tractor seat base = suspension = happier back!

[reelapeelin]

Lookin good, Blue...

[Blue_Runner]

Thanks Oz..

My repairs are compounding. Lost a leaf spring two weekends ago. Got that fixed but was unable to acquire the parts to replace the other 3. Planning to order online on wednesday. My spare tire tread decided to pop loose. Same thing happened to one of my tires on the trailer a while back. Seems like a Maxxis tire defect if you ask me.....good looking tread and it just pops loose? Was surprised to see this happen on the spare which isn't even under load.
I carry 2 spares anyway, but down to 1 now makes me uneasy on a long tow.

[jvitiel]

So here is an update on my seat installation.

Over all its real good. I have the weight adjustment set to minimum even though I'm about 195lbs. It bottoms out occasionally which is no big deal and I like the softer ride. If I went into rougher waters I would probably tighten it up but I haven't needed to yet. The foot rests work well and it never feels awkward.

The mechanism seems to be holding up in the weather pretty nice - although it's under a car-port most of the time.

On the downside, the seat itself isn't great. It's compact which is good and allows it to swivel - but the blue vinyl gets hot and although it's durable and reasonably comfortable, it looks pretty dorky. I may swap it out but haven't seen something I like better yet.

The whole assembly is also heavy - maybe 25lbs. more than the plain seat I have on the port side.

Finally I think I will probably paint the black mechanism grey. I'm not a fashion plate but it's a bit much as it is.

Still, all in all a good mod. If you want a soft ride at a nice price this may be a good option to consider.

[bradford]

Good info.

[Blue_Runner]

I concur with your assessment. I dialed mine up a bit above the minimum because of the bottoming out potential. I figured on the right wave set bottoming out might hurt my back more than not having the suspension in the first place because of the momentum build up and inertia involved in the sudden bottoming. But as you know, adjustment is as easy as turning the knob so no real need to find that one setting for all situations.

After 1 use in salt I'm seeing a little bit of rust bleeding onto the fiberglass seat base. Something I expected, but it isn't terrible yet.

I still haven't done a 50 + mile one way trip yet. That will be the real test. I've got most of my repairs done, but still have to replace 3 trailer leaf springs/u bolts. Ordered the parts online, got them last week, taking boat off trailer and planning to repair over the next few days.

Then a matter of finding a suitable weekend weather window to head out.

[Blue_Runner]

Got my trailer leaf springs replaced a couple weeks ago. All went very smoothly. in disassembly of the old leaf springs 90 percent of the u bolts and bolts broke off fairly easily which made it a breeze.

Me and my buddy just got back from a weekend fishing trip. We fished Saturday and Sunday (yesterday). In all we spent over 20 hours on the boat, burned nearly 200 gallons of fuel and covered 250 + miles on the water. Tractor seat base was a real back saver. I'm a little sore all over just from all of the work that went into the trip, but my back feels fine. Had it not been for the seat base I'm pretty certain my back would be completely screwed right now.

Only one negative I encountered. That is since the seat moves up and down I would bump my right knee on the wheel and sometimes shifter. Not hard, but the kind of bump that starts to hurt a little over time. Adjusting the seat helped. At one point I wrapped a towel around my knee. LOL No biggie.

Report & pics will be put up this evening or tomorrow in the Fishing section.

[jvitiel]

Wow. That's a lot of runnin'..

I find that my knee bumps into the shifter too. It is annoying. I may glue a piece of closed cell foam to the offending part of the shifter.