Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

[redfishsc]

I have a 1974 Starcraft 14' riveted aluminum. Just your basic aluminum semi-V.

I'm seriously considering removing the middle seat, which is a bench riveted in. It takes up so much room in the boat that it makes fishing with even a medium sized cooler a bit congested. A larger boat isn't an option, this is the boat I have and it's what I'm going to use lol.

However, I'm second guessing the removal of the seat.

The seat has foam in it which I do like since I'm taking my young son out fishing with me. I like the notion that this boat will float if filled with water.


Also, I'm not sure if it will do anything to weaken the structure of the boat, nor am I sure on how to cut it out without having tons of rivet holes to drill out and fill back in.

Any suggestions?

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

I took the middle seat out of my 1984 14' Mirrocraft tinnie temporarily to make some modifications and thought about leaving it out. It was immediately apparent that the seat was an integral part of the boat's design. Without that seat in it was easy to flex either side of the boat by hand. I suspect if I had put it in the water and attempted to run it that way, the bow might have tended to twist one way while the stern tried to twist the other way. In my case the seats were held with bolts to brackets that were riveted in so I didn't have to un-rivet anything. It was unbolt and remove the seat, do the mods and replace the seat.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

Peronally I would not remove it for reasons you have posted, about stucture and floatation

 

[jestor68]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

IMO, the seat forms part of the boat's structure, as well as a third(?) of the craft's flotation material. It would therefore not be advisable to remove it.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

I agree with all of the above!

That seat is there for a much bigger reason than something to just sit on. Use the boat "as is" until you can afford a larger one.

 

[redfishsc]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

Thank you guys, you confirmed this.

It would REALLY be nice to have that space empty, but not nice enough to compromise the safety of the boat, esp. when I have my young son out there with me.

Unfortunately the only two coolers I have are "too small" and "friggin huge" lol. Time for an appropriate sized cooler and maybe some custom rod holders in the boat.


It's a constant fight to keep from turning the boat into a landfill when I have to take bait rods (sabiki) and main rods (catfish/redfish) and a cooler big enough to handle 36"+ catfish.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

You COULD remove the seat and build a structural frame in it's place to hold a cooler.. You COULD add flotation sponsons of some sort on the sides of the hull.

ALSO don't count on the boat floating upright when swamped... If swamped there is a high likelihood of the boat turning upside down tho the sponsons would help resist this.... just FYI

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

ALSO don't count on the boat floating upright when swamped... If swamped there is a high likelihood of the boat turning upside down tho the sponsons would help resist this.... just FYI

You mean like this boat turned upside down when it filled with water?
Lund Boat Floatation Video - YouTube

 

[redfishsc]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

Lol jigngrub, my boat is a far, far cry from the way that Lund was built. Not even close. Mine is just 3 bench seats with some foam stuffed under them. Smoke is right--- when it's flooded, the weight of the gunwales (and motor clamped to the top of the transom) could cause it to flip.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

Lol jigngrub, my boat is a far, far cry from the way that Lund was built. Not even close. Mine is just 3 bench seats with some foam stuffed under them. Smoke is right--- when it's flooded, the weight of the gunwales (and motor clamped to the top of the transom) could cause it to flip.

The thing about those bench boats like you have is that it's very easy to get rid of water inside the boat. Just get the boat going and pull the plug on the inside and watch the water drain out, when all the water's gone put the plug back in and stop the boat to clean out your britches.

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: Safe to remove middle seat in riveted semi-V 14' Starcraft?

I've never seen one flip over but I have seen a tinnie runabout from the 1950s or 60s era with only two or three feet of the bow sticking out of the water and the entire rear of the boat submerged. A friend of mine who knew the owner claimed the guy had removed the rear seats to have more room, then ran into a storm that swamped the boat. I actually saw the boat floating in the lake but have no way to verify the story so you can take it for what it's worth.