Driver Seat - Haines

[Smelly]

Hi all!

I have a 1989 Haines SLR DeepVee 5.3m 110HP rig and need some thoughts on whether I should install a sliding pedestal seat or retain current back-to-back floor seat configuration?

Estimated Time usage -
90% fishing in PPB
5% cruising withfamily in PPB
5% open water fishing

I am 6'2" and have difficulties holding (just) the wheel when I stand up. #The leg room between the front of seat/box and wheel is minimal and my back naturally aches as I must crouch to gain better grip of wheel..

This box-floor mounted driver's seat is fiberglass molded into the floor as per original design..which comes in handy for storage

Standing whilst steering in chop/swell is my preferred option but also love the comfort of the original thick cushioned seat - when seated.

Photo is attached..

Options I have come up with and would like your thoughts..

1) Cut box mount out and mount a sliding pedestal seat
2) Mount another cushion on top of existing driver's seat (and not stand)
3) Obtain a larger dia. steering wheel

I already have fiberglass cutting equipment.

What impact on originality/design would installing a pedestal seat have?

Opinions highly sort after.

Smelly

[Smelly]

I also need to mention that the seat box is mounted on a high step area..making life more difficult

[newchum]

go for a swivel based seat mounted on a solid icebox , make better use of the wasted space specialy seeing it is used primarily for fishing
rodney

[Smelly]

Thanks Rodney.

What height should the seat bottom be in relation to the wheel - if I went for the pedestal seat?

i.e. how high should it be?

[impulse492f]

A friend of mine has the same design (back to back seating) and he (and I when i drove it) sat on the top of the backrest that seemed to work ok given the wheel height. He also wants to look at removing the back seat to open the deck more for fishing.

My Signature has pedestal seats but the wheel is a lot higher off the ground so when you stand (my preferred driving position) the wheel is just over waist height (I'm 6'3").

If your seats to high the sore back issues remain. Do you use the back seat (back to back seating) for fishing?

Looking at my mate’s seats as they’re coming away from the floor they are not structural simply held in place by brackets on the floor. If you were going to mount a pedestal base i would spread the weight over a piece of ply as the diameter of the pedestal base is a lot smaller then the box section of your current seats.

Not sure if i helped

[Smelly]

THanks Impulse.

I think if I sat on the back rest of the seat I would be too far from the wheel with my arms fully stretched and my back hunching a bit to compensate - I have thought about it though..but won't work for me..

THe seat boxes are not structural but rather molded into the floor..I can cut these out no problem..if need be..

I have already removed the rear seat - huge increase in fishing real estate!

Should I aim for the wheel to be just over my waist height?

Thanks

[impulse492f]

THanks Impulse.

I think if I sat on the back rest of the seat I would be too far from the wheel with my arms fully stretched and my back hunching a bit to compensate - I have thought about it though..but won't work for me..

THe seat boxes are not structural but rather molded into the floor..I can cut these out no problem..if need be..

I have already removed the rear seat - huge increase in fishing real estate!

Should I aim for the wheel to be just over my waist height?

Thanks


I just went out with the tape measure and the bottom of the wheel is 73cm from the floor and the top is 104cm.

The seat base is 51cm from the floor and while seating, my butt is about 58cm from the floor (its a strong seat).

The front of the seat is 23cm from the bottom of the wheel (the top of the wheel tappers away towards the bow).

I can comfortably hold the top 1/2 of the wheel while standing straight.

If you want some pics of the inside PM me.

[Smelly]

Great Impulse - really appreciate it..

Stand by for PM..

[PADDLES]

g'day smelly, i've got a similar boat (550br signature) to you, am about the same height and have the same issues with standing up. our boat has a hole between the 2 front seats and i have to stand in that so i can still hang on to the wheel. our seats are pedestal mounted and after sussing out heaps of different seat mount options we've decided to leave them as they are because we didn't think that any of the options available would help out. at least you've got the boxes to use as storage space with some drawers in them or something. :)

[Smelly]

HI Paddles,

For me to achieve the ideal ergonomics in this situation, I would also need to recess the floor area where I stand - about 100mm. I have some slight concerns with this regarding structural rigidity but may be OK - THoughts?

How high is your wheel in relation to your waist when you stand?

[newchum]

i set my seat up after the ice box was built as my prefered driving position is seated i used spacer to ujust the hieght so i could see over the bow then i installed a foot rest at the right hieght to make it comfortable for me i am only 6ft but a few of my mate find it works for them

[impulse492f]

HI Paddles,

For me to achieve the ideal ergonomics in this situation, I would also need to recess the floor area where I stand - about 100mm. I have some slight concerns with this regarding structural rigidity but may be OK - THoughts?

How high is your wheel in relation to your waist when you stand?


Check your PM, as for the cut out it would depend on whats left of the stringers/support under the floor. You could strengthen whats left but it wont be as strong as original.

Try emailing Haines and ask the question, I emailed Greg Haines (Haines Signature) directly before buying my Sig 492F and he sent me all sorts of info.

You could always kneel and hack out the screen ::)

[Smelly]

Thanks Impulse, got photos..

COntact details for Greg Haines?

[Smelly]

Hi Newchum

How does seted position handle chop and swell?

How fast do u travel when seated??

[davez104]

Hi again Smelly,
My Haines has pedestal seats and they are comfortable to drive seated or standing. I can get a few measurements and pics if you like. I am going to ditch the pedestal idea though and build an icebox to fit under the seat and extend rearwards a bit as its just wasted space under the seat at the moment. I will build it so that the seat ends up in the same position it is in now.

Dave.

[newchum]

hi smelly
the seat is well padded with a standard height back and i have never had to stand up in any sea ,mind you i don't go out over 10-15knt with 1.5mt, the foot rest i believe is the secret to the comfort of the ride as it give the upper body more stability if the sea is choppy and the seat can be set at height that is right for you to have good posture as well as control. most of my trips are in the range of seventy to eighty miles return and apart from old steering giving my arms a workout the ride is good, you have the occaisional bump but i guess that part of boating.
rodney

[impulse492f]

Hi again Smelly,
My Haines has pedestal seats and they are comfortable to drive seated or standing. I can get a few measurements and pics if you like. I am going to ditch the pedestal idea though and build an icebox to fit under the seat and extend rearwards a bit as its just wasted space under the seat at the moment. I will build it so that the seat ends up in the same position it is in now.

Dave.


Does your seat swivel? as mine do, great for fishing out the back. I thought about boxing mine in and mounting a short pedestal seat. That way i have 1 seat to swivel (not back to back) and storage under the seat. I'm not now as I use the current storage better and built a hatch over my front stepdown (leading into the cubby) which i use for fenders and some spare jackets.

In fact the floor storage is great in the Signature, 90L fuel tank and still room for a 750x500x200 section that i bought a shallow tab from Bunnings that fitts perfect. thats on top of the storage as above under the cubby.

[newchum]

impulse & smelly
i will send some pics of my V19R with box under driver seat and aux tank under passenger seat if you want, they both have swivel seats. PM me email info and i will do it tomorrow
Rodney

[Smelly]

thanks Bud

[PADDLES]

g'day smelly, sorry about the late reply but haven't been on ausfish for a couple of days. if i stand in front of the seat (ie. not in the hole) the wheel is below waist height. standing in the hole it's about belly height. the hole i'm talking about is in most late eighties/early nineties signatures that i've seen, i've got a mate with a 2250l and it's in the same spot. it's basically straight in front of the fuel tank. agree with newchum, i sit down a fair bit and find the standard signature bucket seat quite comfy, but i do only try to go out in less than 15kn winds.

[Zucchini_bros]

Hi Smelly,

Just installed two (what the dealer called) "flip-flop" seats on to my new boat.
These might be worth consideration.
They are designed that the back is on a S/Steel arm that can reverse the seating direction by only having to move the back rest either forward or backwards (driving or fishing position)
They are very comfortable (very well padded) and appear to be made very well with ample support below.
I had a seat slide mounted to the drivers seat for added comfort when at the wheel.
The biggest advantages that worked for me was 2 seating positions without having to swivel the seat which in turn gave me more fishing room.

Hope that this is of some help

[newchum]

impulse & smelly
i will send some pics of my V19R with box under driver seat and aux tank under passenger seat if you want, they both have swivel seats. PM #me email info and i will do it tomorrow
Rodney
smelly & dave check your emails see if pics came today

cheers rodney

[davez104]

Got em, thanks Rodney. sweet looking icebox, you've convinced me.

Dave.

[davez104]

Don't mean to hijack your thread smelly. Rodney, what thickness of ply did you use for that icebox? I'm guessing you just made the box, glassed over, then put the foam on the inside and glassed straight over the foam? I'll have a look in rocky next weekend for some insulating foam, 50mm should be the go I think.

Thanks.
Dave.

[newchum]

Don't mean to hijack your thread smelly. Rodney, what thickness of ply did you use for that icebox? I'm guessing you just made the box, glassed over, then put the foam on the inside and glassed straight over the foam? I'll have a look in rocky next weekend for some insulating foam, 50mm should be the go I think.

Thanks.
Dave.
dave the ply was 4mm and yes i made the box glassed it and glued the foam inside , i only used 30mm foam , i also put extra ply where the hinges and the lock went, the bottom sheet of ply is also the anchor point. the fuel tank is 10 mm ply no foam. 4mm base ply.
sorry smelly

cheers rodney

[davez104]

How well does it keep ice with the 30mm foam? And is it a specific type of foam? Don't know too much about insulation foam.

Thanks.
Dave.

[newchum]

dave, you end up with 45mm wall thickness ,i have a hardtop so the box is nearly always in the shade, two blocks will last the weekend unless you load to much into it , only #tested the box temp once it was 7deg. c the foam i used was pink and hard can't recall the name,got it from an old friggy in emerald(retired now)
rodney

[Smelly]

Thanks guys.

Zuccinin - got pics of this flip flop seat?

Go ahead and hijack - it's all good knowledge! 8-)

[Smelly]

Newchum - no pics recieved as yet.. :(

[newchum]

Newchum - no pics received as yet.. :(

smelly, sent your email before daves don't know what went wrong , sent email again

andrew , sent your email as well

lets me know if the don't arrive

[Smelly]

Thanks Rod
Got them now - really appreciate your effort.

These ice boxes are huge! 8-)

[newchum]

Thanks Rod
Got them now - really appreciate your effort.

These ice boxes are huge! #8-)

smelly use my measurement against your current seat position and height and see if you need to change the size to suite

andrew, had to send yours twice, they should be there now

rodney

[Smelly]

Rod,
I notice your wheel is at a pronounced angle to the horizontal..

My wheel is much more vertical.

What is a cheap way of increasing the angle up of my wheel?

Smelly

[newchum]

Rod,
I notice your wheel is at a pronounced angle to the horizontal..

My wheel is much more vertical.

What is a cheap way of increasing the angle up of my wheel?

Smelly
mine has a tapered spacer behind the boss, don't if it was ome or aftermarket

[Smelly]

Is this spacer tapered in such a way to bias the wheel upwards?

Is this wheel comfortable to use?

[newchum]

Is this spacer tapered in such a way to bias the wheel upwards?

Is this wheel comfortable to use?

yes and yes the taper is only about 20mm offset but the wheel is large it looks more

[impulse492f]

andrew, had to send yours twice, they should be there now

rodney


Thanks got them and yes looks like your gained a good ice box/storage area from under the seating position.


Thanks Impulse, got photos..

COntact details for Greg Haines?

My other PC has crashed but I will ask the previosu owner for the details as he should still have it.

[Smelly]

Newchum - ar eu able to provide contact details of who may supply this tapered spacer?

What outer dia is your wheel?

[newchum]

Newchum - ar eu able to provide contact details of who may supply this tapered spacer?

What outer dia is your wheel?


smelly, the wheel is ?glide(the sticker is old and stuffed like me), it's o.d. is 400mm the boss and base look like they may be the brand, it is 1983 hull with 1986 motor, my guess is you may be able to find something similar at aboat yard

[davez104]

Try BIAS, they will probably have one on the shelf. Just get some measurements if you can and the brand of steering box. I think you can turn the spacers around to tilt your wheel up, down, left, right, whatever you like.

Dave.

[Smelly]

Well doen gents! Will do..

Newchum, do u think this spacer has improved your handling and control of wheel?

[newchum]

smelly don't really know, but if the taper wasn't there the wheel would be on my knees

[Smelly]

Try BIAS, they will probably have one on the shelf. Just get some measurements if you can and the brand of steering box. I think you can turn the spacers around to tilt your wheel up, down, left, right, whatever you like.

Dave.


Davez, I dont have a steering box - as such - but rather the cables leading from behind the helm to the motor..

SHould I have a steering box?

Smelly

[davez104]

Yep, thats the bit I mean, the helm, behind the steering wheel thingy, you know what I mean, maybe. ;)

Dave.

[Smelly]

I think I know what you mean - but when i look behind the helm - all I see is basically the back of the s/wheel mount with wires/cables going to rear..

No bulky steering box as such.. :-/

[davez104]

Yep, thats him. should be a brand name there somewhere, seastar or something.

Dave.

[Smelly]

Great - will check him out - really appreciate you sticking with me..
;) ;)

[Fat_Chilli]

Have any of you guys considered these as an option? I have been considering them for my Sig, for the extra storage they offer and the live bait tank option as my 500c dosen't come with the option of a bait tank :(.

http://www.pmmarine.com.au/pedestal/index.html

http://www.pmmarine.com.au/livebait/index.html

I didn't think their prices were too bad :-?.

[Smelly]

Great - how much were tehy?

[Brejen]

I put mine on storage boxes a little while back, best thing i ever did.

Thought that they would take up more room but actually did the reverse. I made them myself and built them with a shelf up the top in the front and a tackle box storage at the back.

Have them at a height that i can lean on if rough and wanna/need to stand but they are high enough to sit on and still be abale to control the boat with no problems.

Brett

[Brejen]

lookin from the front

[Brejen]

at the back

[Smellier]

Well done.

What material made out of and how high?

[Fat Chilli]

Smelly - PM sent reference these.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/ausjeep/ev_pic_3.jpg

[impulse492f]

I think I know what you mean - but when i look behind the helm - all I see is basically the back of the s/wheel mount with wires/cables going to rear..

No bulky steering box as such.. :-/

Not sure if your found the bezel kit you need to tilt your wheel but this is a sample picture of what you might need. They are $14 from Bias (p/n 3154) and $14.95 from Whitworths (p/n 82214).

http://www.boatingsolutions.com/images/x35.jpg

And this is a pic of the helm steering control mounted behind the dash, it may be a different one then you have (Bias p/n 3151 $79.00, Whitworth 82180 ($79.95).

http://www.whitworths.com.au/products/82180_lg.jpg

[Smelly]

Thanks Impulse.

BLA have similar items with good info on Tlt systems too.

8-)