Hobie 2019 gear tracks made from plastic?

Agreed, these things flex too much, I knocked a rod holder off doing self recovery practice and then didn't like the flex in the gear trax plastic when I started trolling for salmon.

I trimmed up a scrap piece of 1/8" aluminum and added it to the front track on the right side, also changed the screws holding that section down to bolts with a nylock nut on the inside.  And to keep the cross kayak rod holder from rotating while trolling, I drilled an angled hole through the lower part of the Scotty mount and through the metal plate, small phillips head screw keeps it locked in place.

I would like to see Hobie make a sturdier version of the gear track pieces available, they would be easy to swap in....

I clearly see your holders are leashed  as well!

I use a H rail mount with a Scotty mount bolted to it. Easily removed and much more sturdy than the plastic rail mount.

I use a H rail mount with a Scotty mount bolted to it. Easily removed and much more sturdy than the plastic rail mount.

Bam Baby!

Thanks SFHarry. I am going to order the gear track plate you pointed out until I can find a more permanent solution. I would love it if Hobie would step up and correct this. I appreciated your help.

Thanks SFHarry. I am going to order the gear track plate you pointed out until I can find a more permanent solution. I would love it if Hobie would step up and correct this. I appreciated your help.

Get a Scotty locking side-deck mount.  They're way better than the standard non-locking side-deck mount.

This is pretty sad. Hobie should step with a solution but I doubt they will.

My rod holders started pulling out of the plastic rails during springer season. Now I’ve had to bolt my Railblazer Starport HD to my h-rails as well. If Hobie wants to continue to use plastic rails they need to add aluminum rails inside of the soft black plastic or to the surface.

There's a lot of things I love about NWKA. This type of thread is near the top of the list. Thanks, everyone!

Thanks SFHarry. I ordered one of the gear track support systems you posted. It should solve the problem but I will still try to search for a permanent solution from Hobie or perhaps someone else like Mojo Jojo to design a more elegant and permanent solution. Mojo Jojo, I just need to figure out how to get the existing Hobie gear track to you in Tillamook. Thanks to both of you for your ideas and support with this.

Sounds like a lot of people have been having problems with gear twisting out of the plastic gear tracks on 2019 Outbacks, so owners of those kayaks need to leash their rod holders and other track mounted gear to their kayaks so they won't lose them if they twist out of the plastic gear tracks. Leashing rods isn't enough, because if the rod holder twists out of the gear track and the rod and rod holder fall in the water, the holder could fall off the rod and be lost.

Curious if anyone with a Compass has had similar issues since those were plastic and came out a year or two earlier.  I haven't seen anything on the Hobie forums complaining, but I don't think that crowd trolls quite as much as our NW fisheries do. 

One thought: what type of bolts are people using in the tracks? How big of a head do you have in the track?  A quick look at my compass looked like it may be a wider track and accommodate a wider bolt head than say a gear track.  May be able to fit a washer in.   

Second thought: How tight are people tightening their rod holders?  If you are really cranking it down, the bolt may be plasticity deforming the track.

I have used the standard bolts that come with my Scotty Mighty Mounts. Perhaps a wider head could fit and be helpful. The plastic really flexes substantially (around 5/32nds of an inch) when put under pressure. A nice stainless steel metal plate on top of the existing track, cut to the same shape and dimensions would be really great. The first guy to come up with this will be able to sell them to other 2019 Outback owners that troll for heavy fish.

Craig, I think there would be a number of guys that would be happy to engage you with a project like this. I know I would.

It would be so easy to make one like rogerdoger's out of aluminum, or one that spans across out of HDPE.  I made a downrigger mount for Wobbler that spans across.  It is specifically for a cannon downrigger, but could easily be made for any downrigger.  The plate that spans could easily be made and for far cheaper than $35. 

Daveo, 

This plate that I use on my kayak would probably work for you as well. Because the whole surface area would be pulled tight to the plastic tracks spreading out the load, it should be next to impossible for a fish to pull it out.  I can knock these out for about $12 - $15 with stainless hardware (nuts and machine screws for countersinking) included.  I have been using them for years without issue.

https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=20972.0

HDPE version on the Revo




Aluminum version on my inflatable with two blue 1 inch blue balls I 3D printed with nuts inside to hold the mount down and double as Ram mounts for my transducer arm and FF.

Craig. This looks really good. Would it be possible to build one that spans the full length of the track with a new surface that is mounted through the same screw holes that the Hobie track uses?  Mojo Jojo built a shorter version for himself out of aluminum that worked this way. I have ordered one that spans across the tracks but see it as an intermediate solution.