TestSubject Product Review

Watercraft Product Insight

Electronics Mounts That Are Built to Take a Beatdown

Date:	5/8/25
Tackle Type:	Boat Accessories
Manufacturer:	Beatdown Outdoors
Reviewer:	Cal

Introduction: It's been almost twenty years since I've updated my boat with new electronics. Back in 2008, I jumped on the sidescan bandwagon and installed two Humminbird's 797c2 SI on my boat thinking I was on my way to more productive fish catching adventures with the new tech. To say the long-term result was disappointing is putting it mildly, but with each passing year, the cost to and effort to swap out became increasingly prohibitive. Well, finally, this year, push came to shove because the plastic mount for my 797c2 broke leaving me finder-less on the bow. Not entirely crippling, but the one thing I was using the finder for was knowing the depth at the bow so I wouldn't run aground - a very important bit of information in the tidal waters of the California Delta.

Updating your boat's electronics can be a crippling decision

The Big Upgrade: I'd been debating a wholesale upgrade of my electronics for several years now and finally, this year, in 2025, I bit the bullet installing a new trolling motor (PowerPole's Move) and two new Garmin finders (93SV for the bow, 73SV for the console for navigation only). I've been wanting a new trolling motor for a while now so that I could have spot lock - another very useful tool to have on the California Delta or anytime when fishing in the wind.

But sooner or later, something in these old units gives out and you're left with no choice

The Dilemma: I installed all of the above items myself which likely extended the time it takes to swap everything out not only because I took my time planning each installation, but the weather had to cooperate because I keep my boat outside and am, myself, solar powered these days so if it's cloudy and cold, I tend to stay inside. It all eventually happened, and when it came time to test everything out, one little ergonomic issue came to light the moment I put my foot on the trolling motor pedal to test my new MOVE. My Garmin 93SV was too close to the front edge of the pedal and it felt like I'd eventually clip the finder or mount with my foot, or catch my toe under the finder when stepping away. Basically, there was potential for a mishap here so I had to find a solution.

I finally bit the bullet this year but in trying to make the footprint of my electronics install as small as possible, ran into a bit of a dilemma

The 93SV is pretty big, and I could have tried swapping it with the 73SV, but I wanted the larger screen at the bow so I could actually see and read the screen with my aging eyes. I didn't really want to move it off to the side because then it'd interfere with rod placement in my small boat, so what I really needed was a method to elevate the finder without taking up too much deckspace. I needed some type of mount with a relatively small footprint.

Placement of my graph interfered just a little bit with operation of my trolling motor's foot pedal because the engage button is right at the top of the pedal

The Solution: BeatDown Outdoors was established in 2020 by the father son duo of Todd and Blake Price to address my exact dilemma. They offer a wide range of mounting solutions not just for the bow, but also the console of today's bass boats. Not only are their bow mount solutions designed with relatively small footprints, but most offer both vertical and swivel flexibility like a camera's tripod.

Enter BeatDown Outdoors with their range of bow mount electronics mounting options

Single Pole: Their deck mount base series mounts are very simple, stand up tubes made of a combination of 6061 aluminum and 304 stainless steel. Most of the units in this group offer a single finder mount with height adjust ability from seven to thirteen inches. There is one model, the Ultimate Single Pole Double Stack, that comes with the flexibility to mount two finders on the single pole, and another, the Ultimate Single Pole Shorty, that is only seven inches in height.

Flex: While both the Single Pole and Ultimate series mounts come with a fixed base, the Flex series comes with a base that allows you to fold your graph mount down and back up again with the twist of a knob. There's even one mount in this series that comes with a battery mount for what looks like the same kind of battery packs that power many of today's wireless power tools.

Ultimate: The Ultimate Series offers height adjustments of up to thirty inches (30") by stacking two tubes together to create a telescopic adjustment basically doubling the mount's effective height. These units come with both single and double finder mounts and an optional quick release feature that allows you to adjust the height of your finders by simply pulling on the adjustment knob instead of turning it.

My decision came down to their Ultimate Shorty with the quick release option

The Ultimate Shorty: Of course, with all those options, it became another case of analysis paralysis as I tried to determine which mount to order. I didn't want it too tall because I didn't want impede casting options (and I employ a sidearm cast a lot). I certainly did not need a double stack solution. What I wanted was something relatively simple with a little flexibility in height, and what I finally decided upon was the Ultimate Shorty.

Unfortunately, the arms for my finder's base mount are a bit long

This made it difficult to find the right spot to mount the Ultimate Shorty

The base height of the Ultimate Shorty is eleven and three quarters of an inch (11.75"). At full extension, the Ultimate Shorty measures sixteen and a half inches (16.5") from bottom of the base to the top of the pole. The collar holding your finder is adjustable at any point along the black metal pole, locking in place with a simple twist of the adjustment knob. The telescoping feature is also lockable at any point along the base's length so adjustment from your finder sitting at or near deck level all the way up to max height adjustment is easy.

Ideally, If I could view my finder on the other side of the mount, that'd keep my deckspace relatively open

But viewing at this angle would be awkward at best

Unfortunately, because the arms on my finder base mount are so long, when I installed it on the face plate for the Ultimate Shorty, I had a new issue to deal with. The finder was too far forward of the mount. If there was an option to mount the finder on top of the Ultimate Shorty, that'd have been ideal, but then if that were the case, the vertical adjustment options would not be as wide. I started playing around with some L-brackets I had stored away for a horizontal mount option, but then thought, there's probably an accessory available from BeatDown for this dilemma.

BeatDown Outdoor's 45 Degree View Changer enables you to offset the mounting plate 45 degrees

This opens up the opportunity to view your finder on the other side of shorter mounts like the Ultimate Shorty and still maintain the flexibility for full vertical height adjustments

Indeed there is. The photos on their website are not very clear because you can't zoom in, but the 45 Degree View Changer presents the opportunity to have your finder viewable from the other side of the mount. This enables an added degree of flexibility for boats like mine, with a very narrow front deck.

Minimal view obstruction at the lowest height adjustment

Once installed on the Ultimate Shorty, I was able to better play around with options of where to place the finder before committing to drilling the holes to install the mount. For me, it all worked out even better than I had hoped and hopefully, this is the last time I need to go through this ordeal. I'm simply not a fan of updating the electronics on my boat.

A far better viewing solution leaving my narrow front deck wide open

Conclusion: BeatDown Outdoors really offers a wide range of mounting options in answer to the challenges you might face in finding just the right spot for your electronics including a host of console specific solutions. Built for the rigors of serious tournament anglers, the Ultimate Shorty is far more robust than I need, but it's nice to have that reassurance nonetheless and not have to worry about the mount deteriorating in the sun were it all plastic like the base that came with my previous unit. Granted, the Garmin base is still plastic, so the opportunity for failure is still there. In any case, if you're facing an electronics mounting dilemma and need some options to mull over, you might want to take a look at the solutions from BeatDown Outdoors. I'm quite thankful I did.

For more information about their different mount options try the BeatDown Outdoors Website