As the title states, I am looking for any tips or suggestions anyone might have for mounting a Garmin 93sv to the bow of my Bass Tracker Classic XL. I have purchased a Ram-D-115-C in order to mount my unit. I have provided pictures that I hope illustrate the situation decently well. Essentially the mount will be attached to a thin piece of metal flooring (shown lifted up in the pics below). My question is, should I be placing a wood block or some other material beneath that surface layer to drill into to give the mount more strength, or should I be drilling through the surface layer and into the metal decking below? I'd really appreciate any kind of help or suggestions that can be provided as I have spent all this money so far and would hate to screw it up on the 1 yard line. I can provide any additional pictures or info that may be required to assist.

 

Also, I wasn't sure if this is more of a boat category question or an electronics question so if I have added this in the wrong section, I do apologize.

Better to have more than enough strength than not enough and have troubles down the road. 

I think it will be fine attached to the piece your holding...

Instead of screw only ...use a screw and washer and nut...use lock tight on the thread.

 

Also...does the piece your holding bolt down too? Hopefully yes.

I'm always a fan of backing anything heavy that's on an elevated mount.  The jarring forces from waves and bumps while trailering will exert a lot of torque on the small surface area of the ram mount base plate.  That being said, I wouldn't use a wood backer, especially that close to the bow.  ABS, star board, PVC and aluminum all come in sheets that are fairly strong and impervious to water.  Make sure to use stainless bolts, nuts and lock washers and you shouldn't have to worry about the screws ever pulling out.    

14 hours ago, Chris Catignani said:

I think it will be fine attached to the piece your holding...

Instead of screw only ...use a screw and washer and nut...use lock tight on the thread.

 

Also...does the piece your holding bolt down too? Hopefully yes.

Yes, the piece that is being held is screwed back into the boat using about 8-10 self-tapping screws in the carpet. Thank you for the suggestion! The piece is pretty sturdy in my opinion when it is fully screwed back into the deck of the boat. My small Lowrance unit is on there now with no issues, granted the weight is vastly less than the new unit. 

14 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

Better to have more than enough strength than not enough and have troubles down the road. 

Agreed. 

13 hours ago, @reelChris said:

I'm always a fan of backing anything heavy that's on an elevated mount.  The jarring forces from waves and bumps while trailering will exert a lot of torque on the small surface area of the ram mount base plate.  That being said, I wouldn't use a wood backer, especially that close to the bow.  ABS, star board, PVC and aluminum all come in sheets that are fairly strong and impervious to water.  Make sure to use stainless bolts, nuts and lock washers and you shouldn't have to worry about the screws ever pulling out.    

That's a good idea. My brother works for LP so I should be able to get some kind of weather treated or laminate material for backing.