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  1. #1
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    Mar 2011
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    Installing recessed trolling motor tray

    Could someone please email the instructions for this. I can’t seem to find them.
    Jdcrisp.jc@gmail.com
    thank you!

  2. Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
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    Bean Station
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    907
    #2
    Sorry guys. I found it on google search. Couldn’t find it on BBC search.

    Here you go...

    Recessed Trolling Motor Pedal Installation:


    Please read through these directions before you start your install:

    Installing a recessed trolling motor tray in the front deck of your Cobra or Coral is really rather easy. I suggest you take off your front panel, use a light and mirror to check and see if there are any wires running from one side of your boat to the other. (There shouldn’t be anything in your way to install a recessed tray, including any bracing unless a previous owner did some geri-rigging on his own).
    First, determine which recessed TM tray you’re going to purchase. Some are fiberglass, some are aluminum, some are powder coated metal, but basically they’re all the same as far as installation goes. Second, if you have any doubts about your ability to cut a hole in the floor of your front deck, then have a boat dealership install it. If you’re ok with cutting a hole, then you’ll be good to go. OK, here we go:
    1. Determine where you want to place the recessed tray.
    2. Center the template that comes with your unit.
    3. Use a grease pencil or a Sharpie to trace around the edge of the template, but make sure it doesn’t include the flange of the tray.
    4. Take a straight edge and then use a box cutter type tool to go over and over and over the lines you just traced on the carpet. This will separate the carpet fibers all the way down to the deck, so that when you drill or cut, no carpet fibers will get caught up in the drill or saw blade.
    5. Now, drill holes in each of the 4 corners just inside the template you drew.
    6. Insert your jig saw or sabre saw blade into one on the holes and cut your hole. Make sure you vacuum up all the debris from cutting the hole out, you don’t want small pieces of fiberglass down in your carpet because they will act like sandpaper.
    7. Remove the section of the floor you just cut out and you will see all the foam flotation.
    8. Now for the real messy part! You’ll have to remove enough of the foam flotation to allow your recessed tray to fit flush to the floor. (I used an old hunting knife to cut away the foam or you can also use a dry wall saw or anything else to get the job done).
    9. You’ll notice that your recessed tray comes with some plastic tubing. This is so that any water that collects in the tray will drain back to the bilge area. You’ll need to make a hole in the foam flotation all the way down to the keel area of your boat that the plastic tube will fit in. (I used the sharpened end of my tree/shrub root feeder but you can use whatever method you want to get the hole downward to the keel area). 
    10. Test fit the tray. You may need to file some area(s) to make it fit if you didn’t cut your lines straight. Make sure it’s a tight fit and centered, then drill some pilot holes (use the flange holes already in the tray where the screws go. The holes in the flange will already be drilled out).
    11. Next use wood sealer, paint or other type of sealing compound to seal up the edges of the wood in the hole you just cut out. You don’t want any moisture to be absorbed between the fiberglass and the wood.
    12. Insert the plastic hose into the hole of the foam flotation all the way down to the keel area and attach the opposite end to the underside of the recessed trolling motor tray.
    13. Apply some marine silicone to the underside of the tray flange so as to get a good seal when you screw it down.
    14. Screw down the tray to the deck using the pilot holes. Make sure the pilot holes are smaller than the screws you will use so it will fasten it down good and tight.
    15. Attach your trolling motor pedal down into the tray and you’re finished.

    Sounds like a lot but it’s actually a pretty easy job, just a little messy. A couple of pointers:
    1. If you don’t use a fiberglass blade to make your cut, make sure you have several of the “regular” ones on hand because the fiberglass in the deck will dull them fast.
    2. Measure twice, cut once!
    3. Be sure when you draw the template on your deck carpet that you don’t include the flange area of the recessed tray or else you will make the opening too big and there won’t be anything to screw it down to.
    4. Did I mention …measure twice and cut once???