New seats

[hero]

Hi colleagues...bought a sportsmancraft runabout, it has "back to back" seats, very uncomfortable for driving and fishing. the floor under them seems a bit thin, is there a way to reinforce the floor so as to fit swivel pedestal seats ?? hope you can help...tight lines

[MulletMan]

I think most readers would be pretty twitchy about this matter as messing about with main deck flooring can be bad news once the cutting and drilling starts. I guess as a generalization, the wider you spread the load the better it is going to be. i.e. Having a seat bolted on a small area of the floor will set up stresses and strains and possibly cracks and failures. Best to get a big base for the seat. The bar chair ones are excellent for busting floors due their height and sideways movements on a handful of bolts over a small diameter. But what is the floor made of? Glass? Alu? Timber? Can you reuse the holes already drilled for the present seats?
How thick is the floor? Is it reinforced and if so with what?
There are a multitude of ways to reinforce it via metal or timber plates on top of the deck onto which the seats may be attached but the same problem remains, how do you securely attach these mounting plates to the floor?
I have seen the back to back type seats held down quite successfully by a handful of SS self tappers but again they are more often over a large floor section around 1.5 by .75 of a metre and there is no wrenching or stress sideways.
Reckon I would investigate the floor integrity first and have a talk to a good dealer (best of luck) who knows something about this matter.
I would guarantee there is an Ausfish member who would have the skills to work this one out if you ask for it and also offered to take the boat to his place for a look see! (and a slab of XXXX)

[hero]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed reply. My floor is fibre glass, the back to back seats are secured with self tappers as you described. I am not sure what sort of under floor bracing is in place, your suggestion of above floor bracing sounds the way to go. These back to seats are so inconvenient for fishing and driving the boat, I like to be high enough to see over the screen.