Problem solvers needed

I am hoping to tap the ingenuity of this board to solve an issue with a boat of mine. The boat is a 1997 Grumman with a 50HP Johnson. I have been getting this boat back in shape for the past year after a bunch of years of neglect. The problem is that, with the aluminum thickness of .008", the walls of the boat vibrate a lot while running. The console is attached to the wall, so any electronics take a thrashing at speed. I have addressed this by mounting the FF on a piece of 2x6 and moving it to the floor when running. This stinks. I am considering building a footed pedestal that would be independent of the console so I don't have to worry about the paint-shaker effect. But, before I invest too much time in trying to fab something, I thought I would see if anyone had a better idea. I can move the rod holders, if I need to. (Oh, I am cost adverse!) Thanks for reading this far.

How about some bracing on that console ? Might consider coating the gunnel to the floor with some type of liner. I painted the interior of my Jon boat with a product called Grizzly Grip ( it's a non skid product) but it's kinda thick and definitely took some of the noise/vibration out of it too. If you go that route, go for the thicker/more viscous product. The thin stuff they sale may not help you that much.

You also could look at putting a piece of that board insulation between the console and the wall of the boat. That would probably be the cheapest.

Agree with bracing the console, another cheap thought would be to get some of the window seal foam from Lowes, it comes in a roll, and try to pull the tape off of it, and push it between the console and the gunnel with a screwdriver. Might offer a little vibration dampening, have to put it in there and find out.

Could you brace front and back then release it from the outside wall, assuming the vibration is from the wall and not the floor.
if it's bolted to the side I'd remove the bolts , install some insulation between the wall and console to try to find the source of the vibration
A test might be to clamp a cup of water to the side rail and place one on the floor, drive the boat to see which shows the most action.
Just blue skying ideas

Thanks for the suggestions. Trying to use the gunnel is an interesting idea. I'm not even sure how it's attached, but, probably rivets. My gut feel is that to stabilize the gunnel to the deck would take some type of formed metal to do any good. Will give it some thought. It would be nice to stabilize the console all together.

Check for vibration isolation mounts, grainger, or Msc direct.

My first thought is pipe insulation between the gunnel and the console. Might could also put a layer of insulation/foam under the mounting bracket of the fish finder to the console, may help to dampen the vibration also.
Mike

Take a kid outdoors!

Pull away from wall creating a tension. Spray expanding foam underneath, front and back in all the cracks. Trim excess.

May not help, but you can buy vibration mounts on ebay for less than $10 for 4. You could try them under the items mounted to the console. If you bought a ram mount and mounted the finder directly to the rail beside you where the throttle is, would the position be ok. It may not vibrate as much as the console due to it's rigidity.

Thanks, CW. I hadn't thought about that location, but is worth looking at.

Have a old boat very similar to that. Console was mounted to side below gunnel with 2 smal bolts and washers. I took a piece of flat aluminum about 16 long and 2 wide by 1/8 thick. Drilled a couple of bigger holes mounted that plate on outside and used large body washers inside. Stiffened it right up. Not pretty but functional.

I had a deep v once that I could not find a good mounting place for my helix 5 so I put a ram mount about where it looks like you would mount yours and swung it in a little - worked perfect and with a twist or two I could remove after fishing for security.

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Originally Posted by cray

Have a old boat very similar to that. Console was mounted to side below gunnel with 2 smal bolts and washers. I took a piece of flat aluminum about 16 long and 2 wide by 1/8 thick. Drilled a couple of bigger holes mounted that plate on outside and used large body washers inside. Stiffened it right up. Not pretty but functional.

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Would you happen to have a picture of this, Cray?

No I don't. My deep vee had a flat rail about 2 inches wide so I mounted the ram mount right beside the console on top of the rail. It was the ram mount with the two ball joints and about a 6 inch extension between them. I could even turn it completely around to the front if I was fishing from the front.

Attachment 260512

Kind of like this

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Originally Posted by Crewmax42

Would you happen to have a picture of this, Cray?

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I'm sorry but no I don't.

First of all, install a cross-member from the top of the port gunwale to the top of the starboard gunwale just in front of the console. Similar to the cross-members (thwarts) on a canoe. Be sure it places some tension between the gunwales. This may be all that you have to do to get rid of most of the vibration.