Advise on mounting a fighting chair

[jerseyken]

I have a Wellcraft 360 and bought a fighting chair in beautiful condition off of EBAY. My boat is advertised as having a reinforcedsole for mounting a chair. Here is the problem - when I looked under the hatch I see only about 2 inches of clearance between the sole and the fuel tank. I'm trying to figure out the best way to mount this... without through bolting?

Also there isn't any type of mounting plate just the pedestal with spots for 6 bolts. Do I need to get one? Any ideas? It's a Pompanette 130 class chair...

Thanks for your input

Ken

[tobnpr]

I would contact Wellcraft.
It may very well be that they glassed in an aluminum backing plate into the deck, if so you can drill/tap for mounting bolts.
Can you see the area in question- is there a thickened area in the location where the chair would go?

[SeaNile]

My opinion is with a 130# class chair you will want substantial backing. You'll want a plate that will be thru bolted to the backing plate and then there will be 6 matching holes on the plate which will lineup with the 6 holes on the chair's pedestal. That's a big chair, add in sea consitions, a 200# angler and a 50-200# fish...

--JK

[jerseyken]

tobnpr - 3/19/2008 7:09 PM I would contact Wellcraft. It may very well be that they glassed in an aluminum backing plate into the deck, if so you can drill/tap for mounting bolts. Can you see the area in question- is there a thickened area in the location where the chair would go?

Thanks for the reply, I did contact them and they sent me a diagram as to where to mount the chair. They weren't specific about the "nuts and bolts" of how to do so. They suggested I bring it to a Wellcraft dealer. I did that and they looked and said basically the same thing...how the heck are we going to mount that? When you open the rear hatch where the access to the transducer, bilge and fuel shut off valves are you can see under the decking. But there is only about two inches of clearance and I don't know how you would get a wrench between the deck and the fuel tank. (it would be about 2 feet away from the hatch opening).

I can't tell if they glassed in a backing plate, only that the sole seems to be about 3-4 inches thick there...

[jerseyken]

SeaNile - 3/19/2008 9:16 PM My opinion is with a 130# class chair you will want substantial backing. You'll want a plate that will be thru bolted to the backing plate and then there will be 6 matching holes on the plate which will lineup with the 6 holes on the chair's pedestal. That's a big chair, add in sea consitions, a 200# angler and a 50-200# fish... --JK

Big chair bigger angler; hopefully heavy fish...this is my concern also...so if I understand what you are saying -I'd need two plates (the chair didn't come with any) ...the previous owner probably kept the original plate as he was replacing the chair...

[WME]

I would contact Ocean Beach Marine. Did you buy the boat from them?? They are Wellcraft dealers.

WME

[csurp]

jerseyken - 3/19/2008 9:50 AM



I have a Wellcraft 360 and bought a fighting chair in beautiful condition off of EBAY. My boat is advertised as having a reinforced*sole for mounting a chair. Here is the problem - when I looked under the hatch I see only about 2 inches of clearance between the sole and the fuel tank. I'm trying to figure out the best way to mount this... without through bolting?

Also there isn't any type of mounting plate just the pedestal with spots for 6 bolts. Do I need to get one? Any ideas? It's a Pompanette 130 class chair...

Thanks for your input

Ken

I have mounted several Pompanette chairs. The Pompanette 80 and 130 chairs have the same dimensions and use the same mounting bracket which you will need along with bolts, lock washers and nuts along with the SS chair to plate machine bolts. There should be an aluminum plate glassed in under the sole. If you don't see it, you should confirm with Wellcraft what they mean by reinforced. This is very important.

2" clearance with a 2' reach is doable. Go to Pompanette's web site and you will see the dimensions of the chair including foot rest. You want to make sure it will fit before you drill holes. You do want to through bolt this! It should not be expensive to have someone else do it right.

Frank Wise, service manager at Schooner Island Marina in Wildwood, should have a new plate in stock and can do the install.

PM me if you like and I can go into this in more detail. I once bought a similar chair off ebay and installed it on a Rampage 38. We did two more Rampages after that with Pompanette chairs.

[jerseyken]

csurp

thanks having internet connection problems will pm you

[jerseyken]

WME - 3/19/2008 10:33 PM I would contact Ocean Beach Marine. Did you buy the boat from them?? They are Wellcraft dealers. WME

WME

Thanks, I did in fact purchase this from OBM and did bring the chair to them. They weren't sure of the mounting procedure which is why I wanted some affirmation from the members. They were talking about using an aluminum plate template that they would slide under the decking; they would then pull the plate up by tightening down the bolts and that should keep it anchored. I wasn't exactly picturing what they had in mind and wasn't sure if that would work or be the best way. As the old saying goes, trust everybody but always cut the cards before you deal...

Ken