Are the seats not structural?

[greenchicken]

My ext question is that in most of these post I see that the bench seats in these boats have been complete removed.

Is the seat itself not part of the structural integrity of the boat?

 

[great white]

Depends on the boat, but generally yes. They are structural on a tinny.

Depending on the specific boat and how you use it, you may or may not get away with removing them.

For example, I might get away with removing the center seat on my springbok without problems if I only used it on calm lake/pond water. However, it might have some flexing issues if I were to jump boat wakes or when I took it out on the altlantic.

A tinny generally isn't going to fold up like tin foil if you remove the seats but you may get into flexing/cracking/leaking issues as the season goes on....

 

[smackdaddy53]

I removed mine and it is solid as a rock...

 

[onthewater102]

Very rarely are they not structural in a tin boat. You can remove them but you will need to add bracing that serves the same purpose to not have issues down the line.

Most of these boats are made of at best 1/8" thick aluminum (typically it's as little as half that thickness) which you could bend with your two hands, apply several feet of leveraged torque via the length of the boat hull and you're looking at a lot of stress. If it's just floating along in a puddle then you'll be fine. Add a motor or encounter anything rougher than a calm puddle and over time the flexing will cause leaks in the rivets, left long enough you'll get stress cracks in the aluminum sheeting itself.

Post a pic of what you're working with and a sketch of what you'd like to do and I'm sure plenty of people will chime in with suggestions.

 

[greenchicken]

This is what I got now.

 

[greenchicken]

This is what I am thinking of doing. The seats can still be there, but they will limit the storage capabilities.

 

[New River Rat]

I find it most interesting that by my experience, my opinion differs greatly from most on this site about the subject of bench removal.

 

[marshman]

depends on the hull..., I removed a center bench on a riveted 1232 once.. had to put it back.. I removed a center bench from a riveted 1440 Lowe.. no problem.. the welded 1542 weldcraft I have now was built without center seat...

the bench seats in these boats get their strength from the brakes/bends/ crimped corners... i noticed the other day how weak my bench got when I cut in to it.. I'm bracing it back though with framework to make storage....

a good alternative to removing a bench is suggested in the hydrilla gorilla book.. don't remove it completely.. leave like an inch or so all the way around where it attaches to the hull..

 

[great white]

greenchicken » Today, 11:30[/url]"]This is what I am thinking of doing. The seats can still be there, but they will limit the storage capabilities.

Looks like the builder of that rig incorporated the seats (or at least the seat mounting points) into the design.

Very likely as rigid (or almost as rigid) as OEM. Looks like your hull (from what i can see in your pic) could be done the same very easily.

If stowage is an issue, you can always leave the OEM benches in place and cut the tops open to make stowage holds.

Floatation foam can be removed, although some frown on that as well. Foam only becomes an issue if you swamp the boat.

But I rarely find someone with a swamped boat who actually planned to swamp it.... :lol:

If you swamp it in deeper water without the foam in place, it goes straight to the bottom in a hurry.

 

[greenchicken]

Interesting... I did know there was foam under the seats. Makes me feel safer for some reason.

In general storage is not an major issue for my boating needs, just a reflex action after 50 years of never having enough room.

 

[greenchicken]

BTW:

Any opinion on the length of the boat I have pictured that I want to replicate? Do you think that design will fit on my 14 footer?

 

[great white]

Most have foam under the seats.

However, on second look, it appears your seats do not go all the way down to the hull.

There may not be foam in there. You'd have to look to know for certain...

 

[bobberboy]

Assuming the wheel on the trailer is 12" the boat would be about 12'-6" long. If the wheel is 13" the boat would be about 13'-6". This is a really nice job, well planned and well done. If I was to do another boat I would like it to be something like this one. Lots of storage, two separate "compartments" - your crap goes there, mine goes here - nice clean design.



Also, some of those seats are closed boxes with foam inside. Because it doesn't go to the floor doesn't necessarily mean there's no foam. The foam has to be someplace. If you displace it from the seats, be sure to replace it elsewhere.

 

[great white]

Iirc, the blue boat is indeed a 12 footer.

Belongs to a member on the forum.

 

[great white]

Ah, memory fails me again:

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=15880

Says its a 14 footer on the last page.