T-Nut discovery

I guess since I now fish out of a kayak more than my big boat, I’m considered a kayaker. My paddle is even metric.

Anyway, last night I was rigging up my fish finder and could not find T-Nuts at any of my local hardware stores. It was very frustrating. Just as I was about to leave the last hardware store the thought hit me...

Those long, brass bolts that hold the toilet down to the closet flange would be perfect. Sure enough, they are 1/4-20 and they are easy enough to cut to length. They won’t rust and with them being brass, they will not eventually gall the threads.

So there you have it. My contribution to the kayak world. If you can’t find a T-Nut, go to the plumbing section and get the closet flange bolts, they seem to work great.

What are your tracks made of? Two dissimilar metals in contact can corrode one or both due to galvanic action.

The rule of thumb with dissimilar metals is if you stay under .25V on structural platforms or up to .50V on light duty applications on the Anodic index you will be fine. This would change some if I were in salt water which is not the plan. My brass bolts and the aluminum rail fall well below that level unless I drop it in the ocean.

Besides, if it did fail, it would mean my fish finder would flop over about 4 inches until it took up the slack in my wiring. If I were suggesting using brass lug nuts, it might be of concern, but I’m just wanting to prop up a 2 pound fish finder.

I've used the toilet T bolts/nuts in track systems on my boat and kayak. They are widely available in the Wmart plumbing/toilet section in the hardware isles.

I sprayed them down first with Rustoleum clean metal primer--also available at most Wmarts in either the hardware or automotive section (should prevent any dissimilar metal issues)

The funny thing is, after I went through the excersize of figuring out the toilet bolt thing, when I was actually mounting the fish finder head to the ram mount, the first screw that fell out of my magic mayonnaise jar of hardware was a T-Bolt.

Good hack Mudshark, I will keep this one in mind.

I have also used a stainless steel pan head screw and washer in a pinch. Grab the washer with a pair of plyers and grind each side to fit. The screw head slips a bit when tightening, but it will eventually grab enough to tighten the nut.

Put a little anti-seize on the bolts and they will not freeze up or corrode.

Also, always use anti-seize to keep stainless steel threads from galling up, especially important if they are tightened to a higher torque value.

Wayne

Mudshark, you brought up past memories of the galvanic table and cathodic protection class. I have put many a magnesium anode in heat exchangers to stop corrosion. Glad to see this knowledge being used in the fishing world.

Yep and you can use the toilet bolts and some pvc to make a DIY gear head adapter. Take a 1/2" male threaded cap (the type with the flat head not a dome head) turn the open end of the cap up and place on a hard surface. Using 1/4" toilet bolt set (bolt & nut), place the nut on the open end of the cap (domed end of the nut up) and gently tap the nut into the 1/2" cap until it hits bottom. The nut fits tight in the cap so you'll need to hammer it in pace. You can use the toilet bolt as a guide if necessary to keep the nut straight. Just don't hammer too hard on the toilet bolt as you can strip the threads on the nut. The nut has a tight fit which alleviates the need for epoxy. Then you can use a 3/4" slip x 1/2" FPT adapter to accept a 3/4" pvc pipe. Project takes less than 5 minute (aside from painting of course).