Seat slide question

[ShoestringMariner]

Hey Guys, I've been trying to determine whether seat slides will work for my application. I have a 16' aluminum runabout with sleeper seats. I cant stand up behind the wheel becase the seat is too close to the helm. I'm adding pedistal mount swivel seats but I dont want to order a slide base if it wont make enough diference.

I'm ordering all my goodies in one package to do this conversion and I dont want to spend an extra $ 170 for no reason.

Does anyone else here with swivel seats find they can stand up behind the wheel? (Please state with or without a slide base)

Thanks in advance

 

[alldodge]

My Rinker seat will slide and swivel seat and still cannot stand up. Only way is to stand beside the seat. If you want to stand up behind wheel, need a drop down bolster. Either that or set the seat far enough back on install

 

[Chris1956]

Since you had sleeper seats, the deck is flat right? So place the pedestals in the right place to allow you to stand up.

Without the slide hardware, the seats will be in one position. So order them and install them to the pedestal and test fit to the boat.

Am I missing something?

 

[Scott Danforth]

you will need to reinforce the deck to support pedestal seats.

boats with back-to-back seats do not have the deck structure to support pedestals as its not needed.

the only boat that I could ever stand behind the wheels that wasnt a center console was my Sea Ray with the flip up bolster and slider.....that AD mentions. however then you were still really close to the steering wheel. So i simply flipped up the bolster and sat on top of it or stood next to the seat.

a 16" boat doesnt have much room, so to switch from the back to back seating, (plus the probable 2 aft jump seats) to pedestal seats may mean you give up some passenger carrying capability.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Thanks Guys, my case is pretty different. And maybe a waste of time, but here goes.

Mrs. Admiral lkes the sleeper seats. She wants to sit low and comfy at speed. For times we go out together, its a family boat.

I'm hoping to make my sleeper seats work with a hidden quick release set up. When I want to do hardcore fishing, I want to pull the sleepers out and drop in swivels nto the base hidden beneath/within the sleeper base. and go with just the pair of swivels and maybe one up front in the bow.

This until I get sick of changing them out at which time she's ok with sitting higher on swivels.

alldodge: I really like those seats, but we're not too "sporty" and I want them to double for fishing. I'd like to see that design in fishing seats though! sit or lean..would be prefect blend. If they make them, I'd really like to know

Chris1956 ; Thanks. Not missing anythng. I dont lke gambling. I dont know if 5" of travel wlll really make all the difference. If the fixed seating poistion needs to be too far away with the slide forward in order to have enough to stand up by sliding back, its likely a waste of money. I'm hoping to hear other peoples experences before dropping $1500 on a pair of seats & pedestals. I've got many other things to do on this boat and I could really use to save $250 of that if I can by going basic locking swivels

Scott Danforth Agreed about the lack of passender space but no jump seats. it will just be for 1-2 person fishing

And agreed about the floor. Its only 5/8 or 3/4 thick. Good tip, I'm planning on laminating another ply underneath where possible. So a slide AND bolster still would be tight? Good to know. Maybe I'll split the order and mock up a post and seat first, then see if a slide is practical and order the swivel or swivel/slide from there.

 

[froggy1150]

I am in the process of laying my helm out now. I got a cheapie pedestal seat that will slide and turn. The way I have it set up I can stand or sit while piloting. Then I can turn it and stand or sit at my kitchenette. I will try to post some pics tonight when I get home.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

I am in the process of laying my helm out now. I got a cheapie pedestal seat that will slide and turn. The way I have it set up I can stand or sit while piloting. Then I can turn it and stand or sit at my kitchenette. I will try to post some pics tonight when I get home.

That Sir would be most excellent!

 

[froggy1150]

So seat isn't mounted yet. I might change the base wood shape. This does give me the option to sit or stand. This being a cabin cruiser there is not a lot of head room for standing but I am a midge.... I can do both. This pedestal is from 12 to 18". It was about middle for the picks. And I can stand and cook or sit and eat (soon as I make a fold up table. When I mount the seat I will cover the wood in csm/resin, then glue it down with more resin and then probably 3 or 4 layers of tabbing. Every piece of wood to go into this boat was wrapped in glass before. There is no screws or holes in this deck either. Also make sure your pedestal is pilot rated. Think it's a class a if I remember right.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

So seat isn't mounted yet. I might change the base wood shape. This does give me the option to sit or stand. This being a cabin cruiser there is not a lot of head room for standing but I am a midge.... I can do both. This pedestal is from 12 to 18". It was about middle for the picks. And I can stand and cook or sit and eat (soon as I make a fold up table. When I mount the seat I will cover the wood in csm/resin, then glue it down with more resin and then probably 3 or 4 layers of tabbing. Every piece of wood to go into this boat was wrapped in glass before. There is no screws or holes in this deck either. Also make sure your pedestal is pilot rated. Think it's a class a if I remember right.

Thanks for posting the pics. I really like those chairs. I wanted to do the same but my boat is too small for them.

is your set up all Springfield? If so, you have 5" travel total, right? or is it 5" fore and 5" aft equalling 10" total travel?

Do you have a build thread for your boat? I love build threads

 

[froggy1150]

Yes 5" travel. The original seat was just fixed wood. I needed more flexibility. It was about the cheapest I could find that would do what I needed. Wanted a bolster but those are spendy so I will possibly swap one in Later. My build is "1974 reinell cuddy restore" I have not posted my current progress lately but I did just bump my build so you can find it.