New suspension seat option?

[Threeweight]

Saw these at the Sportsman's show in Portland.  They are being made/sold WPS out of Klamath Falls.  I grabbed a card, will try and post contact info if anyone wants it.





Marine grade aluminum frames, with a dirt-bike style mono-shock for dampening the pounding.  I have seen very high end seats in Coast Guard RIB's built in this style. The WPS units were on sale for $300 for his first batch (some ugly welds), and $400 for the new batch. 

In theory, this should work better than either mechanical style seats (tractor seats) or air rides, as the mono shock serves to dampen and slow down the rate of travel (up or down) rather than trying to cushion your fall once you come down.  I have no idea how high quality the shock is, though.  He said it was good for folks from 150-300#, and the shock could be upgraded.

[croaker stroker]

Looks like a "Progressive" Harley Davidson shock.

[Omega3]

Gas shock on that thing and it would be plush.

[tc808]

wonder how that shock is going to hold up in the salt?

[croaker stroker]

Great price. And it looks like the shock could be easily replaced if need be.

[Salmon King]

I can't speak for anyone else but to save a hundred buck I can live with ugly welds....

[Threeweight]

Here's the guy's web site... scroll down for info on the seats.

http://wpsoutdoors.com/

[Yachter Yat]

     Hey Threeweight;  Are you showing this just to get me to talk about my design for the new Arima Hi/Lo Shock Absorbing Sleeper Seat?  Your tempting me.   

Yat

[croaker stroker]

Geez Yat. A shock absorber on your sleeper. Not all of us are that energetic.  :whistle:

[GregE]

3WT,  is that assembly high enough to replace a pedestal and does it allow / have room for an Arima seat to rotate?


Industry standard 5"x5" square bolt pattern allows you to bolt almost all seats, slides and swivels to these bases
Multiple drillings allowing you to change the unloaded seat base height from 17" to 15.5"

[Threeweight]

The ones he had at the show were bolted on to a 8" high aluminum box (sort of a standard tin can seat box).  It made it pretty tall with unloaded, but when I sat down and the spring did it's initial compression I'd say it was about the same height as my old Arima pedestal. 

You can't really see it in the photo, but the upper bracket has a couple of extra holes that allow for some amount of height adjustment (downward by like 2-3" I'd think).

The photos are of the tall model.  He has a shorter one that would work on top of an Arima seat box, but would have significantly less travel.

[rbreckel]

Has anyone tried to adapt one of the original Arima pedestal style seats to sit on top of either the springfield wavemaster shock adsorbent pedestal or something like this one?  I saw one of the springfield seats in their dent and scratched section, emailed them with pictures of my seat bottom and they said that they do not have anything which would adapt to the Arima pedestal seat.  The Springfield pedestal takes a 5"x5" mount pattern and I cannot see any way of adapting the existing Arima aluminum post to it other than some back yard welding options.  I was hoping to avoid buying both the new shock adsorbent pedestal and the new seat since I have a couple of the Arima pedestal seats already and both are in perfect condition.

[Markshoreline]

The new WPS shock absorbers are $450.

[Yachter Yat]

   Can't get too high on these seats without either looking at the upper windshield frame or over the top of the windshield altogether.  The pedestal seat on my 16 SC is set at roughly 18", from the floor to the seat cushion.   When seated, with the foam compressed, I'm looking through the clear (unobstructed) windshield opening...........which is where I want to be.  So, IMO, much more than a total seat height of 18" (or so) above the floor on these small Arimas  might not be practical.   

Yat

[Threeweight]

He was running a Sportsmans Show special of $300 for the 2016 ugly weld seats, and $400 for the 2017 (normal price $450).

The bolt pattern on the top fits a standard Garelick swivel base, he said.  He had another one with a swivel and seat on it.

Like a motorcycle, when you seat in the sit the mono shock compresses to it's "loaded" position.  His web site says unloaded height is 17" to 15.5"... so 15.5 + swivel + seat - compression from a 200# butt should = less than 18".

[Zarn]

I did not get to the NW portland show this year. I first saw this seat at the Saltwater Sportman's Show Salem, OR show last year. That show is right around the corner 2/25-26/17.

Attached is a link to the for the final schedule of events for the Saltwater Sportman's Show, in case you have not had an opportunity to see it. WPS will also be at the 2017 Salem show. I hope they will be offered a show discount there. It looks like WPS offers a lifetime warranty on the seat. I am probably going to make a purchase. I was told last year the seat could be modified to one's specific height requirement, at an additional cost, of course.

http://www.saltwatersportsmensshow.com/

He was running a Sportsmans Show special of $300 for the 2016 ugly weld seats, and $400 for the 2017 (normal price $450).

The bolt pattern on the top fits a standard Garelick swivel base, he said.  He had another one with a swivel and seat on it.

Like a motorcycle, when you seat in the sit the mono shock compresses to it's "loaded" position.  His web site says unloaded height is 17" to 15.5"... so 15.5 + swivel + seat - compression from a 200# butt should = less than 18".

[Tunacious]

About three years ago I installed Glyde Ryde suspension units in my boat along with Atwood Centrec SAS seats on top of the Glyde Ryde unit.

The Glyde Ryde suspension units were expensive but I have not been sorry one time.

I don't remember how much they were but I am thinking around $1,000 a piece.  (I would buy them again in a second)

After spending a weekend searching this site for a better way to set up a better seat I seen far to many comments from guys who suffered when they went fishing because of bad backs.

I decided the best way to not have a bad back was not to get hurt.  I hobble around to much with out a bad back. 

I love my Glyde Rydes, and Atwood seats. 

I have bottomed out a couple of times but when I do I am never even close to getting hurt.  And I have been through some rough water.

The units that Three Weight posted are designed similar to the Glyde Ryde units but the Glyde Rydes,  have two additional heavy duty springs to assist the shock.

There is a black knob on the top of the unit behind the seat that tightens and loosens the spring tension.

Glyde Ryde will not honor their warranty unless you mount their units on top of a box.  No Pedestal.

It is possible to mount a swivel chair to the Glyde Ryde but I chose not to.

I like to sit with my back against the window and be able to watch the front and the back of the boat from there.

[GregE]

Hmmmm, 

Walt how does the height of your mount box compare to a companion seat box?  If I get one- I'm gonna need two.... 

Who did your seat box- same guy as the fish box?

[GoodDays]

Very similar to the Shockwave Seats I have in my workboat.

[Zarn]

I purchase the WPS seat at the salem show. The seat has 7" of vertical travel and they have yet to have one bottom out completely at its rated capacity of 300lbs. It is incrementally adjustable between 180-300 lbs. The main component is a motorcycle shock that was "re-valved" to WPS specs.

It will take some rework and probably a new thicker/taller seat to get it to my personal specs. I was on a sea trail on another vessel that utilized that seat late last year. It was like you were floating gently on and over that snotty stuff even on the 1/4 beam. I hope it performs similarly on my vessel. Easy maintenance, fresh water wash down, WD40 when needed. Lifetime warranty. Not that does not mean much if the company ends however purchasing on my costco card means I am covered for quite a long awhile.

On question... for anyone in the know.... How thick is the seat area in a 1988, 17"SR? I know it is not "solid" and is probably foam filled underneath. I am not sure yet how I am going to mount the seat base. Two choices I am considering... mount the seat base directly to the floor using a combination of compression nuts and the existing floor bolt pattern or place a piece of thick starboard over the entire existing bolt pattern then mount the seat base to that with lag bolts or recessed bolts and nylock nuts. Any suggestions are appreciated. I'll post up some pics once installed and tested.

[Threeweight]

My understanding is that 3/4" marine ply is glassed in under there.  When I re-did my seat pedestal on my old Arima, none of the new ones matched the old bolt pattern.   I patched all my old holes with Marine-Tex, sanded smooth, then installed with fresh holes.  I used #14 lag screws (1" I think) from West Marine, and buttered the holes with Gorilla Glue expanding polyurethane when I installed the new one.  I also roughed up the aluminum base and put a bead of 3m 5200 around it.  It never budged, even with some very, very large dudes sitting in it.

You might consider using a chunk of thick aluminum plate (like 1/4") for your adapter rather than Starboard.  You can countersink the head of the mounting screws and have them come up through the bottom of the plate, for a flat mount, then screw it down to the deck and spread the load out over a wider area.  5200 will stick to aluminum plate very well (but won't stick at all to Starboard).

[croaker stroker]

If your original tee nuts still work, you should use those like you mentioned.  I would use stainless steel tee nuts in your Starboard "adapter".

If you use lag bolts to the floor, you should choose a length that extends all the way through the second (bottom) layer of fiberglass. It is much less likely to pull out than only going through the floor and into the plywood. (Notice the screw in the Arima drawing)

Here is a pic of a seat adapter I made for one of my Arima's....i bolted the adapter to the original tee nuts, then bolted the new seat base to the new tee nuts in the Starboard. (Different hole pattern)  It turned out very strong.



Here is an Arima drawing showing the floor. My floors looked like 1/2" wood sandwiched between fiberglass. (Roughly 1" total thickness)

[croaker stroker]

Interesting post by Belinda regarding the floor construction...

http://www.arimaowners.com/index.php?topic=12821.msg150599#msg150599

[Zarn]

Found a good ebay seller for starboard cut offs. Norva Plastics Inc. They are on the east coast however based upon their cut off prices they are about 1/3 the cost of our a popular local vendor. They ship 2 day priority flat rate.

A recent example... I just purchased.. 2- 1.5" x 12" x 12" and 1- 1.0" x 12" x 12" All three items came to $47.00. Flat rate 2 day shipping was $17.35. The cost of the same items locally was quoted @ $130.00.

Now the work begins....

Thanks C.S. good speaking with you the other evening, Thank you for your input.

[croaker stroker]

Nice talking with you Joe.