Seat wont stay in floor

[Corey64]

Hi I got a 1982 silverline grenada 16GTL when I first go the boat the drivers seat pulled out so I ripped up the carpet thinking the old floor might be a bit rotten, well it wasnt to bad just a little old and ruff. So I lyed a new piece of 3/4inch treated plywood down over top of the old stuff and screwed the seats back in.... Well it pulled out again, the screws i was using were about 1" lag bolts but they just wont hold. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

your floor is not as good as you thought. what kind of seat and mount are you useing. might try toggle bolts, if enough clearance below floor.

 

[Always Broke]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

I ride in some rough water at times and had trouble with my seats (back to back type) coming loose in a reasonably intact floor. I used L brackets with two holes on each side of the L and sunk my screws at an angle in opposite directions on each side of the L. I also put a few dabs of epoxy here and there on the seat base. It’s been two years and they haven’t come loose again. You can probably put the screws in at an angle with swivel seats too. Get em fixed, loose seats are dangerous. I once hit a shallow spot in the river and bottomed out at 35 MPH, the boat went sideways, the passenger behind me and I both went flying across the boat when the seat came off! It’s hard to drive an out of control boat from the floor.

 

[bossee]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

Hi,
On my boat it is like this:

Under the floor, where the seat pedistals mount, there is a stainless steel plate or possbly aluminium (maybe 5 mm thick) where the screws go through. It is threads in the metal plate so it needs no nut under.

Looks like this:

 

[Corey64]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

HI my seats look like the ones in the picture about. There is no clearence under the floor so I cant put a plate or any kind of screw that opens up under neath the floor. I am gonna look into putting them in on an angle that might help. Let me know if you have any other ideas. Thanks

 

[jachristner]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

Bossee

What kind of flooring is that?

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

Hope angling the screws work, just don't go too long with them. I anchored a pilot's seat in my old 73 Ebbtide trihull once and got it secure...but first trip out on rough water, I pushed the screw tip into the bottom and caused a slow leak...Never do that again.

 

[Corey64]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

Okay well i got longer screws and put them in on a slight angle I hope this holds or else i will have to figure something else out.

Thanks for all the help

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

make a plate thats slightly larger than the seat base with a bunch oh screws holding it to the floor and then tap the bolts for the seat base into that

 

[guywithboat]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

I was able to hit the main beams when I screwed my seat posts down. Works great. You might be able to do the same.

 

[crunch]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

My 2 cents worth:

You have a lot of leverage with those seats (think 3' crowbar) Even 1/2" dia. lags in anything less than good wood an 1 1/2" thick would pull out with a 200 lb. person sitting on the seat if you hit a fair sized wake at an angle.

You might think about pulling up the 3/4 you just put in, cut out a section of the old floor 2' wide and all the way across from outside stringer to outside stringer (I'm assuming you have side by side pedestal seats, and you get to look at the stringers and floatation foam at the same time !!!:devil:

Get an aluminum 1/4" plate to fit, mark where you want the seats, drill 1/4" holes, mount bolts with washers and lock washers so they will just stick thru far enough to bolt down the seats after you put the new 3/4" floor back.

Screw the Aluminum plate to the stringers, carefully lay the new floor on the bolts sticking up, and tap around bolts to mark the location ( will leave dents on back of wood)

Drill out with 3/8 bit, slip new floor over bolts, etc...

I'd use stainless and use a washer, nut, and then a cap nut on top... not to expensive, a bit labor intensive, not too heavy, and bullet proof.

It's not over kill if it works...

 

[AlanR]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

get a old caddilac seat and screw a 4'8 sheet of sheet metal about 2 inches thick to the floor then weld the caddy seat to it. You shouldnt have any problems then O you might sink but nothing seriousd

 

[crunch]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

get a old caddilac seat and screw a 4'8 sheet of sheet metal about 2 inches thick to the floor then weld the caddy seat to it. You shouldnt have any problems then O you might sink but nothing seriousd

And your point sir?

I've been in 3 ocean going boats that had pedestal seats, the first was a 25' cabin cruiser with inboard/ out board setup for commercial Salmon fishing, the 1/4" aluminum plate was the solution that Captain used.

Sarge, the Captain of a 28' double ender wet deck didn't have this problem... his seats where bolted into 2x6's set on edge... that was the decking, and we sat many a day in 40' swell, or I should say he did. I was in the gaffing hatch running gear, killing fish, and wondering which side of the boat I was going to be on with the next wave.

The old 18' cabin was a project a buddy and I started my Senior year of High School. We converted it to a Salmon troller. We never did resolve the the seat problem, we tried the 4' 3/4 plywood thing across the floor, but didn't trust it... when we were pounding out across the waves to the fishing hole, we just stood up.

I'll bet that was the only boat to ever tow a skier across the bar in Brookings, OR. d

 

[bossee]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

jachristner,

The flooring in the picture of my boat is teak.
I have it on the floor and on swiming platforms.

 

[AlanR]

Re: Seat wont stay in floor

nice boat.