I have a 18ft aluminum Ranger and want to add a Lowarance elite 5 chirp to the ft. I have an Elite 7 chirp in the console. Question- should i install a second transducer to the rear or go with a trolling motor mount? Or is it possible to use one transducer for both? Thanks for any help

If it were me I'd have one transducer on the tm and one on the back. If you do or want to do any vertical fishing over a school, having the transducer 18' away from you doesn't work very well. Also, it's not possible for these units to share a transducer.

It's kinda pointless having a bow mount sonar with the transducer on the transom.  You're already past what is on the screen.

Thanks for the answers, totally makes sense

 

I have a Ranger RT178 and I have a Lowrance HDS7 at the console with the transducer on the transom and I have a Maxxum at the bow with a Lowrance Elite 3x mounted to it.  It works good, I wish I would have gotten the Elite 4x (GPS + sonar) for the bow and not just the Elite 3x (sonar only).  Oh well

I have the HDS-5 mounted in the console, a HDS-10 on a ball mount sitting beside the console and an HDS-7 on the bow.  The bow was running off the transducer in the TM until I took the Terrova off and put my MG back on, now it's on one mounted on the bottom of the MG.  The HDS-5 and 10 have their own transducers, plus I have the structure scan, so the back of my boat looks like somebody went crazy mounting transducers.  These are all networked together so I can see what's on anyone of them from any position. 

As others mentioned, I want to see what's under me, not what was under 20ft later.

12 hours ago, Way2slow said:

I have the HDS-5 mounted in the console, a HDS-10 on a ball mount sitting beside the console and an HDS-7 on the bow.  

 

I have my 5 and 7 on the console and the 10 on the bow.