Been a while since I've done anything to the boat. Money and time has turned it into a "garage ornament".
I've been wanting to get back on it, but as mentioned, money and time.
I've always wanted to install a raised seat up front for easy casting while seated, but when I started adding up parts at the boat store it gets fairly expensive: 80 bucks for a telescoping post, 40 bucks for the deck mount, 30 for the seat mount, etc....I've got more important places to spend that cash at the moment.
So what's a "frugal" guy to do?
Well, my town is having it's fall cleanup days this week. People have all sorts of stuff at the curbs for removal. I was driving down the road and noticed a beat up office style chair.
Now I'm not one to root through peoples garbage, but that telescoping gas strut mechanism in the chair was a bit too tempting. It looked like something I could work with. I swallowed my pride and went to knock on the guys door. "No problem, take 'er away!" was his answer (I feel the need to ask before I take something, even if it's in a garbage pile). He seemed appreciative that I would ask first.
So I get it home and strip the chair down to the strut. The seat bottom, back and casters goes right out into my own cleanup pile at the curb.
A quick test shows that the office seat strut attachments are very close to fitting my fishing seats. Some minor work with the welder will get it just right to bolt on.
Then I look at attaching it to the bottom/boat seat. Hmmm, I'll need to make a custom plate, woodwork, mounting, etc. That sucks and will cost some money in more materials.
Then I think why not use the caster bottom of the office chair? It's already sized to fit the post, it's got long legs I can bolt to the boat seat top and the legs are long enough to spread the load out and make the seat super stable.
I pull it back off the garbage pile, strip the wheels off and bingo, it will support the seat post just fine. I'll cut the caster "spider legs" off to fit under my decking and since it's nice and wide it will spread the load over the whole deck seat. I will have to make a hole in the aluminum seat top for the post to sit down in to several inches, but that's no big deal. All that will be visible is a hole in the carpeting that the seat post will go through.
Here's a quick and dirty (IE: iPhone) pic:
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It's about 6-8" off the top deck when retracted and it extends about 4-5". not huge but it jumps up enough to make the knee bend comfortable.
The folded seat back will make a nice support for the boat cover as that's the longest unsupported run on the cover. I'll add a smooth covering (made just a couple foam pads) over the seat back as added insurance against ripping the cover. It's a milspec rip stop material, but no point in taking chances if I don't have to.
The seat also swivels on ball bearings down in the post so it's nice and smooth when you rotate. A nice side bonus is that there's a seat "tilt" adjustment also. Not really needed, but it's always nice to be able to "fine tune" for comfort or maybe tilt it back if your knees are a little crunched. Important for us old farts.
I also saved the office seat arm rests. I may or may not use them as retractable/removable arm rests on the fishing seat (what luxury!) and perhaps a place to fit a drink holder. Maybe add a small velcro closing pouch for smaller items like keys, fish pliers, etc.
Not too bad so far for a "0" dollar investment and few moments of swallowing my pride.
