New Grady White 228 Seafarer owner with a couple of questions...

[Mustang65fbk]

Good afternoon everyone, I'm just doing a few things to the boat to make her mine and ran across a couple of questions. The first is that I just bought a pair of Scotty downriggers that I'll be adding to the boat but where should they be put and do most people just drill the mounting plates onto the sides of boat or use other types of mounts? I bought two Scotty 2106B's and in the previous boats I've owned I just put them a foot or forward of the aft cleat on the gunwale. Any issues with doing something like this on my boat? I have the padding or I guess they're called bolsters on the sides of the gunwale as well, so I'm not going to obviously drill through them for the electrical outlets but guess I'll have to put them underneath the gunwale? Also, during my cross country road trip from Maryland back to Seattle, the two speakers that are housed underneath the hardtop had the brackets crack and the speakers fell into the boat. I don't see a part number or brand on the speakers themselves and would like to try to avoid drilling anymore holes into the boat than need be. Would you recommend getting new speakers and try to find ones with a similar bracket mounting location or what would your advice be? I'll attach a picture of what happened with the speakers and the speaker brackets, I'm guessing 3k miles of going 70+ mph and having pretty strong winds on occasion were the culprit of breaking the speaker brackets. Thanks again!

 

[Ryhlick]

I replaced my rod holders with Burnewiin ones and they offer a downrigger mount that is super clean and removable. They are located in WA and have very solid functional products. Here's a link https://burnewiin.com/collections/bases-adapters Check their stuff out, a huge improvement over the stock rod holders.

 

[Doc Stressor]

You will find that you need to use a swivel mount on your Grady if you use Scotty downriggers. The simple ones that allow you to tilt straight up will not allow the riggers to clear the bolster.

I used a 1/8" aluminum backing plate inside the gunwales to provide a secure mount. There is just barely enough space under the gunwale for a plate that will fit the 4-bolt pattern in the mount.

I put the plug connections above the openings for fishing rods under the gunwales.

 

[wrxhoon]

I have mine mounted on the top of the gunwales and I use the tilt/swivel bases . I mounted the bases with the 4 bolts and 5 mm Aluminum plate underneath. The gunwale is cored , make sure you seal the holes .
I would replace the speakers with something similar to avoid drilling more holes.

 

[Parthery]

Can you post a pic of the speakers so we can try and help you identify them?

On my 226, I had a set of Poly-Planar box speakers mounted on the hardtop next to the spreader lights. Never had an issue with them working loose.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I have mine mounted on the top of the gunwales and I use the tilt/swivel bases . I mounted the bases with the 4 bolts and 5 mm Aluminum plate underneath. The gunwale is cored , make sure you seal the holes .
I would replace the speakers with something similar to avoid drilling more holes.

What did you use for sealing the holes? 3M 4200/5200 or something similar? And does Scotty make an aluminum plate or did you just make your own? Thanks!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Can you post a pic of the speakers so we can try and help you identify them?

On my 226, I had a set of Poly-Planar box speakers mounted on the hardtop next to the spreader lights. Never had an issue with them working loose.

I believe that mine are older versions of the Poly-Planar speakers. I did a Google search yesterday trying to find boat speakers and found that they had a similar version to mine with the same knobs and so on. I contacted them yesterday and they said they have the replacement speaker brackets for $38/pr with shipping included. I think I'll try out the one speaker that fell to make sure it still works and then order a set of replacement speaker brackets. One of mine broke off completely and the second is hanging there from one side after driving 3k miles with my boat back home and am assuming that constantly driving at 75+ mph for that great of distance is likely the culprit. That and the added wind gusts on top of that made it a rather difficult drive at times. I'm also assuming the speakers are probably the originals installed back in 2004 and are almost 20 years old now.

 

[wrxhoon]

What did you use for sealing the holes? 3M 4200/5200 or something similar? And does Scotty make an aluminum plate or did you just make your own? Thanks!

I use Sikaflex 291 but you can use any good marine sealant , I find 3M products very good . I don't know if you can buy the plates from Scotty, I made them myself, primed and painted them. They don't get wet there, a bit overboard painting them .
I would buy new speakers about the same size as the ones you have now. If need be drill new holes on the brackets to match the existing holes on the boat.

 

[PointedRose]

Butyl tape works well as a sealant too. It doesn’t ‘dry’ so it’s ideal for things that might need to be removed in the future.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I replaced my rod holders with Burnewiin ones and they offer a downrigger mount that is super clean and removable. They are located in WA and have very solid functional products. Here's a link https://burnewiin.com/collections/bases-adapters Check their stuff out, a huge improvement over the stock rod holders.

I'd seen these Burnewiin mounts before and really like the clean look they offer over the cheap black plastic Scotty bases as well as not having to drill more holes into the boat. A couple of questions for you, did you have to drill out the holes anymore or was it the same size hole on the old rod holders compared to the new Burnewiin ones? Also, did you put any sort of backing underneath the gunwale for strength when using them as downrigger bases? Thanks!

 

[Ryhlick]

I'd seen these Burnewiin mounts before and really like the clean look they offer over the cheap black plastic Scotty bases as well as not having to drill more holes into the boat. A couple of questions for you, did you have to drill out the holes anymore or was it the same size hole on the old rod holders compared to the new Burnewiin ones? Also, did you put any sort of backing underneath the gunwale for strength when using them as downrigger bases? Thanks!

I was able to use all the holes except 2 of the mounting screws I had to drill. I did not add a plate to the under side, I called grady and they said it is plenty strong. They are really clean looking and the rod holder and downrigger holders work really well. They are also much strong than the standard 30 degree rod holders that come with the boat. It's worth a call to talk to them, Tom the owner is a wealth of knowledge.

 

[Ky Grady]

I had speakers in the same spot and ditched them in short order. Wasn't keen on the look, and my style of fishing/drifting, the sound was out back, not at the helm area. We kick back in the helm chairs watching the rods, rather have the sound up by me. I installed the Poly-Planar MA-800's up under the walkways down by my feet. Also have the Poly-Planar's in my inspection ports for cockpit duty.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I had speakers in the same spot and ditched them in short order. Wasn't keen on the look, and my style of fishing/drifting, the sound was out back, not at the helm area. We kick back in the helm chairs watching the rods, rather have the sound up by me. I installed the Poly-Planar MA-800's up under the walkways down by my feet. Also have the Poly-Planar's in my inspection ports for cockpit duty.

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Looks good! I'll probably just try to keep what I've got and get some new speaker brackets for them from PP. They're less than $40 shipped for the pair and will be one of the cheaper additions to the boat as I've been spending money on downriggers, fishing gear, tax on the purchase price of the boat and the trip back from Maryland.

 

[Ky Grady]

It'll calm down in time. It's a whirlwind right now getting everything taken care of for you. I bought mine the end of April '17,,, brought it home to Kentucky, gutted it, then took it to my Yamaha dealer in SC and had exhaust done in May,,,, had some fiberglass work done in June/July while in SC, went back down and got it, then had to put it back together for her first fishing trip the first week of October. It was always something needing fixed or replaced, but part of that was my OCD to have everything looking good an work as it should. 4 years later and I think I'm finished for the most part,,,, still waiting on repower, going on 13 months waiting on motor. Most of what I do now is accessories, not necessities,, fun stuff.

 

[GradyGary226]

Use starboard or similar as backing material for your Scotty mounts if the burnwinn pricing scares you as much as me!

Congrats on the new to you boat!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Use starboard or similar as backing material for your Scotty mounts if the burnwinn pricing scares you as much as me!

Congrats on the new to you boat!

I'm definitely not a fan of the pricing of the Burnewiin mounts either. I can't imagine it would cost them anywhere near what they sell them for to simply produce them. That being said, I do like the sleek look that they offer and if I replace the rod holders that came with the boat with them, then I wouldn't have to drill 4 new holes into the gunwale and have the cheap looking Scotty plastic downrigger mount plates on there. When you removed the downriggers the gunwales would appear to look stock. But yes, the price on the Burnewiin mounts are rather annoying to have to pay that much for.

 

[GradyGary226]

Just a thought....If you go with the Burnewiin's use some backing plates under the gunnel also. A lot of load on the gunnel area when your running 15's or even the 20's if you fish the coast. I have been running the 2106's since the year they came out. There is a guy CNCing aluminum spools that will eliminate the split spool issues I have had with loading more than 300ft of cable/braid. Good Luck!

 

[Ryhlick]

I'm definitely not a fan of the pricing of the Burnewiin mounts either. I can't imagine it would cost them anywhere near what they sell them for to simply produce them. That being said, I do like the sleek look that they offer and if I replace the rod holders that came with the boat with them, then I wouldn't have to drill 4 new holes into the gunwale and have the cheap looking Scotty plastic downrigger mount plates on there. When you removed the downriggers the gunwales would appear to look stock. But yes, the price on the Burnewiin mounts are rather annoying to have to pay that much for.

Give them a call and talk to them. They are priced higher, but the product is amazing. I thought the same as you, then was fishing on a boat that was outfitted with a few years back. After that summer, I was sold. They have great options for just about everything you need for ones boat. Anyway, just my thoughts, I’m sure you’ll make a good decision either way. Good luck and enjoy the heck out of a great boat.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Good afternoon everyone, I'm just doing a few things to the boat to make her mine and ran across a couple of questions. The first is that I just bought a pair of Scotty downriggers that I'll be adding to the boat but where should they be put and do most people just drill the mounting plates onto the sides of boat or use other types of mounts? I bought two Scotty 2106B's and in the previous boats I've owned I just put them a foot or forward of the aft cleat on the gunwale. Any issues with doing something like this on my boat? I have the padding or I guess they're called bolsters on the sides of the gunwale as well, so I'm not going to obviously drill through them for the electrical outlets but guess I'll have to put them underneath the gunwale? Also, during my cross country road trip from Maryland back to Seattle, the two speakers that are housed underneath the hardtop had the brackets crack and the speakers fell into the boat. I don't see a part number or brand on the speakers themselves and would like to try to avoid drilling anymore holes into the boat than need be. Would you recommend getting new speakers and try to find ones with a similar bracket mounting location or what would your advice be? I'll attach a picture of what happened with the speakers and the speaker brackets, I'm guessing 3k miles of going 70+ mph and having pretty strong winds on occasion were the culprit of breaking the speaker brackets. Thanks again!

Congrats on the new boat, and the cross country trip. Another Grady from the East hits Seattle. Those same speakers came with my boat. They're from west marine if I remember correctly. Was in the same spot too. I replaced them with bigger 6" speaker boxes. I think those were 4". They aren't anything special. I used the same holes in the hard top for the new bracket. Just buy a set on Amazon or West Marine. You can have mine if you want. But if your considering Burwin, doubt you need free speakers. Buy some JLs .

I fish scottys, also in Seattle. I started with the gimble mounts but if you fish 15 # balls and long extendable booms the gimbles can't handle it. I ended up mounting to the gunnel. The gunnel is cored with very thick wood. Also DR's mounted in gimble take 1 second to steal. Something to think about depending on how you use your boat.

You mention you have the high power downriggers right? I'd definitly hardmount before you loose an expensive rigger.

I can't find a pic of my Seafarer boat but this one is currently for sale in Seattle and has 4 mounts. I'd just do the rear.

 

[Don Davis]

Here’s a picture of my downrigger mounting configuration with aluminum backing plates for support under the gunwales. Plugs are mounted under the gunwale near where the top aft road holder is located.