Any problem raising the seat about 8"? - 21' open bow I/O

[Biggredd]

I have a 96 Marada 21' open bow. Pretty standard setup with the seating in the back area, driver, passenger and a bench across the back. The driver seat is just barely above the floor and when we trim it up it gets a little hard to see and end up having to sit on a leg or sit up against the back rest which is causing damage to the seat. I bought a little seat pylon/pole that is 7" tall, seems perfect to raise the seat up. so with maybe a piece of plywood on the floor to mount the pole to and one to mount it to the seat if the holes don't line up would be around 8" higher. Obviously I plan to sit in it before I permanently mount it to make sure my knees aren't too interfered with the steering wheel but anybody else have experience raising their driver seat? Hoping my head won't stick out too far above the windshield and always get wind in the eyes.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Any problem raising the seat about 8"? - 21' open bow I/O

Order a pneumatic,adjustable seat base from iBoats and attach to the current seat and floor. Garelick makes a couple different sizes.
That way it is infinitely adjustable for whomever drives the boat now, or in the future.

 

[Biggredd]

Re: Any problem raising the seat about 8"? - 21' open bow I/O

I'm trying to stay on a DIY basis. That pneumatic seat adjust is almost $300. I spent $8 on the pylon I have and have scrap lumber to secure it. The idea is great, the reality is not possible.

 

[salty87]

Re: Any problem raising the seat about 8"? - 21' open bow I/O

seat bases endure significant stress, more as they go higher...add waves, rollers, etc. screwing a base into plywood isn't ideal. if the plywood isn't sealed well it won't last long. if you're cruising along sitting in the seat and it fails...

 

[Biggredd]

Re: Any problem raising the seat about 8"? - 21' open bow I/O

I will be planning this with water in mind. I won't be using some unsealed particle board, will be a fully sealed piece of wood we use. or maybe we'll get lucky and the holes that are on the pylon will line up with the existing holes. I haven't had a chance to remove it and confirm. but i will certainly be keeping rotted wood in mind when my buddy and I start this project tomorrow.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Any problem raising the seat about 8"? - 21' open bow I/O

I wanted a higher seat on my bowrider, too. (I recently restored it, which include a new deck and seat mounts.) I considered building something that would elevate my current pedestal seat so I would easily be able to see over the windscreen (I almost always look over it, rather than through it). Woodonglass showed me some wood bases he build that looked pretty cool, but I was concerned about toe-stubbing potential in my boat. I also considered buying a pedestal extender... it's essentially just a post that has a coupler that slides over the current post and raises the seat some amount (you can buy the extender in different lengths).

In the end, I went with the Garelick pneumatic pedestal that Slip Away mentions above. It's nice, but it was pricy. Had I not received some gift money at the holidays, I would probably have gone with the pedestal extender. If you're interested in it, I can look for the link.

Jim