Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

front seat rails

I am finishing a Don Hill 16'er, just finishing the interior. The plans came with a template for the shape of the front seat rails with an open bottom which allows the removal of the seat by just lifting it out of the boat. Nice to maybe change the load from fisher people to maybe a deer/moose/bear.

Question: does the easy removal of the seat pose any concern that in a very rough bounce the seat/passengers to be ejected from the boat?

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Permalink Reply by Bob bryan on February 1, 2015 at 12:22pm

One way that this was addressed for a long time is to put a locking piece of wood that swings on the mounting bolt to lock the seat to the rail. Then when needed you just swing the lock out of the way & pull the seat. The mounting bolt being what holds the w piece to the seat frame, There are a number of ways to lock it the easiest being with a slotted end & a wing nut on the bottom end of the piece. This also allows you to clean that bothersome area under the seats when hosing it down. I think my keith Steele boat was setup this way. I think the main reason for removable seats was so you could stackem up & haul more than one boat on your trailer or pickup bed

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Permalink Reply by John Ahlbin on February 2, 2015 at 9:28am

I had not considered nesting boats on one trailer

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on February 2, 2015 at 2:46pm

I can provide a pattern if you want.

Rick Newman

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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on February 2, 2015 at 3:36pm

Rick,

I need to make the J-Bars to hold my rower's seat down too. Never got around to doing it last fall before I used the DB. Mine pivots from the S'board Side. Can you post a pic of the drawing?

Dorf

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Permalink Reply by Robert Puckett on February 2, 2015 at 3:39pm

Rick I would love to see your plans for the seat lock as I'm looking at how to lock the seats in place on my pram. Thanks Robert

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on February 2, 2015 at 6:14pm

I will make a copy of the actual piece as I got a used one to use from a Don Hill boat. I scan it and send it.

Rick N

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Sweat on February 5, 2015 at 4:22pm

Rick,

Can you put me on the list for the seat lock scan please?

Jerry

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on February 9, 2015 at 12:18pm

Here's a scanned image of the seat lock from my boat. It is not to size. Dorf, just for you, here are the dimensions, 3.75102010030201a" by 2.6250401020304011".

The point of this "lock" as I will refer to it is twofold. The first is to hold the seat in place while traveling and to allow it to be removed for stacking multiple boats. The second is to provide a "friction" lock so that the seat won't move when you are carrying passengers so that you can establish a trimmed boat by moving the "load" as needed to keep the stern of your boat out of the water and preserve it's handling characteristics. AJ just posted some more info as a response to a post by Jack Rose. It's very appropriate for this discussion as well.

The actual shape of the part is actually not important unless you are trying to be historically correct. What is critical is the distance from the pivot hole to the opening. The radius as I will call it needs to be such that when the lock is flipped down there is friction from the top of the opening to the pipe that it rides on. If there is no friction as mine has your seat can move freely back and forth. I figure that a coat of epoxy or two and some General Finishes 450 will solve that. If not I can create another one from some marine plywood.