Bass Boat Rebuild Part 4: Foot Pedal Tray and Trolling Motor Install

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Catch up on the series:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 5
• Part 6
• Part 7
• Part 8

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This installment is going to cover a few essential items that are critical to rebuilding an older bass boat. One of the important things to keep in mind is that you are repairing previous install jobs that may or may not have been done right. In this case, there were numbers of things we had to change over to be more friendly to bass fishing. Not necessarily done incorrectly the first time around. Although, most of the components that came with the rig we’d have installed differently.

To start, we had to address previous trolling-motor bracket holes that did not line up with our new 52-inch Minn Kota Ultrex Quest. Fiberglass is tough and it won’t lose rigidity with holes in it, however, it’s a good idea to use the same holes again if possible, or to prevent water from getting into the hull repairing existing holes as best as possible. One of my preferred methods is with JB Weld. Admittedly, it’s not perfect but fills the holes, blocks moisture and is super tough—a mild facelift is nothing else.

We had a number of holes to fill, which we’ll talk about in more detail in a coming installment, but for this piece, we used the JB Weld Marine Weld. We filled the existing holes from the previous trolling motor and let it sit overnight. JB Weld hardens nicely, and it’s sands down after it’s fully set up, so you can be liberal with the application and clean it up at the end.

The next task was to mock-up the Minn Kota Ultrex Quest. Since we were installing a motor that this particular boat was never meant to accommodate, it’s important to take the time to mock everything up to be sure exactly how it’ll fit. It’s also worth mentioning that the new Ultrex Quest can work as a 24- or 36-volt system without having to make any changes. So if that helps you decide on the correct battery configuration, you’ve got options. As mentioned in a previous installment, we chose to go with a pair of Li-Time 36-volt batteries that feature a footprint equal to a Group 31 deep cycle.

We put the trolling motor and base on the boat to see how everything would likely fit, we also marked spots for new holes, none of the previous holes fit the new Ultrex Quest.

The next thing we had to do was measure and line up the traceable template for the Panther MarineTech trolling motor foot-pedal tray. This is a tedious process that demands accuracy, which is extra fun since there’s not a straight edge to measure against. If you hate seeing things off-center or out of alignment, spend the extra time to measure and center the template. You are cutting a big hole in the front deck, so there’s no going back.

We traced the template with a Sharpie to be confident in the line we were to cut. The thing to remember here is you need to be accurate, but the overlapping edge of the foot pedal tray will help cover the imperfections of the cutting process. Also, fiberglass is nasty stuff—we had the shop-vac suck up the dust as we went, not only did that reduce the risk of getting it in your eyes but made the final clean-up process much easier.

After we hit the longer straight lines with the circular saw, we came back to get the corners with a jigsaw. (Don’t judge my shop prowess by my use of a Ryobi, I use a jigsaw very rarely and didn’t want to go full Monty on an expensive model. This one works just fine for as often as I use it.)

After we finished with the saws, we used a pry bar to pop the piece out of the gap.

Thankfully, we accomplished out task with accuracy.

The next step was to chip the foam out of the way so we could get the tray in place. This part of the process was pretty easy but took a few dry fittings to have it perfectly. And we kept the shop-vac handy to minimize the mess during our effort.

We also ran a drain tube from the base of the tray into the bottom of the boat so any rain or waves that might crest the bow would have a destination at the main bilge. This is a simple yet critical part of the process.

As you look inside the center compartment, you can see the gap beneath the tray, we planned to add some spray-in foam in that gap to secure the fit of the tray. An easy task to accomplish, or so we thought. Read on—we’ll revisit this part.

Onto the trolling motor. As mentioned above, we weren’t able to use any existing holes, so we filled them in and drilled new ones. We also used large washers on the bottom side to increase the security of the connection.

The job was easy, and the trolling motor is attached without concern. We attached the prop next. And then began on installing the Humminbird Mega 360 and Mega Live 2. When attaching the cables to the shaft of the Ultrex, it’s a good idea to use electrical tape instead of zip ties. And use good tape, too, the Scotch Super 33+ is reliable and won’t come apart after being in and out of the water.

Back to the spray-in foam beneath the newly installed recessed foot pedal tray. We decided to add foam around the base of the tray to lock it in. I was able to reach in to an extent … but I’m a bigger fella, and it was a tight fit to get my sizable torso into the storage compartment.

It paid to have Tommy’s buddy Mason stop by, so we put him to work! As the picture will indicate, he crawled in there and filled the gaps beneath the foot pedal just as I had hoped. Frankly, it turned out perfectly!

More to come in the next part! Stay tuned.

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