So after 17 years I decided to upgrade the front end of the old 2000 Skeeter SX186..
New Trolling motor
New Garmin
and new Troll-N-Tray for the foot pedal.. (This is the one I goobered up)
So I get everything wired up tight and resin sealed after I cut hole in deck.. mount everything up and take it to the river for a test run..
FIRST step in the boat was just to the left of the recessed tray and the deck flexed down about an inch and popped the screws right out of the tray...
The tray works good... The tray itself seems sturdy.. just when I place some weight to the left or right does the deck FLEX enough to worry me..
I really need to place some bracing in there but I really don't want to be standing on my head trying to fiberglass a piece of plywood on each side of that hole.. I'm thinking maybe some heavy gauge aluminum angle bracket but not sure how to attach... i'm guessing if I screw it up to the bottom of the deck.. all fiberglass and flotation in ribs.. that the deck will just flex and pop the screws..
I could possibly use some aluminum bar stock and secure it with "L" brackets to the bottom and the top of the deck however I DO NOT know how thick the deck is and I would literally blow a gasket if I drilled a screw through the bottom of my baby!!! LOL
Anyone have any ideas??