Jon boat seat clamps?

[Minuteman]

I have a jon boat with no seats mounted just the built in benches. I really need to put swivels seats in it, but I have a few issues. I don't use a trailer and we just throw it on the SUV roof racks. I'm looking at the mounts that clamp on. I can get 2 seats and mounts  for a lil over $100 @ Cabelas.

Has anyone had any experience with these?

I don't want to spend a penny on this boat that I don't have to because I'm  looking for something better next year. I don't want to get these and then find out they are worthless. I can't treat it as an investment either since I agreed not to sell the boat as it was given to me. All the other money I put into it are for things that can be transferred to another boat (trolling mtr, depth finder, etc..) Money is an issue because I'm on disability and can only work part time.

Thanks, Bill

[BASSMAN1301599783]

If you dont want to put any money into this boat... Don,t. Go to Wal-Mart get some seat cushions for ten bucks and tuff it out untill you get your new boat. Or K-Mart has swivle pedistals for about seven bucks and you can get a cheap seat for twelve or so. I bolted mine down with some heavy duty self tapping screws right to the bench. It works Great.

[Ben]

I have two I've used them for many years in different jons. They work great and I prefer the plastic high back seat that fold down and have padding in the seats. The only complaint I've ever had with them, when you lean over to one side, sometimes they will kick up and tilt to that side, dang near throwing you in the water if you're not careful. Once you learn this little quirk, and don't do that, they are great back savers.

What I did on my 12 ft jon that stays at my pond, I had two pieces of 16 guage metal about 12" wide bent so it goes across the top and down the front and back of the seats about eight inches and bolted the swivels in the center of them. I then drilled a 1/2" hole in the front of them near the bottom, had a 3/8" nut welded centered over the hole, on the outer side. I welded a short bar across the head of a 3/8" bolt to make something I can screw by hand. I slide these on and screw my 3/8 bolt in so it goes into the 1/2" hole I drilled. This eleminate the chance of the things tilting to one side and dumping you and they can easily be removed and put in dry storage when not in use.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

My buddy that went overboard last week , was partially blaming that mount.  Granted he leaned too far, but if the clamp hadn't let go, I bet he would have stayed much drier.  I'm refering to them lifting as Ben said.

I would just get by w/ cushions for now, but otherwise for the same money, ($11   7"  pedestal and $10 swivel), you can mount them much more securely and they can still go on the roof.

[Minuteman]

The one problem with mounting some pedastals is I have 4" clearance to put the boat on the roof racks. I found ones that would work, but if the seats don't fold down low enough I would have to remove them by hand each trip. Quick release seats are out of the budget

Direct mounting would be cheaper and even if the seats go a little over 4" I would just have to put the boat on from the side rather than sliding it on from the back.

Thanks for the replies,  as you can see I'm already rethinking as a type.

Bill

[Ben]

I have always had issues with trying to direct mount swivels or short pedistals on a jons aluminum bench.  The metal guage is usually to light for the mounts to hold and usually rip out after a short time.  Leaving a nasty, jagged hole to deal with then.

If you're looking for something easy to get on/off and won't dump you in the lake if you lean wrong, you can get the slide rails and seat system. I have one of these on my 14' jon I use in the rivers. I use a tiller steering motors on that one and it lets you sit in the center to fish and slides to one side to run the motor. All you have to do is flip the seat forward and it comes right out. The only mounting required is the two rails that mount to the boats bench seat. The drawback to this is the $40 price tag if your on a budget.

[gamblerOH]

I have 2 seats you can have. They are padded folding seats that were in a boat I parted out. The seats were the best thing about the boat!they look to be very new, I would say a year or 2 old at most. They are blue and white with aluminum frames. If you want to see if its something you can use the Bass Pro part # is 28-586-513 all you would need is mounts. If you want them just pay for shipping and they are yours.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

I've also used the slide rail system and they work great.

Does th boat have to be put on the roof upside down?