Combination Cup/Rod Holders on new 2820

[johnkn]

Really Parker?????

I put a light casting rod on one of my rear combo cup/rod holders this week and something popped out of the bottom and onto the deck. It was thin round plastic with an X in the center. Further investigation showed it was the bottom of the rod holder, a thin, cheap press-in plastic gimbal mount. Closer examination of the holder itself showed that it's ALL BLACK PLASTIC with a stainless top cover with the Parker logo . WTH.. I might expect that on a Bayliner, but not on the top of the line Parker model. There's no way the bottom gimbal does anything and I can only imagine what would happen to that plastic rod holder if a heavy tuna rod or in my case a double rod rigger with 2 Striper trolling rods were used in it. That could lead to a very expensive lesson

[

.

Looking online I found MateSeries combo holders that are all stainless and appear to have the same oval top mounting piece with 3 bolt holes. They come in 0*, 15* and 30* configurations. I'll order a pair and see what happens. I see that MateSeries also carries ABS plastic, that's probably what Parker uses. $19.95 retail plastic rod holders on this boat. :x

.

.
If you have a new boat with these holders I suggest you give them a good look if you actually plan to use them as rod holders.

Good luck...

.

 

[Parker 2310]

That is unbelievable. If you are going to replace them, consider making the the back two swivel holders. They come in handy if your ever offshore and into any big fellows.

 

[Brent]

wow

B2

 

[johnkn]

I just received an email response from MateSeries (on a Sunday!), they are the OEM supplier of the plastic holders for Parker and have an all-stainless replacement. I'll order 2. Funny, looking at their site virtually everything appears to be stainless but they happen to carry 2 plastic holders which is what Parker elected to use on their new boats. Still shaking my head as the other (4) rod holders are all stainless and the aft (2) holders are plastic.

:roll:

 

[grouperjim]

Hey John,

Yeah, anything plastic like that is basically just a cup holder. I only use them as such. Take a look at the gunwale rod holders. They need replacing too. The tops are spot welded in three small areas and will break with any heavy use. I replaced all those as well and added 4 additional 0 degree rod holders amidship and fwd. Industry standard for any serious fishing boat is to have 360 degree welds where the tube meets the flange. Those black foam gaskets under the Parker OEM rod holders are kind of useless as well. Also you need to install some SS backing plates on each rod holder. Online you can get some really nice CE Smith rounded bottom polished SS rod holders ($68) and backing plates ($14).

Other than that the boat is awesome.

 

[warthog5]

I put 4 stainless ones on a 31 Jupiter at the first of this year.

 

[grouperjim]

.........Wart's signature line. So true,

 

[johnkn]

Thanks Guys,

These are the stern-most holders on the gunwale. I'll check the welds on the other (4) gunwale rod holders and search for backing plates rather than washers.

thanks

 

[Lucky John]

I've had the pin on the bottom of rod holders break on both sides of the boat this year. Just replaced with a stainless bolt and mylar lock nut. I've had some good size fish from both positions but it looks to me like those are basically useless tuna fishing :mrgreen:

 

[grouperjim]

Here's what you have.........you can see 2 of the 3 tiny spot welds.




Here's what you need (plus the backing plates).

http://www.cabelas.com/product/CE-SMITH ... %2Bholders

 

[johnkn]

Wow, looks like brittle cold welds.

I ordered 2 Mateseries replacement SS cup/rod holders plus SS backing plates for the rear set. Will look at the other 4 rod holders tomorrow.


Funny, going to the MateSeries page they are an OEM supplier to a TON of manufacturers, Yellowfin, Contender, Formula, Intrepid, etc. They should have an "*" next to Parker. :wink:


Thanks all

 

[grouperjim]

Thought I post an unboxing of the rod holders.. They are super nice. All one piece....nothing to break. The two rearward holes line up with the old holes, the fwd hole needs re-drilling. The entire original front hole remains under the flange and can be filled if desired.

 

[johnkn]

My 2 MateSeries replacement SS cup/rod holders (for the POS plastic cup/rod holders Parker selected to use) arrived today and they have restored my faith in mankind. LOL

I opened the box and lift one out, I was literally shocked, feels like it weighs 5 lbs. All very heavy SS cast and polished to mirror perfection. Although I personally don't really need the cup holder feature, I now understand why the high end boats listed on their site use them, and hopefully these should fill the stock holes perfectly. Also received the backing plates, again super heavy duty and high quality.

Why would Mr. Parker choose to scrimp here? The extra ~$200 to upgrade from the worst plastic POS to the best product available doesn't move my needle on the price of a new 2820 boat, I guess it moves his and is all about money ....

Your mileage may vary..

 

[Lucky John]

Sometimes I think people make decisions that don't really know what's it like in real world situations. Smith makes an excellent product but it would annoy me to have to change out on a new boat.

 

[grouperjim]

John and John I agree 100 percent. It would be nice if the things we buy were perfect or otherwise met all of our expectations right out of the box. In this case Parker failed miserably and someone will undoubtedly lose an expensive rod/reel (and a nice fish) when that plastic cup holder contraption fails.

That said, when you buy a big ticket item or even small stuff there always seems to be a website/forum/social media with a thread/discussion devoted to upgrading what ever it is we buy. Case and point would be the very expensive new diesel F250 truck I just bought. Man, people pay $60k-$90k for these trucks and you wouldn't believe the things they take off, discard/modify/replace........unbelievable. In the scheme of things (to me at least) changing and/or adding better more heavy duty rod holders is not such a big deal. After doing the rod holder and transom seam the rest of the boat is incredible and requires nothing. Of all the new boats I have purchased which includes a few non-Parkers the rod holders and seam where the least amount of work/expense I have done to a boat to make it the way I want. Don't even look at my 2320 mod threads. 8)

I don't know if Parker still reads this forum as there have been some shake-ups in personnel as of late. But, if they are listening.

To BoatGirl..... 8)

Robin, the plastic cup holder/rod holder combo thingy that you guys are putting on the new boats is not really a rod holder in the true sense of what a rod holder is supposed to be. While true, you can set your rod in the plastic rod holder briefly while you go to get another beer, the new plastic rod holder is not up to Parker standards, darn sure won't hold up if a fish is on the line, and placing this plastic cup holder contraption in the most rearward position on the gunwale cap is the worst possible place to put it as this is where your heavy gear set ups are going to be carried. It is an acceptable cup holder as far as cup holders go, and having the thing up forward on the gunwale cap where people sit on the fwd cushions is a nice feature.......it has no business being mounted in the back. Robin, for those who have the rearward mounted plastic cup holder/rod holder combo the right thing to do here is for Parker to replace it with something up to Parker standards such as what OP (John) has purchased in this thread.

Thanks in advance,

The crew.


"Just because it's new doesn't mean it's worth a damn." .............Wart's sig line holds true.

 

[Mr. Speeder]

I had a pair of the plastic ones on my old boat, but they were more for storage than for having lines out while fishing. They could stand up to most light tackle usage for fishing though, I don't think you should ask them for anything more than that. A tuna would destroy it in seconds. I saw these were on the 1801 and I was a little surprised, but for that type of boat and typical use, it's not crazy. Shocked that they also come on a 28'.

The only thing I guess there is that maybe they just figured anybody who is going to do serious tuna fishing isn't going to use even the stainless mate series cup/rod holder and will need to replace them anyway?

 

[flyhigh123]

Parker should not cut corners... it really diminishes the name....

you paid top dollar only to find out they cheaped out on $50 dollars...

Either add quality parts or stick with the older parts that are known to work well, but its a shame to see it get upgraded only to find out they used the cheapest option available.

 

[wildman]

Anyone have a web site for the Master Series combo rod holders

 

[wildman]

I found it Thanks

 

[Brent]

Anyone have a web site for the Master Series combo rod holders

I think it is Mate Series. could be wrong
http://www.mateseries.com/