Swivel Seats on a canoe.

[chris_stewart14]

Hi Guys I currently have a 2 man canoe that Im wanting to know if I can fit swivel seats to and how/where to go about it.. At the moment it has 2 bench seats at either end with storage compartments underneath.. Im thinking would it be possible to reinforce the bench seats and then drill a hole and insert a swivel seat on a short pole into the centre of the bench? It would obviously haveto sit really close to the seat itself as if it were too high it would make movement very tippy but is anyone a fitter and turner or in the know if this is do able or a waste of time?

[chris_stewart14]

The middle one - the 2 man fisherman is what I have currently... [img size=353

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[kriso]

why dont you try the clamp on seats you can buy to put on the bench seats of tinnies?

[chris_stewart14]

Can you get clamp on ones that swivel?

[bootyinblue]

Yea I would look at the swivels that you clamp onto thwart seats in the tinny. Might need a small modification but I am sure its not beyond you.

One point to consider though in swivelling would be the rapid weight transfer from one side to the other.

BTW - Are those wings a stand or are they affixed to the canoe like some kind of stabilisation plates?

[HookedOnTackle]

You would have to be able to lock the seats so they don't swivel, when paddling you would waste a lot of energy and momentum by fighting the seat turning. I'd more look at bolting on a padded seat with backrest if it doesn't get in the way.

[rayke1938]

Unless you have outriggers each side of the canoe be very careful because if you try to swivel you will overbalance unless you restrict the amount of movement of the swivel and that will defeat the purpose of having the swivel. I speak from experience.

Cheers

Ray

[Dazzamcgee]

Rays on the money !!

Where can I get 1 of those 16fters from?

Thinking of upgrading from my yak.....

[Dinodadog]

I had Fish On swivel seats in a rosco canoe that I had, because the swivel base is narrow you still sit very low in the canoe

[chris_stewart14]

Great info thanks guys... The canoe I got from some bloke in Brisbane here.. He's just a sole trader bloke who shapes canoe's.. The stability wings are fixed to the canoe.. I can stand in mine and cast.. I can actually even walk from my back seat to my front seat as long as my front passenger stays still.

Would the weight transfer of swivelling on the seat really be that dramatic though? It's a very stable canoe as is.. Flat channel bottom with stability wings. I thought considering your weight wouldn't really be moving side to side but more of less rotating on a central axis it wouldnt be that bad? Obviously you guys are talking from experience though. Maybe fixed seats would be a better go.. Didn't know you could get clip on swivvel seats though so thanks heaps will definately haveto go for a look at some.

[Little Grey Men]

Hey Chris, Rosco canoes at Lutwyche have swivel seats for canoes. Not cheap though !!!

I think they are designed for the basscatchers but with a bit of modification I'm sure you could make it work.

I'm thinking of taking a cushion on my next jaunt to North Pine....by the time I get out of the canoe my rearend is numb and I can barely walk to the car. My little boy gets a giggle out of it though !!

By the way Rosco have just shown their latest fishing canoe..pretty wild bit of gear. It's a canoe, kayak, dinghy type hybrid. Looks as stable as a rock. 18kg, but it's only a single seater at this stage.

That one you've got looks good and solid. just what you want for chasing bass in skinny creeks, and the weight means you get a good workout everytime you get it off the car. :S

Have you perfected the single person canoe lift yet ?

[Davo_Dinkum]

there a nice lookin canoe .checked them out a cpl of times.

i got a 3 inch black foam block to stop me getting a sore ass in the tinny and canoe .

i was thinking or making up a set of seats for both.

what i was thinking was one of them blue plastic chairs .a plate with pipe each end for the swivel part and make it very low to hopefully not over balance .and like a u upside down to sit over the seat in the tinny or canoe.maybe out of wood or steel .have to make it with some weight to keep it in place .or put clamps on it.

i got something here sort of like it i'll take a pic tomorrow and post it.

i reckon it would not to to hard to make and not that dear.

the pain in the ass bit would be welding the 2 bits of round pipe to the 2 bits of flat.

oh think i just had a better idea .

flat wood on the bottom of the plastic seat .

the upside down u shape wood to sit over the canoe seat.

then in between them a swivel bearing from one of those wheels that dose a 360.

that way the new seat is only 2 inch above the original seat.

[chris_stewart14]

Little Grey Men wrote:

Hey Chris, Rosco canoes at Lutwyche have swivel seats for canoes. Not cheap though !!!

I think they are designed for the basscatchers but with a bit of modification I'm sure you could make it work.

I'm thinking of taking a cushion on my next jaunt to North Pine....by the time I get out of the canoe my rearend is numb and I can barely walk to the car. My little boy gets a giggle out of it though !!

By the way Rosco have just shown their latest fishing canoe..pretty wild bit of gear. It's a canoe, kayak, dinghy type hybrid. Looks as stable as a rock. 18kg, but it's only a single seater at this stage.

That one you've got looks good and solid. just what you want for chasing bass in skinny creeks, and the weight means you get a good workout everytime you get it off the car. :S

Have you perfected the single person canoe lift yet ?

Hey mate, thanks heaps for the info... I'll take some measurements of my bench seats on the weekend and get down to bcf and rosco's at Lutwyche and see what can be done... They say it weighs 28 kilo but it feels like a tonne! 30 kg plates at the gym feel FAR lighter but I guess that has to do with the size and awkwardness of it. Definately have not perfected the one man lift. Have walked it from the bank at NPD up the grassy slope to the car bay once and could hear the fibreglass making cracking noises and was real tough to get down from over my shoulder. With the wings on it has to come down completely flat or you run the risk of snapping one off.. Kindof a pain really.. Fortunately I've always been with someone thus far. At the moment with the plastic benches i ALWAYS take a pillow and wrap it in a towel. I wouldnt be walking for a week otherwise.

One of these days we should pool our paddling prowess and head out for a session. Nice every now and again to not have my girlfriend steering me 12 feet into the trees to fetch a lure that was dangling on the outside stick.

[chris_stewart14]

Davo_Dinkum wrote:

there a nice lookin canoe .checked them out a cpl of times.

i got a 3 inch black foam block to stop me getting a sore ass in the tinny and canoe .

i was thinking or making up a set of seats for both.

what i was thinking was one of them blue plastic chairs .a plate with pipe each end for the swivel part and make it very low to hopefully not over balance .and like a u upside down to sit over the seat in the tinny or canoe.maybe out of wood or steel .have to make it with some weight to keep it in place .or put clamps on it.

i got something here sort of like it i'll take a pic tomorrow and post it.

i reckon it would not to to hard to make and not that dear.

the pain in the ass bit would be welding the 2 bits of round pipe to the 2 bits of flat.

oh think i just had a better idea .

flat wood on the bottom of the plastic seat .

the upside down u shape wood to sit over the canoe seat.

then in between them a swivel bearing from one of those wheels that dose a 360.

that way the new seat is only 2 inch above the original seat.

Bang on Davo thats exactly what Im after.. Although I cant visualise what you mean it sounds spot on.. Like maybe a bracket that fits flush to the existing seat and a swivel chair that fits to the bracket somehow.. The main thing like you said though is keeping the whole outfit as close to the original seat as possible as the higher it gets the more stability you lose.

[Davo_Dinkum]

something like this i'm think of

[img size=512

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hehe now i can draw my bogey plans in paint .instead of a peace of paper and biro.

i think i got some bearing thingys that will work .only thing is how low i would have the seat the turning would be limited as the side of the seat will hit the side of the canoe .but still reckon about a 45 turn left and right that would be enough for me.

[Feral]

Just use the ramp to collect you canoe, stuff carting it up that slope!. Its fine for blokes with a trolley, but if you dont, use the ramp.

[rayke1938]

to take a lot of flex out of the sides I reinforced the sides by pop riveting electrical conduit under the gunnel and then applies a bead of sikaflex to bond it along the whole length. It made a huge difference. I was always afraid of just being left hanging onto a lump of fibreglass previously.

And as Feral said use the ramp. Just flip the canoe off the roof and place all your gear beside it and park your car and then come back and rig it up. With a bit of practice you will have your car on the ramp less time than it takes to launch a boat.

Cheers

Ray

[Little Grey Men]

Yeh Chris, use the ramp for sure. The only reason I carry mine up the slope is because I need to have the canoe totally flat before I put it on the stupid roof racks on my car...factory crap. Aluminium rookracks on a slippery plastic canoe = very slippery.

And also it's the only excercise I get. You tube "canoe lift" and you'll come across a guy lifting a full size canoe using his thighs to balance the canoe then he flips it up onto his back in one fluid motion, scary at first but it really works. The canoe I use has a lifting thwart for this purpose which does make it a little easier.

I wouldn't mind hitting the dam pretty soon, I went landbased on Sunday to one of my old winter spots. Two hours creeping along the bank and I found five places clear enough to put a cast in, for two skinny little bass :S Won't be going back there til the water drops a bit.

[Davo_Dinkum]

i find 2 person the way to go .light easy no strain on my back.

also i find if i try and lift by myself it more the awkwardness and size that will hurt my back more than the weight.

[Little Grey Men]

Davo_Dinkum wrote:

i find 2 person the way to go .light easy no strain on my back.

also i find if i try and lift by myself it more the awkwardness and size that will hurt my back more than the weight.

Yeh mate, they sure can be tricky. I fish with my little boy who can't help out a lot in the lifting department...he's the paddle carrier

I throw mine on top of a 4WD by myself which is a bit hairy sometimes. Especially on windy days.

The lift I use is actually pretty easy on my back. Before that I could feel the strain evertime I lifted the bloody thing. It's really hard to describe but's it's a little like a clean and jerk with a canoe. :laugh:

[tattoo_maker]

A trip to Ikea may sought you out!

Now as I haven't had a close look at the canoe my idea may not work but here goes anyway........

Ikea has lazy susans in wood I think (you know the spinning centre that they use on big round tables in chinese restaurants).....a television swivel may also work?

attack chair to swivel (cheep office chairs from Ikea would work a treat)

Attach swivel to canoe and you've got swivel chairs mounted only an inch or so higher than the original seat.

As a type this I feel more confident that it would be a 1-2 hour job and probably cost less than a hundred bucks.

I'm pretty sure it would be dead easy and would be happy to give you a hand if you like......PM me

[bigtez]

These may help with attaching seats in a canoe

/>http://bla.com.au/index.php?fn=productGroupView&dId=1&id=229&eId=10&sId=9369ee4ef640349938a6333d29482b0a

[bigtez]

Or if you can bolt/screw down a base one of these swivels might help

/>http://bla.com.au/index.php?fn=productGroupView&dId=1&id=220&eId=10&sId=2785c31f1e48cddf7694e71c748e5cc0

[Davo_Dinkum]

handy links thanks bigtez

the wheel i was going to use has a swivel plate once i flatten the part that did hold the wheel what would make 1 side about 300 mm and the other 150 .

your idea tattoo_maker sounds similar to mine.

today i sat the blue plastic seats in the canoe there is not much movement front and rear seat maybe 100 mm each way.the middle where the canoe is wide no worries can do full 360.

i'll flatten out one of the wheel/brackets and post a pic tomorrow.so if they look any good u guys can grab 1 or 2 think i got a bag of 10 of them or something.

[chris_stewart14]

Davo_Dinkum wrote:

handy links thanks bigtez

the wheel i was going to use has a swivel plate once i flatten the part that did hold the wheel what would make 1 side about 300 mm and the other 150 .

your idea tattoo_maker sounds similar to mine.

today i sat the blue plastic seats in the canoe there is not much movement front and rear seat maybe 100 mm each way.the middle where the canoe is wide no worries can do full 360.

i'll flatten out one of the wheel/brackets and post a pic tomorrow.so if they look any good u guys can grab 1 or 2 think i got a bag of 10 of them or something.

Lookin forward to seeing it mate.. Thanks guys.