A few people have asked me what I did to put a trolling motor on my boat and I ended up having to cut the bow rail!! I was sad and felt a little bad while doing it but it had to be done. Here are before and after pics. I will update again after tomorrow. I kind of feel like I should have taken the whole bow rail off but the pieces that I left on, allow for a little more safety and help getting on and off the boat. I will cap the sharp steel with black rubber caps.

Before:





After the cuts:

Looks Fine,beside youimproved the boat with a trolling motor.The rails did not help you catch fish.

Amen, I never caught a fish with a bow rail.

You definately improved your boat!

looks fine

I don't think it would cost much to replace the rail on the front on your boat with one similar to the one on the back of your boat. Check out this link.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SiteSearchView?catalogId=10001&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&keyword=rail+1%22&Ntt=rail+1%26quot%3B&N=0&storeId=10001&Ntk=All_2&ddkey=SiteSearch

Definitely want to use 1" SS, not aluminum or 7/8".

I just hate cutting and drilling on my boat! Tomorrow I will be drilling quite a few more holes and installing the massive trolling motor. I am wondering how a 70 inch shaft will ride but I guess I will find that out tomorrow.
The rail can just be welded back on without any problems. There will be a weld seam visible but it will not look bad. I did an even job with the cuts and SS is the only way to go.
Pics of finished project tomorrow.

By the way, the rail never helped me catch any fish either and it sucks having to run the anchor under it to drop. Looks like not having the rail will pay off soon enough.

Pie acts like he was the one dropping the anchor---I was the one he was yelling at while I was pull the anchor up from 150 ft in Port A--whew workout! Keith call me tomorrow if you need any help==work has finally slowed down some.

That might have been the first time you had MAJOR anchor duty but it wont be the last!!! LOL..

Keith

Mine had to be cut for the motor. You will not even notice once the fish start biting.

Pie, from reading your other posts you seem like a pretty savvy guy, but since you mentioned wondering how a 70" shaft will ride... Learn from some of the mistakes I saw before I mounted my motor. If you have help, get them to hold the mount where you intend to put it and look at the motor in both the stowed and run positions. Make sure that the motor doesn't stick way out of the boat when it is stored. I almost made that mistake when I mounted mine, had I not seen a guy break the top off his motor by hitting a guide pole on his trailer!

Your boat looks like the sides flare out like mine. If you are mounting the motor with the rubber isolators remember that you have to drill a 1/2" hole and have to have enough depth for the length of the rubber. I miscalculated one of my holes by about 1/16" and almost drilled through the outside of the boat. Once I got done cursing, I filled the hole with epoxy and redrilled. It's under the mount so no one knows it's there (except everyone who reads this...) but it still hurts to know I have a brand new boat that already has a patch!

The rail looks good. Rubber caps should keep the H2O out. Save the piece you cut off. If you decide you want to dress it up later you could probably get someone to cut that piece and make a gental bend down to the boat to match the back.

Heck, from the post title, I thought you had put a boulder thru your bow. Then I find out this sad day has to do with a TM...
I know it hurts to cut on your boat, but if it makes it a better boat, then there are no worries.

I know it's a bit late but, did you ever consider motor mounted/twin trolling motor modules? Big John has this on his boat. Not like a single front mount, but gets the job done.

R

I think i would have removed the whole thing !! That is what i had to do to mine.

I didnt think about my guide post on the trailer hitting it!! Glad I read this before I mounted. I was just fixing to head out to mark and drill and am thankful this was brought up. I had planned on having it hang a bit but will check it all out again.