NorthWest Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing => Drillin' & Cuttin' => Topic started by: Chromer on December 03, 2017, 11:42:20 AM
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Just bought a pair of YakAttack gt90 gear tracks and fullbacks for the rear tankwell of my revolution 13. I haven’t been able to find the size drill bit used for their installation. This is my time first drilling in my new boat so I want to get everything right.
Thanks,
Joe
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I made my own tracks but did follow the YakAttack dimensions fairly closely (you can read my DIY gear track project in the "drilling and cutting" section of the forum). I seem to recall the GT90 used an 8/32 screw. I'm going by memory so... "If that's correct", you can use either an 11/64 drill bit or a 3/16 drill bit. The 3/16 will give you slightly more "wiggle" room to work with and is the one I would use. You will find the thickness of our kayaks is not consistent from one hole to the next (hole spacing on your track should be 1-3/4). Be sure to add some marine sealant between your boat and the track at each hole you drill.
You'll also get a bunch of plastic spirals when you drill the screw holes. You might want to collect these. You may need to do a small repair in the future and it will be nice to have a little plastic available in the right colour if you do.
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Take the tracks in to your local hardware store and pick the drill bit :) I have done that many times, make sure I get the right sizes...
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Thanks for the replies, I finally finished my install. The first track went in fine but the second one had a problem with the backing plate. Yak Attack sent me a new one within a few days which was awesome and the second one went in quickly. The biggest lesson I learned was drilling into a kayak isn’t that big of a deal.
Please disregard my messy garage.
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Looks good. So what size drill bit did you end up using?
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I used an 11/64 drill bit.
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You sure the second backing plate didn’t work because of a defect or was it that your garage was upside down? ???
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Everyone's a first timer the first time. Nothing to get excited about until you start thinking about hole saws and Dremel tools. ;)
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That's a great looking install! Nice work!
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Thanks rawkfish! One of the reasons I got gear tracks was because I saw them in some of your videos. Even though I have drilled 28 holes in total, the versatility of the gear tracks made outfitting much easier and more universal.
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Oh yeah, I forgot to say congrats on the nice, clean looking install :)
The nice thing about small holes is that if you ever change your mind about what/where accessories, the holes can be easily filled with some basic plastic welding skills.