Install a Boat Captain's Seat

If you are installing a new Captain's Seat or Upgrading to a new seat for your boat you will find the Do-It-Yourself process should take 10-15 minutes and is very simple!

Steps

1. Turn the boat seat upside down.  Use the adjustable wrench (or socket set) to bolt the seat to the mounting plate.  The bolts should be provided with the mounting plate. You will want to tighten this fairly tight (hand tightened).
2. If you buy a seat package with a new pedestal, mount the pedestal to the bolt.  Most new pedestals will have between a 4 and 6 bolt pattern.  Place the pedestal so the holes match your existing holes, or, place the pedestal where you want it, and take a marker to trace inside the holes.  Once you have your new holes traced you will need to drill through them with a drill bit that is the same size as the pedestal bolts.  Securely fasten the pedestal bolts through the floorboard and make sure it is tight.
3. Set the seat (which was mounted to the mounting plate) onto the seat mount of the new or existing pedestal.  Keep the seat facing the front of the boat (the direction you will be sitting once it is completed).  You will now need to screw the mounting bolts through the mounting holes of the pedestal and the universal mounting plate.  Then thread the nuts onto the bolts and hand tighten.
4. Double check and hand tighten any/all bolts and nuts.

Tips

• If you do not tighten the nuts and bolts tight enough, the seat will wobble.
• If you require a "heavy duty" set up, you will need to cut a 16"x16" piece of plywood and place this under the floor board. When you drill new holes into floorboard you should also drill through the plywood. Try a 1/2" piece of plywood. If this is the case, you may need to get longer bolts depending on the thickness of your floor board. The plywood distributes the weight from the user over a broader area.

Warnings

• Typically, the failure of the seat lies where the pedestal and the seat mount meet.  This is because the screws are not turned tight enough.  This creates a wobble in the seat.

Things You'll Need

• An adjustable wrench or socket set
• Drill set (if you need to drill new holes into your boat deck)
• If a drill set is not provided, use 4 3/8" boles and corresponding nuts

See also

• Restore a Boat
• Camo a Boat
• Become a Boat Builder
• Build a Boat Blind
• Build a Plywood Boat
• Build a Kayak from a 55 Gallon Barrel
• Make a Kayak
• Make a Boat Buoy Easily
• Make a Sail
• Build a Wooden Sailboat

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