remove seats in punt, any rigidity left??

[bar raider]

g'day, i have a 3m punt with bowmount to which i added a front deck with kingpin type removable pedestal seat, but the problem is its very narrow and leans a lot when turning and is a little unstable so i dont run the post i just put the seat straight in the base and its all good, but then my legs are flat on the deck >:(

So, i was thinking of removing the seats/thwarts and running a flat floor 5 or 10cm above the bottom filled with foam and the kingpin bases.

this will lower the sitting height and make it more stable but........how weak will it make the punt??

i only use it in calm canal and dam situations.

thanks

[Nico.d.R]

you would need to add some supports if you take the seat out i reckon , maybe some ally angle or u tube going from side to side ( on top of the floor supports ) , and that will give you a good base for the floor . i have never cut a seat out of a boat but thats what i would do .

cheers nico

[bar raider]

yeah i figure it would be weak, but how weak??

has anyone done it??

90% glassy water with only me onboard.

they are rivited so i guess i can put em back in.

[ronnien]

bar raider,
i have done it mate, took the front thwart seat out to "open" the floor space up & now have plenty of room. the boat is still solid, theres a few af's that i have taken out into the bay & no one has ever said that it's weak. have been in some sloppy stuff & handles it good, i do however have a casting deck up the front so this would give a bit of strength also. if you remove yours just take it for a test run & see what happens, you may need support or not? you wont know till you get your boat out there, you can also grab each side & pull in & out to see if there's any flexing.

ron.

[Scott nthQld]

I can attest to Ron's comments. I've been out on his boat, a 4.3m barra punt, out of the creeks plenty of times and it is still a very rigid little boat. We've been caughtout in a storm, and beides kidney destroying chop it was fine, no or so little flex it wasn't noticeable.

Take the twart out and add a slighly raised casting deck to get some extra support across the beam.

[Charlie]

yeah i figure it would be weak, but how weak??

has anyone done it??

90% glassy water with only me onboard.

they are rivited so i guess i can put em back in.

I've added a floor between the seats with the kingpin dead centre in the floor,
it seem a lot of work to rip out the seat and buy more alloy and foam.