Big man boat seat recommendations?

[starcraftkid]

Might anyone have any seat recommendations for a 16' boat for a guy who's 6' 7" tall and 360 lbs?
I've broken back to back seats, broken 4" aluminum pedestal bases and tops, had the inserts pull out of offshore pvc type seats, and had bench seats in my Starcraft Seafarer 16 rip loose of their mounting holes.
I built seat bases out of 2x4's and 3/4" plywood but at 360 lbs the swivels don't work, they flex and let the seat drag the surface below. I tried steel tubular seat posts, every one has broken off around where the tube goes into the bottom plate.
Any sort of plastic or aluminum based boat seat has failed. So have a few backed with 3/4" plywood.

The other day I was out in my buddies jet boat, we got a few good warm days and he wanted to put some time on his boat.
While running along at about 50 mph in open slightly choppy water the cast aluminum seat base and swivel exploded landing me on my back on the floor while at speed. The boat is almost new, so I'm sure its covered under warranty but
does anyone make a seat that can hold big man?

I tried the 'Big Man folding seats in my 16' open boat, they didn't last three trips before the bolts pulled out of the seat below or the backs broke off. On my Mirrocraft, its just aluminum bench seats, with wood backing them. I removed each bench and built up the wood panels with two layers of 3/4" plywood but it could only be single layer where it bolts up to the sides. Those sides have pulled away now. This time I've added four extra bottom braces, (legs), to the bench seats and welded up the ends of the benches with 1/4" aluminum reinforcements. Even with all of that, I through bolted a boat seat swivel, atop a 1/2" aluminum spacer between the swivel and the bench, and bought two "Big Man" folding boat seats. I used stainless 5/16" bolts, with home made 3", 1/4" thick stainless washers underneath, (installed before I refoamed the inside of each bench seat. The seats were attached with 1/4" stainless steel bolts into the factory anchors molded into the seats. The first thing I noticed was that the rear corners of the seat, the hinges, sagged down over the swivel and dragged the bench seat, even with the 1/2" spacer. I added a spacer to the top as well and the seats sagged even more.
I realize I'm a big man, but I'm not that big for my height. What do really big people do?

I had a pair of wood and aluminum offshore type seats in the boat for a while but they too broke. The flat 90° aluminum bracket that held on the seat back ripped out of the bottom of the seat on one, on the other, it just cracked.
Another problem with those seats were that they were extremely heavy, over 60lbs each. This is only a 16' boat.
Most of my fishing buddies are at least 300lbs, some lighter, some heavier so all seats need to take fully grown men.

Back to back seats I've seen have all been made from Plastic or plywood, so those are ruled out. What I've got now in the 16' Starcraft is two long boxes, each with a seat mounted at each end. Each seat is on a short pedestal. The boxes aren't going anywhere but I need a seat that won't crumble or collapse under me.

 

[mickyryan]

no one ever broke this one and it has safety restraints just kidding , following along to see what folks reccomend

 

[chevymaher]

Brace them with 2X4's under the plywood. Use 3/4 inch plywood. Then cover that. Looks factory will hold a engine block.

 

[Woodonglass]

The problem is NOT the seats. It's the way they're attached to the deck. I'd recommend you build a small platform and use T-Nuts from the bottom of the platform. Doing it this way let's you use stainless bolts coated with 3M 4200. This method Seals everything so water can't penetrate and rot out the wood. Before attaching the platform to the deck make sure and coat it with 2-3 coats of epoxy. Once cured, then use 1708 biax glass and thickened epoxy to attach to the deck. Make sure and tape over the T-Nuts so the epoxy doesn't get into the threads.

 

[starcraftkid]

I bought expensive pedestals, not the swedged type that you see on most oem seats. It was the top that broke on those, the cast aluminum form that bolts to the seat bottoms with four bolts pretty much just exploded. When I went to steel pedestals, the bolts ripped out of the seat. The first seats had stainless inserts, which just ripped out of the plastic, then the replacement seats had stainless studs, those broke off.
The pedestals are attached with stainless bolts with thick huge welded washers. They cannot pull through, and the floor is double 3/4" plywood where the seat mounts. The plywood don't flex, the bolts either break or the post breaks off the base. I had one pedestal that looked like the one above, bend backward about an inch above the cast base, it folded over like a cheap cardboard tube. I just bought brand new swivels for my freshwater boat, I mounted them on 6" steel posts nut and bolted through the wood in the bench seats in the boat. The seat is bolted to the swivel with a 1" solid aluminum spacer between it and the seat. When I sit on the seat, the seat folds down around the post like it was made of rubber. The base of the seat won't take my weight. Its a big man seat, the best they had. If I'm having this issue with these, I can't imagine what someone who is really overweight would do them. I'm big, but with a 42" waste. I won't even bother to leave the new seats in the boat, they don't work from the get go here. Does someone make a seat that isn't made from recycled soda bottles or whatever they're using these days?
The bottom of both of these seats has a base made from thin plastic with lots of squares. The hinges are aluminum with open center rivets. The hinges only go up about 4" up the back. The last pair of seats like this failed when the bolts pulled out of the two front holes. If I tighten the bolts up, then sit on the seat, the bolts are loose again. The base of the seat is collapsing over and around the swivel.

I'm starting to think I may have make my own seats from plywood and fiberglass with some custom back hinges or just fixed supports. That way I can make the base as rigid as it needs to be. Maybe even reinforce the base with aluminum so the bolts can't pull out. 3/8" ss bolts will also be in order.

 

[kcassells]

You can do this in ply/fiberglass. Base of seat swivels and moves front to back. In addition to storage.

 

[mickyryan]

steal the kitchen table chairs and make seats out of those I know a guy who did that

 

[starcraftkid]

steal the kitchen table chairs and make seats out of those I know a guy who did that

If I thought that was the answer, I'd have tried it at this point but my kitchen chairs don't last more than a year at best. They all break apart or the backs break off sooner or later. Most are made from particle board and vinyl.

 

[starcraftkid]

You can do this in ply/fiberglass. Base of seat swivels and moves front to back. In addition to storage.

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That's very similar to what I did, even the same style seat. The difference is that I built the bases double long, so a seat could be mounted at either end and the resulting box gave me storage space. The box I build held up fine, its the seat and hardware that keeps breaking. I didn't go nuts with fiberglass, I coated the box with a layer of tinted epoxy, then covered it in outdoor carpet. My battery, fuel tanks, and life vests are stored under the seats now.
The heaviest seats I tried were similar to the one in the pic above, the first thing that happened was that the arm rest brackets broke off the sides, the base of the seat was only 3/4" plywood, and the arm rests were attached with 2 1/4" hex head bolts on each side through a T type insert in the plywood. The arms bowed outward and broke off after only a couple trips. The seat back was attached the same way, it too broke off the base. The problem is that they rely on that one piece of 3/4" plywood to hold both the passenger's weight, plus resist the leverage of weight applied to the arms and back of the chair while moving around. The first few times seated they are fine, then every time you twist, rotate or use the arm rests to get up out of the seat, the plywood starts to flex. The base of the seat needs to be made of something that won't flex or crack so easy. Then add a steel swivel into the pic, which means that plywood is taking all the load over only a 6" square in the middle, it don't stand a chance with a bigger person. Ad some rough water into the mix and you have a recipe for a failure.

Not only has been a safety issue with me, its gotten downright costly. I spent over $1000 last year alone for seats in both boats, this year I'm back to square one again. I really thought that when I went to the heavier one piece offshore type boat seats and cushions I was done but those failed faster than even the cheap folding seats. They use a threaded insert that pulled out on on every seat in the first few trips. The seat itself is strong, the fact that they have only four mounting holes is a weak point. The first pair I tried were used, they used self tapping screws, four #14 SS screws that were similar to 1/4" lag bolts right into the plastic seat itself. They both kept loosening up and eventually pulled out of the plastic when the plastic around the hole cracked and split.
I'd could half understand if this was on some offshore racing boat that gets bounced around all day long but its on a 16' aluminum fishing boat that rarely leaves the back bays or river. I run it hard at times and on occasion I'll head out if the ocean looks calm but a few trips through the breakers shouldn't blow the seating to bits.

I'm a welder by trade, when I look at the way the better seats are built I'm in shock more people don't have issues.
The swivel assembly on most of these seats, (for Pedestal mount), are just thin light duty castings.
The issue is clearly just not enough material to do the job.
How much does a 350 lb man weigh when the boat is going over a big wake or through the breakers? I'd venture to guess the weight applied to the seats is at least doubled, if not quadrupled.
Add in the both lateral and horizontal forces and most seats look pretty light duty to me.

Now in my freshwater boat, that's never an issue, the boat never gets above 20 mph, but the smaller or lighter type seats are just as bad or worse. The mounting is limited to the seat being mounted to the oem bench seats, both of which have been reinforced by me, so the seat can't or won't give way. But the problem lies with the material they make the base of the seat from. The seat bottom has a stamp that reads HDPE. I can't find wood based seats this year so far. I bought two of the plastic bucket type seats for this boat too but with lower backs but I need to find a way to keep the threaded inserts from pulling out of the plastic.
The one piece seats will also affect my boat cover situation as they don't fold down. The driver's seat won't create a problem but the front and left side seat will.

I'll probably have to either make up an adapter for these to fit atop the steel 4 bolt square flange pedestals in the boat now or I'll have to remove the bench seats again and come up with a way to mount and use 4" aluminum tubular pedestals in this boat.

 

[chevymaher]

If it is the pedestal seating your looking for. Look into a seat a bar uses. You know a pub they have a welded on metal base. Weld up something at the top to fit the boat seat you prefer.Instead of the spinning bearing. Instead of using plywood to attach it at the bottom. Bolt it to a piece of square lumber. Glass that down with some 1708 over a large area disperse the load. Cover the wood base with carpet.

I wish you were close. I could make some front to back seating like you had I garentee would hold whatever you put on it. I got shelves in the garage I store engine blocks and transmissions on.

Just throwing ideas out there get the wheels turning trying to help you out.

 

[dsiekman]

What if you fill the base of the hollow plastic seat with epoxy or maybe even Seacast? You could embed grade 8 bolts (or heavy stainless) and then weld up a more solid mount?

 

[Jallen1983]

My dad had this same issue 6,9 450 pounds he broke many seats wore out swivels in two trips. He ended up welding fabricating a square box. Upholstered a captains seat vinyl out of a old conversation van. Lasted forever did not look bad either....