New Rock Guard for Sports and Hypers

[ArmyHunter]

Originally Posted by Cajun_in_GA

id be welding that puppy on or do like us married folks and go without!!

CIG- To funny but to true.:WTF: lol...

[Cajun_in_GA]

Army, If you think that is funny check this out.

I was researching Trolling Motors for a few minutes tonight and came across a post about Optima Batteries and i quote

'Those batteries suck harder than a homesexual vacum'

I bout died!!

I own a optima and still bout fell out of my chair!!

[Rick]

I bought a piece of flat stock from from homer crapot. Cut 2 pieces from it each 15". Used the lower hole that is pre-drilled on the skeg but made a complete new hole in the skeg for the top bolt. Was able to drill between the circular factory cutouts in the skeg to get the best angle. Too much angle and you start limiting yourself in sand, gravel or hard bottmed areas. Too shallow and you risk your guard bending up and into your skeg after a hard impact. I have bent my guards up about an inch, which I anticipated being the stock wasn't that hard of a grade of steel. After all the impacts It's taken it hasn't moved since last season so I guess it reached a point where it is not gonna bend up anymore. However, when I sideswipe a rock it will bend out to the side a 1/2" or so. Only issue that has had on performance is increased tiller torque. I simpy unblot the guards hammer 'em out straight again and re-install. Prolly have to do that a half dozen times a season. My buddy runs a single bar of the same flat stock on his 35 balanced. His impacts are less severe due to the slower speeds he runs compared to what I run. I also use SS bolts and haven't broke one yet after some serious rock impacts. I saw where Glenn runs one on his rig when I went hunting with them back in Dec and it handled the rocky river well.
As you can see I drilled too high( created to steep of an angle) for the top bolt and had to re drill just beneath, but I did use the pre-drilled hole on the bottom. Just drilled both out to 3/8".


As you can see the rock guards have bent up about an 1". But I anticipated that with the softer stock I used. I still have about an inch of clearance from the Big Blade prop I run.



Here you can see that they are double stacked. Like I said, any side swipe at full throttle and they will bend out about 1/2". Nothing a hammer can't fix once back at home. They always bend away from the direction of the factory skeg bend. They've never bent with it.

[Glenn]

We put hundreds of hours a year on the Snake River and it is all rock, the softest part on it is gravel and sandstone, the rest is granite and lava rock. We have learned to read the river ahead and trim up often, but hitting rocks is more common than not.

The rock guard holds up well, but we do check and tighten the bolts since a half dozen man sized rocks a trip can make them loose, not often, but it can loosen and then be prone to shear.

Coupled with our 1/4" steel skeg, the rock guard extends prop life considerably. Any motor heading for this river with miles in mind has a rock guard or buys a prop a weekend.

The Duck Commander hunted with us awhile back and had his taste of this western river, the toughest mud motor water you can imagine. Keep your rock guard on and keep those bolts tight.

http://tiny-link.com/vl.asp?h=1851622185ANGIFS&l=

[RIVER RAT]

I had less than 15 minutes on my new HD sport when one of the bolts broke on my rock shoe. Really put some nice divots in my brand new prop. I replaced them with higher grade bolts and haven't had a problem since. My only question would be were these bolts soft for a reason, as not to cause extra torque to the shaft?

[muddyduck]

I mounted mine by taping the skeg to a 3/8" and backed it up with a nylox nut. I made my own and drilled to a very tight tolerance to not allow any slop between the guard and the bolts. I also drilled the first hole closest to the prop and bolted it in place and then raised and lowered the guard to a high and low position and marked them and drilled them out. Now if I decide to use the 12" prop I can change and or adjust for different running conditions. I have taken some very hard hits running the rivers and have only bent the guard. Lord help me if that thing wraps aroung my prop!

[j towne]

Are you guys still having problems with the soft bolts for the rock guards. I am getting ready to order a new prop and I dont want to the rock guard to mess up my prop.

[SMILIN JACK]

j towne , Last day of early teal at 0 dark thirty I found a ROCK that scared the BeJesus out of Me :WTF:. Didn't touch the boat but kicked the motor up so high I thougt it was coming off the boat . Stopped and checked and didn't see anything with my lite but upon further inspection at first lite found a ding on the Rock guard and a 1/16 deep gouge on the prop about a 1/4 in long . Doesn't seem to be of any concern to the operation of boat or motor. Runs fine. Bolts held just fine . Got mine from MB . Glad I had it . Probably would have taken out the prop without it.

[Browning]

Picked up a couple new ones the other day from Mud Buddy. It looks like they started coming with three bolts instead of two. Good move.

[SMILIN JACK]

Sounds like I need an upgrade . That is a 3/8s in bolt , correct

[Idahofowlweather]

Originally Posted by Browning

Picked up a couple new ones the other day from Mud Buddy. It looks like they started coming with three bolts instead of two. Good move.

I'm glad they took some advise,

J Towne, I upgraded mine to grade 8 bolts and added a 3rd bolt and have had no problem... I have to take the rock gaurd off about every 5 trips and hammer it back into shape... it twists and bends from all the hard hits... I run the snake river and its all rock... but it saves the big blade... but it has come very close a few times from getting twisted up into the tip of the blade... I have noticed that my skeg welds are starting to crack, guess I will have to take it in to the machine shop for some welding...:crazy:

[Blackducks]

Very cool! Now, if MB would just come up with a SANDPROOF prop...........

Carbide tipped blades maybe?

That'd be in the top 3 on my wish list! It's a long list too!

[SMILIN JACK]

As I added the 3rd bolt I thought of a problem I am having . I know about the weed guard for the housing but I have never had a problem there . Mine is always picking up grass on the bolts for the rock guard . I cut the bolts back to the nut but it still grabs every piece of grass it can find. Any suggestions....

[Idahofowlweather]

Originally Posted by SMILIN JACK

As I added the 3rd bolt I thought of a problem I am having . I know about the weed guard for the housing but I have never had a problem there . Mine is always picking up grass on the bolts for the rock guard . I cut the bolts back to the nut but it still grabs every piece of grass it can find. Any suggestions....

you just have to deal with it... or make some kind of cover (weed Gaurd)for each bolt... I will play around with somthing this week and test it out this weekend... I have weed somthing bad this year... the new skid Gaurd rock for the housing...

take a look at these pics is my rock gaurd to close to my prop....?

[SMILIN JACK]

Jake , You are really cutting it close. With the stock guard I can get a finger between the prop and the guard and it really isn't all the way under the prop...That second pic looks like you have 2 rock guards which is probably a good idea for where you run
I think I might give myself a little more room just in case I would really bang something
I will try some putty or something around the bolts. It really isn't that much trouble , just a little inconvenience.....

[Idahofowlweather]

Jack, the rock gaurd is in the stock location... were the pre drilled holes were... I may need to lower it... in the 2nd pic that is the skeg that you see, I have just on gaurd but I'm thinking about geting 2 so I don't have to hammer as much...

Jake

[SMILIN JACK]

Earlier in this thread Rick mentioned he had 2 in of clearance . I only have about 1/2 in but you have even less. I guess if you hit something hard enough it doesn't really matter ,,It would still worry me....

[j towne]

Does anyone have these in stock? I have been tring to order one for a couple days now.

[SMILIN JACK]

MB should have them

[Green Heads N Red Fins]

Hey guys(Glenn Specifically):
I am new to the mud motor world as well, so this question is based more on my ignorance so please don't take offense. Why not just incorporate the overall design of the skeg to include the rock guard? Is that even possible? Seems like the skeg itself is thicker than the add on piece. It would apperar the integrity would be better if it was one piece versus an add-on. Thanks for indulging me guys

[Gun Doc]

Green Heads,

The rock guard makes it more difficult to get the prop down in some situations, so those that don't need them prefer not to have them. Example: Hard sand. The guard will keep you out of the sand, but will limit the depth. Some would prefer to not limit the depth, and use good judgment on their own to not grind in the sand. With rocks, it is not really a judgment thing in that you may hit a rock you didn't know was there. So, for rocks, the guard is a very good idea. Also, the guards are going to get beat up, and with an add on guard you can replace it or remove it to straighten it.

[Green Heads N Red Fins]

Makes sense. Kind if intuitive when you think about it. So depending on the situation, you really don't need a permanent one. Thanks Gun Doc

[lipsmaker72901]

I had one on here in Arkansas for a bit, but took it off. Like was sasid earlier, I had more probs in the sand than rocks. Now if I go to the White River to trout fish you can bet it is going back on.

[HaydenHunter]

Mine is on early season when the rocky waters are higher in level but when I run more mud. You want prop bite in mud and the rock guard interferes with bite in hard mud.

Later in the season, when waters drop 7 to 11 feet, the mud flats are long dry or frozen and we run rocks and gravel bars in moving current. The rock guard saves my bacon on a regular basis. I neglected to put it on for a couple of low water rocky hunts last year and my big blade paid the price.

[MallardSX2]

I'm liking this post guys! I run rocky rivers as well and its good to see that these motors are holding up. I'm starting to see the advantage of paying big bucks for one of these motors. I'm gona be placing my order ASAP fo sho! The motor and speeds I am gona be running I will need 3/8 flat steel and 1/2" G8 Bolts. Does anyone have any pictures of the bottoms of the rivers they run? No hunting pics or spots just the rocky conditions?? Lets see what you are running.

[willydiver]

How's this for rocky??? Of course I'm going around the BIG ones...... ha ha. I bought mine especially for the rocky rivers.

[MallardSX2]

You cant be serious............I think I need a personal moment....That looks about as rocky as the river tat I run. But smaller. How does your motor handle those impacts??

[willydiver]

The pic is a little misleading, because the deeper water is to the right. Of course I don't run right through the shoals above idle, because those rock gremlins will get you no matter what you run. The 23 Mini on my boat is agile enough to maneuver around the ones I see and tough enough to take a bump from the ones I don't. Keep a little downward pressure on the tiller and the skeg rides right over them. And of course, rock guards are the schizzle!
WD

[5.0_For_Mallards]

Need to double check the tightness of your rock guard bolts, this past season I was running the river and slammed into a rock, motor handle flew out of my hand. Got back to launch after hunting and noticed the lower bolt was loose and the rock guard slid up into the 12.25 prop! Causing it to put a “v” ding into the new prop.. Add 3rd bolt and double check bolt tightness!!! Wouldn’t run with out!