mouting failure of big electronics to the side of the console

[rampaage]

I have a 10 in helix mounted via a horizontal Kong mount to the side of my Z21 console. The last trny we had heavy wind blown chop at bast off and I suffered a mount failure. It was not the Kong mount but rather the fiberglass. It was mounted by "pro" installers, but it was not a "pro" job. The Kong mount has holes for 6 bolts, only 3 were used in a triangle pattern. The installers used fender washers but one was 1/2 the size of the other 2 and it was the top of the triangle. Guess which one pulled/cracked the fiberglass. I did not discover this until it broke. I had the fiberglass repaired. Built a backing plate out of 1/16" aluminum plate and shaped it so that it followed to roll of the upper console corner. I used all 6 bolts and additionally, used 1.5 " fender washers and shaped them as needed to the roll of the console. If this fails, it will have to pull the side of my console off.

I have seen many boats done this way. Check the backing used to make sure it is sturdy enough to handle the load.

[Sun Fish]

In looking at these the setup with the Kong and Ballzout mounts I was always afraid of the potential for that to happen with larger graphs. I ended up going with the over steering wheel type mounts because of it. I wonder how many others have had their console crack.

[rkylake]

https://precisionsonar.com/product-p...bracket-nitro/
We’v seen this scenario more times than i care to tell you about and there is no sense in that happening
Go this route you be a lot happier i promise

[BMCD]

I agree with Randy, plus side mounts could be ripped off by water, when running in rough conditions. Have seen this happen.

[APS]

I've run 12 inch raymarines on the side on both kong and balzout with no problems. I guarantee those rays are alot heavier than birds and lows. It's all about proper installation.

[TXZ21]

When I had my Helix 10's at the console I had one mounted on a Ram swing mount. We used a 1/2 thick square of Starboard as a backer behind the console and large body washers. It was rock solid. The 2nd pic you can see the Ram base still mounted to the side of the console.