New Guy with a few questions

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Basseye

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2009
Messages
8
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Location
Pennsylvania
Hello everyone! This is my first post. I found this site a few days ago and its nice to know that I'm not only guy in the world fishing out of a small aluminum boat. It feels like that some times. I bought my first boat 2 years ago. It is a 1973 Sears 12 ft. Semi Vee. I have swivel seats attached right to the benches now. I've been thinking about adding pedestals to the benches to give me a little higher in the boats and little more leg room. I'm worried about the boat becoming tippy because I am a bigger guy (270LBs). Do you think I would be alright installing a 7" or 13" pedestal directly to the benches? Also, is it okay to anchor a pedestal directly to the bench without damaging the flotation styrofoam under the benches? Finally, is it safe to take a boat like this out on a bigger (1000 acre) lake. I wish I could upgrade to a bigger boat; but the economy is going to keep me from doing that at least another year. I just want to feel safe and comfortable in the boat I have; but I'm not experienced enough to know what I can do with my boat. Thanks for reading this.
 
Welcome aboard :D

First how wide is your boat? I had a 12 footer at one time that had a 32" floor width, I noticed if I got higher then the sides of the boat it felt really tipsy. I am 6'2 225lbs, I built square boxes 6"s high and mounted them to the bench seats and mounted the seats on those, that gave me the extra 6+ inches of leg room I needed. I would think a 13" pedestal may push your limits.

With regards to the 1000 acre lake, your boat should be fine, just be careful of the wake the larger boats make, especially if you decide to raise your seats high.

Good luck
 
Thanks for the response, Smoody. I believe that the floor is 32" or 36" wide. I know that the beam is 48" at the widest point. I was thinking about getting those black 1 piece pedestals that you can buy at WalMart. I think they are 7 inches high.
 
Your boat sounds similar to the one I am using now. It has the pedastals on it you are referring too.

YargoBoat.jpg


And, I sit in the front of the boat and weigh 270#
 
Brine,

It looks very similar to my boat. Do you have any stability issues with those pedestals? Nice looking boat by the way.
 
Basseye said:
Thanks for the response, Smoody. I believe that the floor is 32" or 36" wide. I know that the beam is 48" at the widest point. I was thinking about getting those black 1 piece pedestals that you can buy at WalMart. I think they are 7 inches high.

I think you would be just fine with those. do you have a photo of your boat?
 
i have a 12' semi v like yours. i have no trouble standing ontop of the bench's tossin lures but it is tippy if you dont keep your balance, and im just alittle guy at 170. I'd go with the 7" rise to keep you stable, more so when yall are going down the lake hitting the chops. as far as the 1000 acre lake, your boat should do fine if you have a reliable motor or some paddles to get you back. i have no trouble going threw bassboat wakes @ 3' as long as you hit them dead on
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'll get some pictures of my boat up as soon as I can. Most of my friends have bass boats. They have a hard time relating to me when I ask questions about my boat. I'm just glad there is a place like this to go to.
 
Basseye said:
Brine,

It looks very similar to my boat. Do you have any stability issues with those pedestals? Nice looking boat by the way.

Thanks for the compliment.

You know, I assume there are a few ways of "responsibly" answering this question, so all I can tell you is how I "feel" about it. First of all, I grew up in this boat. In fact, this boat is as old as me (1973). I've duck hunted out of this boat with 3 people and a 80# lab, decoys, guns, etc..... I've been on big lakes, small lakes, rivers, and about 1975, my father and uncle even took it out in the gulf with a 7.5 chrysler outboard on it. :shock: . (Great story to hear from them BTW) and the boat doesn't leak a drop.

I tell you all of that, because stability for me is probably somewhat different than other people's definition. I'm used to this boat, and have spent many years of my life in it. When I put the pedestals in it 3 years ago, it took some getting used to. I rarely fish alone, and the movements of the other person became much more of an issue when the seats were raised. If I were in the boat alone, I would feel 100% comfortable with the stability, but then again, I compare stability with "safety" while seated, not much can I walk around and jump on the sides. That said, I have tournament fished with the same partner for two years now, and we both understand the "stability" of the boat and how our movements affect the other person. I have stood up on the front of this boat and flipped for hours and have yet to go swimming. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the boat does make hooksets (I bass fish) pretty darn exciting for the other guy when you don't announce you are about to set the hook. :lol:

So, not sure if that answered your question or not, but I wasn't really sure how else to do it. The boat is stable to me for the reasons I mentioned above. I'm guessing the fact that the boat being 35 years old, and not being sunk, flipped, swamped, or having someone fall out of it with the accumulated time spent on the water is how I guage its stability.

Here are a few [-X with the boat
1. Both anglers standing ever
2. Setting the hook without the other guy knowing it beforehand.
3. Stepping into the boat with your foot first touching anything other than the BOTTOM of the boat.
4. Standing while boat in traveling in excess of 3.8 MPH
5. Sharp turns at WOT with either the trolling motors or outboard.
6. If standing on the front deck, angler in the rear using his motor at all.

FYI, If you have small kids in the boat, the pedestals won't allow their feet to touch the floor which will be a stability/safety issue.

Hope that helps.
 
Brine,

What you just wrote helps a ton. As I mentioned before, I lack experience with this boat; but I love being on it. My main fishing buddy is my Wife. When I am with her in the boat, I error on the side of caution. The only time that I really feel out the boat is when I am by myself. I'm sure as time goes by, I will learn how to handle this boat better and will establish a trust factor with it. For now though, I welcome all advice that I can get.
 
Basseye said:
Brine,

What you just wrote helps a ton. As I mentioned before, I lack experience with this boat; but I love being on it. My main fishing buddy is my Wife. When I am with her in the boat, I error on the side of caution. The only time that I really feel out the boat is when I am by myself. I'm sure as time goes by, I will learn how to handle this boat better and will establish a trust factor with it. For now though, I welcome all advice that I can get.

That said, keep the swivel on the front (assuming she will ride shotgun) and put a pedestal in the rear. You can always add a front one later. I attached a 2 x 12 to the bench seat before mounting the pedestals. You don't want to just screw the pedestal into the bench.
 
No one pointed out that the boat with pedestals pictured in an early reply were mounted to the floor, not the benches. I would not add pedestals to the benches as the center of gravity would be way high. I've seen a lot of nice mods on this board, but rarely see anyone warning about the possibility of unstability by mounting seats so high in such a small and narrow boat. A 13" pedestal mounted on the deck, will suffice and keep you from getting too top heavy. You might go higher in the front to use the front bench as a footrest, but not too high. When you are dealing with a small boat, one should not overload it with a lot of modding and getting too high with seat positions. This is a safety issue and should not be compromised too much. You might do something similar to what I did and fix the smaller boat up enough to make it very presentable, put it up for sale while using it. Keep an eye on the Craigslists in your area for that next bargain. A decent boat prime for a mod is waiting someplace, somewhere for a great price. Do that 2-3 times in a two year period and you can upgrade to a boat you're very happy with, that will be safe for you, and your family. I wish you luck.
 
CrappieReaper said:
No one pointed out that the boat with pedestals pictured in an early reply were mounted to the floor, not the benches.

Probably because they were mounted to the benches. :roll: Unless you know something I don't about my own boat.

CrappieReaper said:
I would not add pedestals to the benches as the center of gravity would be way high. I've seen a lot of nice mods on this board, but rarely see anyone warning about the possibility of unstability by mounting seats so high in such a small and narrow boat.

Well, opinions are what he is looking for and I understand your is to not add pedestals. I'm still new here too, but I've read alot of posts on mods and stability seems to come up alot. In fact I would say more so than not with builds.

CrappieReaper said:
You might do something similar to what I did and fix the smaller boat up enough to make it very presentable, put it up for sale while using it. Keep an eye on the Craigslists in your area for that next bargain. A decent boat prime for a mod is waiting someplace, somewhere for a great price. Do that 2-3 times in a two year period and you can upgrade to a boat you're very happy with, that will be safe for you, and your family. I wish you luck.

Crappie,

The guy is a new member who just asked a question about stability and adding pedestal seats, and outside of falsely claiming something you don't know in the first pic, you are now suggesting he does what you do and sell his boat because "A decent boat prime for a mod is waiting someplace..." "Do that 2-times in a two year period and you can upgrade to a boat you're happy with...."

Previously he stated he "loves being on the boat, but lacks experience with it" and wants to "feel safe and comfortable" in what he has now, and may upgrade in a year or so.

Maybe I'm reading your post wrong, and If so, I apologize, but it came across to me as derogatory and seeing how I own a similar boat, thought you should know in case other members felt the same way.
 
Brine,

I picked up the pedestal bases yesterday after work and I'm going to give them a try. I'm just going to install the back one first and get a feel for it before I install my front one. I have a treated 2x10 that I am going to use between the seat and pedestal. Did you use lag screws when you did yours? It seems like it would be very hard to tighten up a carriage bolt with the foam in the underside of the seat.
 
i drilled down with a long 1/4" bit, then used that hole as a guide for a 2" forstner bit that i ran up through the foam so i could get to the nuts for the bolts, and not lose much foam.
 
Basseye said:
Brine,

I picked up the pedestal bases yesterday after work and I'm going to give them a try. I'm just going to install the back one first and get a feel for it before I install my front one. I have a treated 2x10 that I am going to use between the seat and pedestal. Did you use lag screws when you did yours? It seems like it would be very hard to tighten up a carriage bolt with the foam in the underside of the seat.

I took the foam out. The foam in my seats didn't go to the floor (about 6" tall if I remember), so there was access to the carraige bolts from underneath after I removed it. The foam did't provide me any support or floatation, but I pieced it back in after I had installed the bolts anyway.

Also, I've learned on this site that treated wood and aluminum don't play nice together. Fortunately, my boat had a couple coats of paint on the bench seats, and the lumber had two coats of an oil based paint on it before I installed it. AFter 3 years, there is no problem with corrosion. I guess just make sure you're not putting bare pressure treated wood on top of a bare aluminum bench. Oh, and make sure to use stainless steel hardware.

Post some pics when you get chance.
 
that's a good idea too, just need to see what is easier for your boat. keep in mind that the foam doesn't help it float when all is good, but if you ever get swamped that foam is the difference between your boat staying at the surface or on the lake bottom, so if you do remove it i'd put it back when you're done like brine said.
 
Brine & Grizzly,

Thank you both for the advice. I'm going to drag the boat into the basement (since I don't have garage) and probably start work on it this weekend. I'll take some pictures of what I end up with. I may not stop with the pedestals. It just depends on how creative I get and how long I stay off the Honey Do list. Thanks Again!
 

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