Have a plane jane 1648 Alumacraft. Need a seat with a backrest. The tiller steerings killing my back. A pedistal type wont work a the seats are so light duty and the mount plate will rip out.. Do the clamp types work okay????
those brackets work okay... they really move around alot though. I had a small 12' jon with the same problems with the benches.. i rigged up a board the size as the bench.. mounted to the sides with an angle bracket and mounted swivels to that. those brackets will do in a pinch.. but like i said.. they will slide around on you. i probably have some pics of the way i rigged mine up if you want me to look let me know.
Here is the rig BigBB and I worked up. We're both big guys, and those brackets didn't hold up too well. I would also recommend a high back seat.
I just cut a square piece of plywood the same width as my bench seat, bolted the seat to it, and glued an old piece of carpet to the bottom so it don't slip around so much. Never had a problem with falling off, and I can move it where I want. Even used it on the bank a few times, better than sitting on a bucket. I gotta have a seat with a back or my back is killing me after a couple hours.
Jon, I thought about doing what you did, just putting th seat on one side, not th center, and putting it in at a 45 degree angle so it doesnt hurt my back.
I mounted my seats on the better made full size aluminum clamp. It gets a good bite on various surfaces and doesn't slide around. Plus I can quickly move my seats from one side to the other or even to different places in the boat. In just a few seconds I can take them out of my V-bottom and put them in my little jon boat.
Put a heavy duty wood or aluminum floor in the back part of your boat so you have something really solid to mount your seat to. Get a fitting that will fasten to the floor and hold a 2" diameter galvanized pipe. Get a single reclining seat from a van or SUV; passenger seats are often available very cheap. Weld a plate across the bottom of the seat, then fasten (bolt or weld) a second fitting that will hold the other end of the pipe. Just set the seat on the pipe, and you have a backrest, headrest, and recliner for those naps while waiting for a bite. Cover the seat with plastic, or take it inside between trips.
i have 2 of them on my 14 foot flat bottom jon boat and they work awesome, i picked mine up at wally world for 11 bucks and some change each....good investment...........Mike
Just be careful with those clamp-on seats. I've got one on my jonboat, and it's come loose a couple or three times with someone sitting in it, dumping them over backward into the bottom of the boat. Nobody hurt so far, but that's just luck.
