[Marco Mike]

I've seen several boats for sale I've really like for purchase BUT they have Garmins. From all I've read for SWFL use, I'd be a fool not to have Florida Marine Tracks. How easy is it to hook up a new system if the boat's already been drilled and set up for the electronics?

(Posted this in General Discussion as well but thought it may be better here. I apologize for the double post)

 

[Half Shell]

No way would I pass up a nice used skiff / flats boat because it had the wrong brand of electronics. It's not like these are offshore boats running 3 MFDs, radar, etc. Electronics are outdated in about 4 years anyway so find the boat you like and budget for a new chartplotter.

You can buy a new 9" Simrad for less

Btw, I ran all over chokoloskee and 10k islands with a 10" Garmin and G2 Vision maps and somehow never destroyed anything or got stuck.

 

[TylertheTrout2]

Huh.. swfl native here, only ever used garmin's..?? Fortunate to have lived a life of fishing and boating here so I guess in only use my chart for reference.. you looking to run around and stare at the screen like you playing a video game? I've heard simrad is the way to go then

 

[Marco Mike]

Huh.. swfl native here, only ever used garmin's..?? Fortunate to have lived a life of fishing and boating here so I guess in only use my chart for reference.. you looking to run around and stare at the screen like you playing a video game? I've heard simrad is the way to go then

Not trying to flame anyone here, but I plotted out courses and fishing sports out of Goodland using the Navionics app on my phone not too long ago. The depths were completely off to the point of being useless. Considering the desire to maximize quality fishing time and to avoid hull rash (or worse), the best product for the situation would seem to make sense.

 

[Boneheaded]

Kind of a kooky question, guys were running or paddling around the glades way before gps or sea tow.

Honest the most trouble you may encounter is just running the new transducer wiring or power cables.

 

[TylertheTrout2]

You'll find it's not hard to switch it out with the unit you prefer, you tube has a good amount of material to refence to for installation as well

 

[Egrets Landing]

I've seen several boats for sale I've really like for purchase BUT they have Garmins. From all I've read for SWFL use, I'd be a fool not to have Florida Marine Tracks. How easy is it to hook up a new system if the boat's already been drilled and set up for the electronics?

(Posted this in General Discussion as well but thought it may be better here. I apologize for the double post)

It depends on how the current unit is mounted. If its flush mounted you have to deal with unsecuring it from underneath and figuring out what unit will fill the hole properly if you want to keep it flush mounted. I would personally hate a flush mount on a skiff. If its just on the gimbal on top of the console or on an adjustable mount, just unscrew the old gimbal and replace it with the new gimbal and resecure where the old one was. About 10 mins at the most for that if your console is reasonably accessible. Then attach the power cable to the battery and run the cable up to the rear of the unit and attach. All of that is about 30 mins or less. Running a new transducer cable and attaching that to the boat is the more time consuming part but not hard. I did one this weekend in about 60 mins on a skiff including the zip ties to keep things neat.

 

[Marco Mike]

Thank you to all who replied.

 

[No Bait / Lures Only]

Measure 3 times then drill.