cannon tracks

[stcroixx09]

like the idea of being able to adjust my downriggers but not sure i trust the idea of the pedastal in the track holding a 12# ball. anyone ever use em or have any info/exp. with how they hold up?

[SeaCatMich]

I have had tracks on my boats for the last 15 years. Started with Tite-Loc but upgraded to Pursuit/Traxstech and Bert's on my previous boat. Have Traxstech now. Have run Big Jon Captain Packs, Vector, Big Jon Brutes, and now Traxstech riggers on Pursuit/Traxstech and Cannon pedestals with no issues caused by the balls which have been up to 16# Torpedo weights and mostly 12#ers.

A 4' arm on a downrigger plus that weight will put a lot of torque on the base which gets transferred to the track and then the boat. You don't want the deck under the track flexing or the mounting bolts ripping loose when the downrigger is deployed with a heavy weight down 100'. The biggest thing to remember with tracks is to mount them securely to the boat. This means thru bolting and using fender washers and/or backing plates on the under side. The plates are especially recommended if the boat's mounting surface is not very thick.

The one issue I did have was with the Cannon pedestals was when turning the outdown rigger to the side. The latch holding the swivel would not hold and the rigger would swivel to the rear of the boat. This happened quite a few times the one season I had the Cannon swivel bases. I had Vector riggers with 5' booms mounted to them at the time which are very heavy riggers and the long boom creates more torque on the swivel base than shorter lengths. I really liked the Cannon design but it was not as sturdy as the Traxstech which have not had the problem in 10 years of use with the same Vector riggers (before and after I tried the Cannons). I don't like the Bert's latch lever design so I have never tried them.

As for different brands of tracks... all three (Bert's, Traxstech, and Cannon) are the same dimensions and all of the different components are interchangeable. The Tite-Loc tracks will also take the same components, but in my opinion the track isn't as strong as the other three brands. I have Cannon dual axis rod holders, Traxstech rigger bases, and Big Jon rod trees mounted on my Traxstech tracks. I prefer the Traxstech track because of the finish. it doesn't show the marks left by the set screws that hold the components in place on the tracks nearly as much as the other two. I also prefer Traxstech's all aluminum end caps over the lexan/plastic of the Bert's and Cannon products (and they are interchangeable between the various brands too).