Yak Attack GT175 GearTrac

Is anyone out there using the Yak Attack GT175 GearTrac?  If so what are you using for a backing plate to make it solid?

I have YakAttack GT175 gear tracks on the gunwales of my Revolution next to my legs.  They are horribly expensive, but I prefer them for the following two reasons:

1. Because they are wider than YakAttack GT90 tracks and the similar tracks offered by other manufacturers, and thus resist the leverage of rod holders and other load bearing gear better than the GT90 gear tracks.  On a GT175 track, the leverage on the track is spread between the line of screws or bolts on each side of the track.  On a GT90 track, all the leverage is exerted between the bolt and the edge of the track, which puts a lot more stress on the hull of a kayak.  Big fender washers or a threaded
bar will spread out the leverage created by a GT90 track, but two rows of fender washers or two threaded bars spread the stress a lot better with a GT175 track.

2. Because they can be mounted from the outside with screws, rather than requiring the installation of nuts and fender washers or threaded backer bars inside the gunwales.

Before you decide how and where to mount gear tracks on your kayak, reach inside your kayak and feel the area inside the gunwale where any nuts and washers or backer bars would need to be installed.  Some kayaks have large flat areas inside their gunwales which make it possible to use threaded backer bars to attach the gear tracks.  The inside of the gunwales on some kayaks are sufficiently curved or irregular, or have mounds of plastic over cast-in nuts, which makes it difficult or impossible to use a backer bar, but fender washers will work well, in some cases after being bent to fit the inside of the gunwales.  On some kayaks, such as on the Revolution, the area inside the gunwale is so arched and narrow that it is a challenge to center the holes for a GT90 track on the peak of the arch, and it would be impossible to use nuts and washers to mount a GT175 gear track because most or all of the nuts and bolts would be sitting on a surface at an angle of 45 degrees or more.

However, it's easy to mount a GT175 gear track on the gunwales of a Revolution using screws.  Just locate the track exactly where you want it, drill a hole in each end of the gear track and screw the track down with two screws, then drill the rest of the holes and insert the screws.

Here's a picture of where I mounted GT175 gear tracks on my revolution.  Two of the holes on the inside of each gear track are positioned over notches in the wall of the cockpit, and can't be used, but the remaining 14 screws have been sufficient to hold down each track, despite a lot of trolling. (I now mount my fishfinder base on a 4" gear track inside my front hatch when I'm transporting my kayak, or when I'm pedaling the kayak but not using my fish finder.)



Here is a picture of the GT175 gear tracks loaded up with some gear.

I am using 2 16 inch gt175s in the back tray area of my outback with no backing plates.  I also have 2 4 inch ones in the front tray areas.  Those I have the backing plate on for two reasons.  1. I can reach the backside of them there and 2. I have my salmon rod in a rod holder on my left side on a 4 inch track and 1.5 inch screwball and it goes across to the right side.  There is a lot of torque on the rod while trolling for salmon with the weight, flashers, and various other things and I was afraid of the plastic gear trac not holding so I upgraded to the gt175 with the backing plate.  It is solid now. 

Thanks for the input I just placed an order for a couple a backing plates!