Pedestal mount repair?

[momule]

In order to do this so that it just doesn't happen again in the future:

The aluminum on your bench isn't heavy enough guage to support the dynamic weight that your seat puts on it without flexing. If you add a thicker reinforcement plate that you can have bent, screw onto the front and back of the bench seat, and then have your seat spider welded to the plate you'll have a much more secure place to fish from that won't work loose. Any welding shop will have flat diamond plate stock, a metal brake to bend your stock, and will do the welding.

My 1448 had old worn out seats on it when I bought it and during upgrading I added 3/4" pin bases rivited to the bench. These flexed when new and the flexing was magnified when I moved the seats with extensions to the new decks that I had added. I ended up using a thicker reinforcement plate and had the spider welded to it. Now I can lean back on the seat, and it's solid as a rock.

This will not only fix your immediate problem but will give you a good stable place to fish from that will hold up and not cost an arm and a leg. Just a tip from experience...

 

[richg99]

Sounds like a great suggestion...momule

richg99

 

[hildebrandr990]

I watched those videos now and their method is basically the same as mine but they use a lock washer which seems to work great I will have to remember that for the future

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[kstrayhorn]

A bit of an update:

Being the middle of fishing season and the end of school (when I do the most fishing), I opted for a cheap short-term fix. As a student, money's tight and I don't have the time to deal with a real solution like momule's. The old screws were #12 and the biggest I could get at HD were #14. Perfect. They hold for now, but I can already tell it's only temporary. But I can't complain if it gets me back on the water for under $3