I spin off what EMB44 did and get two aluminum poles to set in where the grab bar goes and weld a flat plate on top connecting the two and cut curved channels in the plate where I mount the gimbal for the chartplotter so I can have some swivel in the base. I will put up some pictures when I am done to see what y'all think. CootSlayer took it to a whole nother level

Those are Setx Longtails photos I just posted cause he was getting blurry pics when posting. Just FYI in case you have some questions.