Adjustable Scotty Rod Holder Plate for Track mounts

Last crawled date: 4 years, 1 month ago

As a person that spends a lot of his fishing time trolling for salmon from a kayak, I was suffering a major first world problem. I love the Scotty mounts and the Orca rod holder - especially with the Scotty Slip Disks - but with only 30 degrees per slot on the rod holder base (12 positions) my rod tip was either too far forward, or too far back. Not only that, but it was slightly different on my Hobie Outback vs. my Hobie Revolution since the track mounts were in different positions. Anyways, I got bored one rainy winter day about 4 years ago and designed a mounting plate that has two 15 degree arced slots at each of the two track mounting points. So, now I can adjust to my hearts content! I tested two prior versions for about two years before coming up with this final version. I have used this final third version hard for two years and I am very happy with it, so I feel it is worth sharing. It should also work for a Ram mount.
I have included a .dxf file which can be cut with a laser or CNC mill and a .pdf file that is to scale if printed on 8.5 x 11 paper and one for A4 that can be used for hand cutting and drilling. The inner circles are sized for #10 stainless steel flat head screws like these https://www.mcmaster.com/machine-screws. The outer circles are the outer boundaries of the 82 degree counter sink needed for the screws. Your length of screw may vary depending on your stock thickness. I have made some 1/4 inch thick and 3/8 inch thick. I prefer the 3/8 since the screw heads are counter sunk, but the one I have used the last two years is only 1/4 inch thick. Tap Plastics has a scrap bin (at least where I am) that has off-cuts of HDPE (Starboard) or you can use an old plastic cutting board.
For those that want to 3D print it, you will have to convert the .dxf. I never made a 3D model since I had no intention of printing it. I had fears of the durability of a 3D printed part holding up to a salmon.
For those into CNC porn, here is a video of how it was cut from a "just big enough" piece of scrap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84kIYEZmf0g