New seat
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:18 am
So, I have an old Wilderness Ride 135 that I bought used probably 10ish years ago. It was made before they added the option for the elevated seats, so the seat on it was the basic 1/2” or so pad fastened to the bottom with the cheesy folding back. It was terribly uncomfortable, so I bought one of those floating seat cushions and have been using that. It helped a little, but with my bad back (I’ve had 2 surgeries on my lower back and it’s jacked up again), after an hour or so I would be miserable and my feet would start to go numb.
I started researching adding custom seats and found a video of someone who added one of those padded plastic boat seats to his yak (not a ride 135, but same concept), so I figured why not. I picked one up at academy for $32, got a piece of 1” aluminum square tubing and some 3/4” PVC. I can get some better pictures if anyone cares to see anything in particular, but for now this is the only pic I have.
I mounted the square tubing to the seat with the screws that came with the seat. I match drilled holes in the aluminum into the top of the gunnel and put a 1/4-20 bolt through it with a rubber washer on the inside. For the back side of the seat, I used some existing screws that hold in a piece of foam inside the yak, and mounted a piece of 3/4” PVC. I put 90s on both ends and put some upright pieces to support the back end of the seat, and ran some 1/4-20 bolts through the seat body and the vertical PVC to help stabilize it. I sat in it in my garage and wiggled around, and it’s pretty solid.
I plan to add some home made outriggers to add stability. I’m going to order some crab floats and build them out of PVC. Bougot a couple of rod holders to use for them. I figure the elevated seat will make it easier to stand once I get the outriggers.
I figure it’s going to go 1 of 2 ways. Either it’s going to be a fantastic addition and super comfortable and the best thing I’ve done to it, or something will break or the yak will flip easily thanks to the high COG and it will be the dumbest thing I’ve done to it. Given that the newer ride 135 came with an elevated seat, I do t think stability will be too compromised. The outriggers should counteract any of that. I’ve never been able to stand in it, because it just isn’t that stable to me, and the seat sits too low for me to be able to get up. I’m hoping this and the outriggers takes care of that, as I much prefer to stand and fish.
I’m going out tomorrow for a test run, but don’t have the outriggers. I figure where I’m going the water is only a few feet deep, and it isn’t exactly cold, so if it is unstable and I dump, it won’t be the end of the world. I secure everything to my kayak and always wear a PFD, so if it flips because of the raised COG, it won’t be the end of the world.
Here is the only picture I took (after I loaded it in the truck in prep for tomorrow morning). If anyone wants to see any other pics, let me know and I’ll try to accommodate.
I started researching adding custom seats and found a video of someone who added one of those padded plastic boat seats to his yak (not a ride 135, but same concept), so I figured why not. I picked one up at academy for $32, got a piece of 1” aluminum square tubing and some 3/4” PVC. I can get some better pictures if anyone cares to see anything in particular, but for now this is the only pic I have.
I mounted the square tubing to the seat with the screws that came with the seat. I match drilled holes in the aluminum into the top of the gunnel and put a 1/4-20 bolt through it with a rubber washer on the inside. For the back side of the seat, I used some existing screws that hold in a piece of foam inside the yak, and mounted a piece of 3/4” PVC. I put 90s on both ends and put some upright pieces to support the back end of the seat, and ran some 1/4-20 bolts through the seat body and the vertical PVC to help stabilize it. I sat in it in my garage and wiggled around, and it’s pretty solid.
I plan to add some home made outriggers to add stability. I’m going to order some crab floats and build them out of PVC. Bougot a couple of rod holders to use for them. I figure the elevated seat will make it easier to stand once I get the outriggers.
I figure it’s going to go 1 of 2 ways. Either it’s going to be a fantastic addition and super comfortable and the best thing I’ve done to it, or something will break or the yak will flip easily thanks to the high COG and it will be the dumbest thing I’ve done to it. Given that the newer ride 135 came with an elevated seat, I do t think stability will be too compromised. The outriggers should counteract any of that. I’ve never been able to stand in it, because it just isn’t that stable to me, and the seat sits too low for me to be able to get up. I’m hoping this and the outriggers takes care of that, as I much prefer to stand and fish.
I’m going out tomorrow for a test run, but don’t have the outriggers. I figure where I’m going the water is only a few feet deep, and it isn’t exactly cold, so if it is unstable and I dump, it won’t be the end of the world. I secure everything to my kayak and always wear a PFD, so if it flips because of the raised COG, it won’t be the end of the world.
Here is the only picture I took (after I loaded it in the truck in prep for tomorrow morning). If anyone wants to see any other pics, let me know and I’ll try to accommodate.