Pedestal seats are great on a jon boat. They swivel to allow 360-degree fishing and sit higher up off the deck for better visibility and comfort, and who doesn’t love to upgrade their toys? Pedestal seats are a popular option because most jon boats come with standard low bench seats. Bench seats are hard and uncomfortable at best with no back support. It’s harder to see fishing because you’re at water level rather than above.
This article will cover the basic tools, materials, and steps to install a pedestal seat on your Alumacraft. The job is fairly simple and the benefits far exceed the bit of work to do it yourself.
Tools
- tape measure
- china marker
- electric drill
- screwdriver
- 3 1/4 ” hole saw
Materials
- blind fasteners
- masking tape
- marine epoxy resin
- marine epoxy sealant
- aluminum pan head screws
- washers
- bolts
- nuts
- base plate
- seat post
- swivel plate
Installation steps
Marking the mounting holes
Take the base plate and china marker to mark the mounting holes for the plate. This is the point where you need to think about how you are going to use the pedestal seat. Check for clearance issues for 360 degrees since you will be installing a swivel seat that allows for that much movement. If you are going to be controlling a trolling motor, tiller motor, or steering wheel from this seat make sure you mount the base plate in a position that will be comfortable for your feet and hands depending on how you will be controlling the boat. Also, consider how high you want the seat. A high seat provides better visibility but may make it difficult to control a foot-control trolling motor or tiller handle. This is the time to think about how you are going to use the pedestal seat before making any holes in the boat. It would be best to already have the seat, swivel plate, post, and base plate for mock-up to ensure the installation will work with all the components of the pedestal seat.
Mounting the base plate
Once you’re satisfied with the base plate and seat position, go ahead and mark the screw holes on the base and drill them out. Some base plates require a 3 1/4″ hole to be drilled in the center of the deck to clear the post holder. See the youtube video below for that specific installation.
Before drilling through the deck, check underneath the area for any interferences. It would be a much more involved and expensive upgrade if you found out you drilled through a fuel line or electrical connection, not to mention a dangerous situation.
Some folks choose to add a backing plate for extra reinforcement. If the seat will be under a lot of weight and or pressure or the deck you’re mounting to is really thin, a backing plate may be necessary.
Mounting hardware
You can choose screws, or nuts and bolts to mount the base plate. Nuts and bolts offer the most strength but that means you have to access the back side of the mounting surface which is not always possible. Screws will work, but some people choose marine tri-fold pop rivets, or well nuts for added strength when accessing the backside of the installation isn’t possible.
Screws are easy to install but will not hold as much weight or provide as much support as nuts and bolts. Make sure whatever you choose the material is compatible with aluminum. Since you are screwing into aluminum a stainless steel screw or bolt would cause galvanic corrosion. You would need to insulate between the two metals with a coating such as paint to prevent the incompatible metals from touching.
Marine-grade sealant
Whichever screw or bolt you choose to mount your seat plate, make sure you use marine-grade epoxy or sealant for the holes. The overwhelming choice is the 3m 5200 marine sealant. After drilling out the holes apply a bead of the sealant on the holes and then screw or bolt the plate down. Using the sealant will prevent water intrusion into the hull, also preventing rotting or corrosion.
Installing pedestal seat and post
Once the base plate has been mounted it’s time to install the seat post, swivel plate, and seat. The seat post slides into the hole in the base plate that is mounted to the deck. The swivel plate is attached to the bottom of the seat and slides into a hole in the top of the seat post.
No drill boat seat mounts: Clamp-on vs. bolt-on jon boat seats
A quick note on another option for mounting a jon boat seat and that is the clamp-on style mounting bracket. The clamp-on style or no drill boat seat mounting bracket will give you the ability to install a swivel seat on a jon boat without drilling holes in the deck. You would not be able to mount a seat post with this application though.
I would caution against using a clamp-on style no drill boat seat mount because of the instability of the clamping system and the lack of anchor screws or bolts. If you lean back too far front to back or side to side the clamps can slip. There are numerous examples of people falling out of boats or getting injured when the clamp gives way.
The Kimpex cuda seat clamp and Alumacraft jon boat seat clamp from AK McCallum have different designs from the one pictured here that might fit your Alumacraft seat lip better and provide a stronger hold.
Once you get your seat installed go out and have fun. Get on the water and test out the new accessories! Tell us about your experience with Alumacraft seats in the comments below and sign up for our email list.
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