Looks good, very clever.
Been toying around with an idea to take my existing 8 degree trolling motor livescope mount and make it a 0 degree, but also will work with trolling motor. I got part of the idea from my son, Jeff Larch, as he uses a Garmin 0 degree pole mount and has put an extension on it to clear the barrel of the trolling motor. Using a 0 degree makes all the difference in the world as your jig remains in the beam from the surface all the way to the bottom.
Here's what I came up with...
Take a piece of 3/4 PVC preferably a foot long or longer for safety reasons. Set your miter cutoff saw to 8 degrees and make your first cut on your PVC. Now, cut the shortest length of your piece of PVC at 90 degrees and cut to a 1/2 inch or slightly longer. All I had to buy was a 6mmx30mm stainless bolt. It took 2 attempts at this build because my transducer would loosen off as the angle on the PVC shifted off center of the bolt. I remedied this by cutting a piece of wooden dowel rod to the same dimensions as the PVC. I glued this into the PVC and drilled a hole just big enough for the 6mm bolt to connect the mount to the transducer. Not nesseccary to use the rubber washer but I do recommend using a washer under the bolt in the back of the transducer mount. I also made a little half moon spacer by cutting a 1/4-20 lock nut in half. I put this in first into the back of the 8 degree bracket at the bottom towards trolling motor, then the washer, then the 6mm bolt. This gives the washer and bolt a good flat surface to pull on when tightened.
I hope my description of my build was not too confusing. Tested it yesterday and could see my jig from splash down to over 20 feet deep!
Last edited by BuckeyeCrappie; 03-05-2023 at 06:21 PM. Reason: Photo rotation
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Great work! Thanks for sharing this with us
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Got to take a trip out today with my new transducer set up. I've got to say that a 0-degree transducer mount is the way to go. It sure was nice not losing my jig half way down.
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Anyone tried this DIY zero degree mount?
Garmin Livescope Zero Degree Mount (Budget Option For Ice Fishing!!) - YouTube
Last edited by SuperDave336; 05-30-2023 at 04:15 PM.
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I didn't think about a larger diameter piece of PVC that would fit over the 8 degree. That would have been easier than cutting an 8 degree on one end of the 3/4" like I did.
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Didn’t think about cutting a piece of PVC to straighten out the 8-degree mount. I’m currently printing a mount for my 1” PVC pole mount system on my 3D printer out of PETG to see how it compares to the ABS one that I printed and cracked.
Both methods will work, but cutting the matching 8 degree has to be lined up right when installed to give you 0 degrees. I think the 1' PVC over the 8 degree might be a better option.
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This has worked very well for me. It allows me to track my jig all the way from the surface to the bottom. Seen somewhere where a guy used 1' PVC and it fit over the old mount eliminating the need to cut the matching 8 degrees. The LVS 34 mount is a little different so I would probably look into one of the commercial made mounts that would give you 0 degrees plus enough offset to clear the trolling motor.
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Looks interesting, haven’t had any kind of problems seeing my jig with my 8 degree offset, but if I do I will try this. Whats the other benefits from changing this?