swivel rod holders

[riff_raff]

I don't think 3 versus 4 holes is the issue, rather it's how you mount them. Only benefit to the 4-hole style I'm aware of is they allow sloppier drilling. The 3-hole ones require a bit more attention.

Consider the rod braces I've attached ($40 at tightlines). That's the only way to really secure a holder, both from the top and bottom.

My personal preference are shallow (ie about 9 inch) swiveling rod holders of any type. Ultra-deep ones just bury stand up rods down to the reels, they are not any stronger. The rod holder just ins't the weak point.

What DOES tend to fail is the mounting surface. Unless you've got a good condition 1.25+ inch gunnel that is well secured it's gonna flex too much with big drag and a 7 foot lever.

Putting a back and top plate on the holder helps. They are easily cut out of 3/16+ thick aluminum and with a little experimentation the edges can be rounded at home to look really pro. Aluminum cuts well with wood saws, actually not so well with abrasive style metal saws. Edges easily rounded and polished with a grinder and sander.

Oh and "a couple" isn't enough. Take the number of rods you want to fish and add that number of holders per gunnel. 4 rods = 8 holders, 3 rods = 6 holders.. Serious fisherman have > 8 swiveling rod holders. The reason is on anchor you cannot control the drift of the balloons; rarely will they be toward the stern so you will need to fish them on one side of the boat or the other. If you want to start with 4 holders, plan ahead so there is room for more..

Best way I've found of actually installing is to cut the holes with a hole saw a touch larger than needed, then use a two part epoxy to seal the edges of the core material in the gunnel. Let the epoxy cure, then 5200 the bolt holes and the entire seat of the holder. Get the right fasteners, fine thread with nylon lock nuts is nice if you can easily reach the bolts, when you can't coarse thread and standard nuts with lock washers is fine.

Jon

[likwid]

Originally Posted by riff_raff

Putting a back and top plate on the holder helps. They are easily cut out of 3/16+ thick aluminum and with a little experimentation the edges can be rounded at home to look really pro. Aluminum cuts well with wood saws, actually not so well with abrasive style metal saws. Edges easily rounded and polished with a grinder and sander.

Dissimilar metals don't play nice.

G10 makes the greatest backing plates known to man.

Oversize the underside backing plate, 1" washers, nylocks and you'll be golden.

[riff_raff]

Originally Posted by likwid

Dissimilar metals don't play nice.

G10 makes the greatest backing plates known to man.

Oversize the underside backing plate, 1" washers, nylocks and you'll be golden.

People say that but on my own boat after 5 years with no pitting to speak of I just don't think it's an issue; not with the aluminum I've used anyway. That's more of a problem you would see below the waterline.

Pre-made plates work OK for typical situations with good strong gunnels and/or if supported on the bottom.

Trouble is quite often what you've got under the gunnels doesn't make for a straight-forward install, the plates don't fit or aren't grabbing a strong spot. If you've got a machine shop at your disposal stainless all the way, otherwise aluminum works great and is much more practical to work with.

Aluminum can be trimmed nicely with a chop-saw while sitting on the dock. Holes (to accept the rod holder) can be ripped through it with an ordinary drill and home depot grade hole-saw to accommodate any angle.

At a minimum stainless requires an abrasive wheel, alot of sparks, is much harder to cut a round ~2 inch hole in, and can't be shaped so nicely without special tools.

Jon

[likwid]

Originally Posted by riff_raff

People say that but on my own boat after 5 years with no pitting to speak of I just don't think it's an issue; not with the aluminum I've used anyway. That's more of a problem you would see below the waterline.

Pre-made plates work OK for typical situations with good strong gunnels and/or if supported on the bottom.

Trouble is quite often what you've got under the gunnels doesn't make for a straight-forward install, the plates don't fit or aren't grabbing a strong spot. If you've got a machine shop at your disposal stainless all the way, otherwise aluminum works great and is much more practical to work with.

Aluminum can be trimmed nicely with a chop-saw while sitting on the dock. Holes (to accept the rod holder) can be ripped through it with an ordinary drill and home depot grade hole-saw to accommodate any angle.

At a minimum stainless requires an abrasive wheel, alot of sparks, is much harder to cut a round ~2 inch hole in, and can't be shaped so nicely without special tools.

Jon

G10 isn't stainless. Its fiber reinforced epoxy.

Its tough as hell, tough to cut, doesn't absorb water, doesn't corrode, doesn't cause dissimilar metals issues, inert, did I mention tough to cut? Light, stronger than aluminum afaik, and tough as hell to cut.

Ask Sandman about cutting it, he used it on a bunch of projects.

Also it can be bonded with epoxy to create a very permanent solution.