Yakattack Gear Trac for Revo 13: GT90 or GT175

Wanting to add Yakattack Gear Trac to 2015 Revo. Been researching and some have recommended the GT90 all around and others recommend GT90 for side rail behind the seat and GT175 forward of the mesh pockets up front. Any advantage of using the GT175 up front over the GT90?

The GT90 is half the width of the GT175 track and 1/8" less in height. I used it with my Revo 13 boats as the sides are very narrow on the boat and the wider rail would simply sit outside the edge of the plastic and not provide any additional lateral support and it could possibly block the slots for my feet when paddling.

On one side I installed a 16" length of track and on the side with the cam cleat for the sail rigging I only had room for a 12" length of GT90 track.

I have 16" long GT175 Gear Tracs mounted in front of the pockets on my 13' Revolution.



Although these tracks are disgustingly expensive, I have been very satisfied with them, I recommend them over the GT90 tracks, and I would choose them again, for the following reasons:

1. The GT175 tracks spread out the forces on them over a much wider area. The GT175 tracks have a line of screws on each side of the track, and thus spread out the force which rod holders and other equipment exert on the track between this line of screws. On the GT90 tracks, all the leverage which rod holders place on the track is exerted between the center of the track and the edge of the track, which is only 7/16" (11mm, for those more comfortable with the metric system). This puts a large amount of upward force on the bolts, and a large amount of downward force on the edge of the track. If you only intend to use your tracks for holding gear which won't have much stress on it during normal operation, such as the base for a fishfinder or GPS, the GT90 track will do fine. However, if you intend to use the track to mount rod holders, and particularly rod holders which are raised on extenders, the rod holders will routinely put a lot of stress on the track, and I suggest that you use GT175 tracks.

2. The GT175 tracks can be mounted with screws from the outside of the kayak. Before you decide where to mount gear tracks on a kayak, reach inside the kayak and feel the area on the inside of where you are thinking of mounting the tracks. Some kayaks have large flat areas both on top of and inside the gunwales, and it is easy to reach the areas inside the gunwales through hatches. It can be quite easy to mount gear tracks on such a kayak, and you may be able to use a solid threaded bar inside the gunwale. In other kayaks, it can be real difficult to reach the area inside the gunwales, and/or that area may have various obstacles to installing nuts inside the gunwale. For example, the 13' Revolution has narrow gunwales, the area inside the gunwale is narrow and arched, there are lumps inside the gunwales for cast in nuts, and the tips of the screws which hold down the mesh pockets stick into the area inside the gunwales. You should definitely not try to use a threaded bar inside the narrow arched gunwales of a Revolution, because the bar is likely to end up contacting the inside of the kayak only at its left front and right rear corner, or right front and left rear corner. Even if you use nuts and fender washers inside the gunwales, you are likely to need to bend the fender washers to fit the inside of the gunwales, and the backs of the nuts probably won't sit flat on the inside of the gunwales. A big advantage of the GT175 tracks is that you can mount them completely from the outside of the kayak. Position the track, drill a hole on each end of the track, and put screws into the holes. Then drill the rest of the holes and put screws into them. You're done. On the 13' Revolution, you won't be able to use two of the screw holes because they will end up positioned over grooves in the cockpit of the kayak. But the track will still be held down by plenty of screws.

Hi Pmmpete, First photos I've seen of your Revo. In another forum I mentioned I was going to look at both the Revo13 & the Outback as soon as they arrive at Scappoose Bay kayak center. One of my concerns on the Revo was the Gear Tracks. There isn't much room for equipment, you've done a great job of it to extend the usefulness of the tops side of the deck. I apprecaite seeing those photos; thanks for posting.

RV / Billamicasr
Aka: Yak-Angler = Website is almost ready

For a couple more ideas about how to outfit a Revolution, here’s how I mounted a modified Cannon Lake-Troll downrigger on my 13’ Revolution.



Here’s the entire downrigger setup in operation.



This downrigger setup is described in more detail in a posting at http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/in ... ic=12575.0 . I explain how you can make your own devices which mount on gear tracks in a posting at http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/in ... ic=13167.0 .

You must have been an engineer in this life or possibly another. Clean install, appreciate the photos.

Haven't spent time with a down-rigger. I've got a 10 to 15 year old new Scotty hand cranked model that is still new and probably covered with dust.
Wonder which box that's in? If I get to do hands free fishing I'll dig it out and give it a try.

Love the downrigger setup. Especially like that it is quickly attached and removed and not permanently attached to the kayak. I can see you started with determining the best location for the actual operation of the downrigger while seated in the boat.

Downriggers are a great fishing tool, and they are easy to use on Mirage Drive kayaks if they are mounted in a convenient location. It would be nice if Hobie offered a downrigger base similar to the one shown in my pictures which can be bolted onto Revolution kayaks. It would be easy to cast a pair of nuts into the gunwale of Revolutions for use in bolting down the downrigger base. And Hobie could easily have Cannon produce Lake-Troll downriggers with a shortened boom for use with the base.

Hobie could also produce downrigger bases for use on Outback and Pro Angler kayaks.

Although it was not too easy, I was able to use the mounting bracket bar on the inside of the hull and tighten it down with nylon nuts. I asked ACK to send me longer bolts which was needed. These were placed in the same location on the gunwales as yours, but I used 8" sections.