Now that we are back into trolling season again, I was once again frustrated with trying to load seven trolling rigs inside of my Jeep Cherokee Classic.
I don't like beating up the rods and reels, and it always seems like the braid ends up getting tangled, making for a frustrating start to the day.
Many years ago (before I had a boat), I used a rig like this one on the front of my IH Scout for surf fishing.
This project has been on my mind for awhile, so it was time to go ahead with it.
The basis for the transporter is this Wel-Bilt Cargo Carrier that I sourced from Northern Tool.
The rig just slips into the 2" receiver hitch of the Jeep. Pretty simple.
A piece of plywood from my scrap bin was cut to 10"x48", clamped into place, then secured with four 1/4" u-bolts.
The rods were laid out to give me an idea of the spacing needed and to determine the size of the pipe I would need for the job.
After a bunch of layout and figuring the spacing of the tubes, I determined I could get 10 rod mount tubes on my transporter, and still clear all the bracing on the cargo carrier.
Blue painters tape made the chore of getting the spacing just right with a pencil and eraser correcting everything until I got it right.
I decided that 1.5" schedule 40 PVC would work, so I bought a 10' length and cut it into 12" sections using a mitre to keep everything as straight as possible.
A little acetone on a rag cleaned off all the ink on the PVC, and some 80 grit sandpaper made all of the cut ends nice and smooth.
When doing the layout on the backing board, I determined the lower mounting bolt would be 1" from the end of the tube.
Using a square and a straight edge, I laid out the points at the bottom where the tubes would attach, and drilled that hole first.
The hardware to be used was 1/4"x1" carriage bolts, with a drill selected one size larger so the square shank of the carriage bolt would sink easily into the PVC.
Drilling the hole just a wee bit larger also gave me a little wiggle room to square everything up.
Once the first mounting bolt was snugged, I squared up the tube, and using my layout line on the back of the board (set 1" below the top edge), I drilled the top mounting hole.
This is what the inside of the tube looks like.
This is what the tube looks like from the front face. No mounting holes showing.
After the first tube was mounted, the routine for the remaining tubes was the same.
Drill the bottom mounting hole in the tube.
Drill the lower hole in the backer board,
Bolt on the tube snugging the lower bolt.
With level, ruler, and eyeball, get the tube parallel with the others.
Clamp the top tube.
Verify it is still straight...
The drill the top mounting hole using the guide line on the rear of the backing board, insert the bolt, and snug her down.
Now... If you are anything like my next-door neighbor, you are probably wondering why the tubes are numbered sequentially.
Well, although the fabrication is complete, the job is not done.
The next step is to blow this thing apart and paint the backing board.
The tubes are numbered so everything goes back together in the same place.
Because every tube was fabricated with hand tools, rulers, squares, levels, and what-not, the chances of each tube being exactly alike is probably not going to happen, so labeling everything so it goes back together the way it was built is my plan.
Next to decide how to paint the board.
What do you think about something like this, only in red and white?
I don't like beating up the rods and reels, and it always seems like the braid ends up getting tangled, making for a frustrating start to the day.
Many years ago (before I had a boat), I used a rig like this one on the front of my IH Scout for surf fishing.
This project has been on my mind for awhile, so it was time to go ahead with it.
The basis for the transporter is this Wel-Bilt Cargo Carrier that I sourced from Northern Tool.
The rig just slips into the 2" receiver hitch of the Jeep. Pretty simple.
A piece of plywood from my scrap bin was cut to 10"x48", clamped into place, then secured with four 1/4" u-bolts.
The rods were laid out to give me an idea of the spacing needed and to determine the size of the pipe I would need for the job.
After a bunch of layout and figuring the spacing of the tubes, I determined I could get 10 rod mount tubes on my transporter, and still clear all the bracing on the cargo carrier.
Blue painters tape made the chore of getting the spacing just right with a pencil and eraser correcting everything until I got it right.
I decided that 1.5" schedule 40 PVC would work, so I bought a 10' length and cut it into 12" sections using a mitre to keep everything as straight as possible.
A little acetone on a rag cleaned off all the ink on the PVC, and some 80 grit sandpaper made all of the cut ends nice and smooth.
When doing the layout on the backing board, I determined the lower mounting bolt would be 1" from the end of the tube.
Using a square and a straight edge, I laid out the points at the bottom where the tubes would attach, and drilled that hole first.
The hardware to be used was 1/4"x1" carriage bolts, with a drill selected one size larger so the square shank of the carriage bolt would sink easily into the PVC.
Drilling the hole just a wee bit larger also gave me a little wiggle room to square everything up.
Once the first mounting bolt was snugged, I squared up the tube, and using my layout line on the back of the board (set 1" below the top edge), I drilled the top mounting hole.
This is what the inside of the tube looks like.
This is what the tube looks like from the front face. No mounting holes showing.
After the first tube was mounted, the routine for the remaining tubes was the same.
Drill the bottom mounting hole in the tube.
Drill the lower hole in the backer board,
Bolt on the tube snugging the lower bolt.
With level, ruler, and eyeball, get the tube parallel with the others.
Clamp the top tube.
Verify it is still straight...
The drill the top mounting hole using the guide line on the rear of the backing board, insert the bolt, and snug her down.
Now... If you are anything like my next-door neighbor, you are probably wondering why the tubes are numbered sequentially.
Well, although the fabrication is complete, the job is not done.
The next step is to blow this thing apart and paint the backing board.
The tubes are numbered so everything goes back together in the same place.
Because every tube was fabricated with hand tools, rulers, squares, levels, and what-not, the chances of each tube being exactly alike is probably not going to happen, so labeling everything so it goes back together the way it was built is my plan.
Next to decide how to paint the board.
What do you think about something like this, only in red and white?
