I'm putting it in my canoe. I was told that mounting the transducer on my trolling motor is not a good idea because it will pick up unnecessary vibrations. This transducer is huge! It even has its own mounting bracket. I can't imagine mounting it on the bottom of my canoe - it will break! Where should I put this thing? The trolling motor would be the safest and easiest for me. Any thoughts? Much appreciated!

I would put in on the trolling motor. Or you can put in on the floor of your canoe.

http://store.humminbird.com/products/305932/MHX_XMK

Mounting on the floor of my canoe? That's not a bad idea. But I think the trolling motor is a good idea if it doesn't affect its performance. I guess I can try both. I'm hoping to land some big northern pike! Thanks for the tips.

TM.

I'm going to assume you've got a skimmer type transducer.  You can buy a bracket or you can make one yourself.  There was a thread here a while back where somebody had some picks of a DIY TM transducer bracket.  Think of it this way, how many thousands of people that fish using trolling motors have transducers mounted on them.  Almost every person I know that has one on it has no complaints because of vibration.  Just pay attention so you don't go grinding it into the bottom in shallow water.

Had mine on my trolling motor for a few years now with no problems. It's mounted near the skeg which protects it from hitting the bottom.  I also run it directly off (through a fuse of course) the same battery without any problem at all, although some of the guys here warn about interference. You mentioned yours is very large, maybe a different design though.

Yes, the transducer is quite large. It almost looks like a fuzzbuster (radar detector) - its about the same size. It has to be submerged in water to work, so inside the boat won't work. I'm thinking of zip-tying the mounting bracket to the bottom of the trolling motor, next to the skeg as bassin' suggested. I don't have any other way of mounting it. I doubt I can get away with putting small self tapping screws into the trolling motor. I also have this stuff called water-weld. Its pretty rugged.

Humminbird has a bracket that is made to install your transom transducer on a trolling motor:

http://store.humminbird.com/products/271631/AD_XTM_9

Several guys I know just drilled a hole in the skeg and bolted the transducer on without using any of the mounting hardware.

I prefer the transducer that is made for that application, it is a lot sturdier for that use. Humminbird has an exchange policy for an unused/unopened supplied transducer.

Also Transducer Shield and Saver has a very strong adaptor for the transom transducer for trolliing motor mounting-expensive though.

If your boat is made of a solid substance with no air pockets (foam type material) for floatation, then the transducer can be epoxied inside the hull with a slow cure epoxy.

You could try this method: http://www.kayakbassfishing.com/kbfBB3/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=536&hilit=wallbanger%27s+guide

If it is a side imaging unit don't mount it on the floor of the canoe to shoot thru hull.  It won't work correctly.  The TM or one of these would be best. 

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0000844010095a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=transducer+mount&sort=all&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23

I ended up using the mounting bracket. I mounted it next to my skeg using "water-weld" and strong zip ties. It seems solid, I used it all weekend with no problems. Now my only problem is learning how to read this friggen thing. Could anyone point me in the direction of fishfinder 101?  ;D

montrose, this will get you started------

http://fishinweb.com/messages/messages/13028/13028.html?1258393767