How to reinforce a lid for a seat

[bigdogg1]

Here is a pic to help illustrate what I plan to do. I am upgrading my two helm seats (same as in pic). The seats and mounts are going to move to the the two storage lids directly behind and below the two helm seats. My original thought was to simply put a piece of possibly Starboard across the top of the lid to spread out the load to the outside where there is some support.

Are the any thoughts on how else this might be done? Can't really see how to do it from inside/underneath unless it is literally boxed to support the load from above. Also not sure if the 'floor' of the space under the lid is strong enough to carry a direct load.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

 

[RiverBoy]

couple thoughts:
the port storage is also your fish hold, isn’t it?

also, that seat placement might be a bit awkward as the persons legs wouldn’t be able to touch the floor, so could be a bit uncomfortable not being able to plant your feet if the weather is a bit rough.

hope you figure it out; the lack of seating on these stripers is bizarre. just spent four days on one sitting on the gunnel the entire time watching rod

 

[bigdogg1]

Thanks Riverboy. Appreciate the thinking.

I have recently been using a thermal bag inside the larger middle hold between the seats for fish storage and plan to better that somehow. Also thought I could remove the piano hinges if necessary to pull off the seat and lid to access the space if necessary.

I also pulled a seat off and mocked it on a 3/4 plywood square to get a sense of height. Feet actually landed comfortably on the floor so that should be okay as well.

 

[walleyes]

What are those lids made of that you are worried about them, they look like at least 1/2” or better HDPE board to me. If this is the case by the looks of the dimensions and load distribution I think they would be fine. How far across the opening or gap is it underneath those lids, most have a good 2 or 3” lip around them if this is the case I wouldn’t worry about them being able to handle the load. One thing though with a seat sitting on those lids I’m not sure they would be very secure they may tend to topple off especially when traveling down the highway or in rough water conditions with no one on them. I would consider putting some hinges on the inside edge to allow the lids and seats to be tipped over to the inside to get access to the boxes and to secure the seats down. Possibly hinges that slide apart if you wanted to remove them completely for cleaning or full access. Oops never mind I see they are on piano hinges along the outside edge. By what I see you are good to go can’t see it being an issue.

 

[walleyes]

Stand on the lids with all your weight on 1 foot and bounce a little see if they flex much, I bet they don’t.

 

[bigbruce]

Finaddict has the same boat and has mounted the same seats on the fish boxes. He hasn’t posted for awhile but you might get to him with a PM.

 

[bigdogg1]

I believe they are 1/4 to 3/8” fibreglassed plywood. Might be wrong on that but there is very slight flex when standing in them. Definitely not 1/2” around the lip. They are thicker in the middle. Thanks for the lead to Finaddict. Will try to connect with him.

 

[RiverBoy]

Stand on the lids with all your weight on 1 foot and bounce a little see if they flex much, I bet they don’t.

they flex. i would estimate the material to be 1/4” max. i was sitting on the lid for days and the weight of my arse i could feel it flexing. but if a guy laminated some ptfe starboard or whatever it might work.

 

[walleyes]

they flex. i would estimate the material to be 1/4” max. i was sitting on the lid for days and the weight of my arse i could feel it flexing. but if a guy laminated some ptfe starboard or whatever it might work.

Ok they must have moulded edge cause looking at the outside edge they look thick.

A person could just cut out new lids made of 1/2“ HDPE board as well. Or Starboard what ever is easier to get a hold of.

 

[bigdogg1]

Lids are moulded

 

[RiverBoy]

do you have pedestal bases at the rear of the boat? my buddy has pedestal bases at the rear in his 2301 but they seem to be kinda in a weird spot. come to think of it i’ve never seen seat on them. i dunno. hope you figure it out bud

edit: The more i look at this the more i think you will be fine.but i agree with @walleyes if you mount this setup with a block of starboard or whatever underneath. it might be a bit top heavy and tend to topple off and go kaboom in rough seas. perhaps some kinda locking pin thru the side?

 

[bigbruce]

I think Finaddict used something like this. They’re easy to remove to get access to the boxes. Don’t know if he reinforced the lid.
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/4674...nt-and-swivel-7-combo?productVariantId=159183

 

[bigdogg1]

I have the mounting holes at the stern. They are for a funky-shaped bench that came stock. Want to keep the space clean so might even pull and fill the holes completely. Have looked at those Springfield mounts - would likely be the way to go.

Would mounting Starboard underneath actually increase the rigidity? I don’t think so because it would basically be affixed to the underside but not connected to the outer edges meaning it wouldn’t be transferring any of the load down the sides of the box.

Hopefully hear from Finaddict on his build.

 

[ReelSlim]

I factory ordered my Striper in 08 and had to argue hard with the dealer to omit the back corner seats. He tried to tell about resale...sitting in the sun blah blah blah. I told him I would never sit back there and the holes would just fill up with fishy mess. I vote fill in the holes...lol

 

[bigdogg1]

Makes sense. Have been on the Stripers Owners Club Website and that area seems to be an area of concern for sure!

 

[Highliner]

Why not reinforce with some additional layers of fiberglass underneath? @Robert Snyder could probably help guide you.

 

[bigdogg1]

Thanks Highliner. Have never glassed before so might be a great place to learn as it is out of sight

 

[cracked_ribs]

Personally, I would put a couple of "joists" across the load path...let me see if I can explain this clearly.

The bottom of the lid will be in tension; basically you want to put in a crossmember that will prevent the bottom face of the lid from being able to stretch. To my way of thinking, the cleanest way to do this is to epoxy a pair of beams to the bottom of the lid, maybe in an X. If you take a 1x2 piece of pretty much any wood at all and notch it so you can make an X with a couple of 1' long sections, and glue them with the long axis down, like the 1" side against the surface so the wood projects 2" down if that makes sense, you'll radically stiffen the lid. The bottom surface won't be able to stretch in any direction because the beams glued to it will take the load, and their stiffness is proportional to their height which is much much greater than the thickness of the lid.

If you use planed lumber, saturate the surfaces with epoxy, and paint it white afterwards, it will be pretty much rot-proof, and fairly factory-looking.

You don't even really need 1x2" lumber for this, I used that more so the description would be easy to picture - honestly a couple of 1" strips of 3/8" or 1/2" plywood would do fine. This is exactly how lids are stiffened up on custom boats.

 

[Rayvon]

I think you want to keep access to those lockers easy to do.Would it be possible to reuse the sockets from your stern bench?Mount them on top of 3/4" Starboard that is screwed from underneath the hatches? The sockets should fit a standard pedestal pipe I think.Then you would just lift the seat off for access.

 

[EZZ70]

Why not reinforce with some additional layers of fiberglass underneath? @Robert Snyder could probably help guide you.

Hey, if you would like to reinforce the lids grind down the gel smoothen, on the underside, to receive additional layers of 1708 until you have the desired thickness. Be careful not to interfere with the lip/flange so the buildup would be inside of where the bottom of lid/female meets top of mold/male. You probably don't want to just start adding cloth without a plan because you would want it to hinge and close after its all done. After its all laid up re-gel. You can send them to me and I will do for free, they are not a big job to do and I have material