Adding T-track to narrow gunwale?

[zuren]

I'm having ideas to improve my 1974 Smokercraft "utility" style boat. I have attached images of what I'm working with.

The boat is 14' and not as wide as todays boats. Earlier this Fall I spent a week fishing in Canada. It really made me realize what I need to do to make the interior of the boat lighter, more organized, and more efficient. I already had a couple Driftmaster rod holders, and added some Railblaza accessories to the boat before the trip. I don't love the Driftmasters; they really extend pretty far into the boat based on how I have them mounted. I was very happy with the Railblaza mounts, so I think I want to shift toward their ecosystem of products. For the record, I do not love anything that clamps onto the side of the boat. My experience is they always vibrate loose, and tear up the paint/metal of the boat.

Railblaza has their own track system, but the track itself is too large/wide for my use. I'm looking at all of their mounts and accessories:

https://www.railblaza.com/product-line/tracloader/

I'm thinking about mounting a basic T-track to the inside edge of my gunwales. Has anyone attached a T-track like this to the side of their boat?

https://orangealuminum.com/tt63/

The width of this track is exactly the same as the edge of the cap on my gunwale. See the diagram and the proposed location (highlighted in green - note that the diagram is not to scale). The track would only be going on straighter sections of gunwale facing inboard. The side angles of the boat are roughly 45 degrees.

Before I get too excited ordering parts and drilling holes, I wanted to see if anyone has done something similar? Pics/examples would be great!

Thanks!

 

[LDUBS]

Looks like you have a perfect solution.

@Tin Man added T-tracks to the inside of his gunnel. See this link (if I did it right):

https://www.tinboats.net/threads/gunnel-track-on-my-alumacraft-v16.50138/

 

[airshot]

You can purchase the track material by the foot. I bought mine from a local metal distributor. You can also buy or make the T nuts that slide into the track. Being a tool maker and having access to the equipment, I made my own. The side of my boat was full of holes from all the rod holders added and removed over its long life. I used a piece of mahogany all along the inside Grunwald then inserted the aluminum track into that. Both sides with 4 adjustable rod holders on each side....trying to find my pics, will post when I do.

 

[zuren]

Looks like you have a perfect solution.

@Tin Man added T-tracks to the inside of his gunnel. See this link (if I did it right):

https://www.tinboats.net/threads/gunnel-track-on-my-alumacraft-v16.50138/

Thanks for this thread! I spoke with him in a private chat over his attempt to use a Railblaza clamp-on option they offer, but he did not point me to this thread. This tells me exactly what I want to know!

 

[Buster]

On my old Lund with similar setup I decided tracks were too difficult and took up valuable space. Instead I found V-Lock (v-lock.com) to do the trick for what I needed. The starboard version is strong enough for most stuff and the system makes things easy to mount, dismount, and move around. Since I know where I want things I don't need the flexibility of track. Instead I need two transducer mount locations and two control head locations based on whether I'm fishing alone or with others.
Just another option that I haven't seen people mention here before (and couldn't find searching the forums.)

 

[wmk0002]

Thanks for this thread! I spoke with him in a private chat over his attempt to use a Railblaza clamp-on option they offer, but he did not point me to this thread. This tells me exactly what I want to know!

Yeah that was a great thread. I'm looking to do the same on my 1648 with the classic rounded jon boat gunnels.