How to Install Boat Seats (With NO Crooked Screws!)

It can be tough trying to figure out how you install boat seats without getting any of the screws crooked or missing the holes you've drilled, but Riley from Pasadena Boatworks knows how to make it happen. In this video he demonstrates his way of drilling the holes and mounting a seat base on a boat, and every screw ends up properly sealed and perfectly straight. If you want to see how you mount bass boat seats, pedestal seat bases on fishing boats, or for that matter any item that requires drilling multiple screw holes, check this out.
FishTalk Magazine and www.FishTalkMag.com are dedicated to bringing Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic anglers the straight scoop on fishing techniques, reports, tactics, hotspots, and gear. We cover all kinds of fishing, from freshwater lakes to bluewater ocean canyons, in the Mid-Atlantic region.

[@DruFishing]

What material did you seal that floor with? It looks great.

[@FishTalkMagazine]

Thanks! That was BoatLife Life Seal. It provides a good seal but isn't as impossible to remove down the line as 5200 and similar adhesive/sealants.

[@TheMrpalid]

Does screw grip well? What’s the material of the floor of the boat? I though you need bolt and nut.

[@FishTalkMagazine]

Through-bolting would be preferable, but in this boat there's no access under the deck. The deck itself is 3/4 marine ply under a layer of fiberglass, so the screws do get a good grip.

[@joshedgar5912]

Is the caulk to make the screws stick or to stick the seat to the floor

[@FishTalkMagazine]

More than anything it's to seal the holes, so there's no water intrusion, but it does help prevent the screws from backing out too.

[@GHanBax]

Is this how you install roof structures or posts as well?

[@FishTalkMagazine]

No clue - we just do boats, sorry!!

[@GHanBax]

@@FishTalkMagazine I mean on boats.

[@FishTalkMagazine]

@@GHanBax Gotcha & sorry - have to admit we don't have anyone here who's done that sort of structural installation, we'd have to defer to other sources for this one...

[@GHanBax]

@@FishTalkMagazine generally speaking, how would you mount a stainless steel tube to a fiberglass hull? Planning to put solar panels on top.

[@FishTalkMagazine]

@@GHanBax There are a lot of what-ifs (curved or flat surface, access behind mounting point, nature of panels etc) but generally speaking solar panels aren't incredibly heavy and have relatively easy mounting points, so mounting in a fashion similar to as seen here should be fine. We'd also suggest going to the custom marine products website gallery, (www.custommarineproducts.com/gallery-of-installations.html) they show a number of very different installations and you can see how they've been mounted on a number of different tops and surfaces. There's also a good rundown on mounting solar panels at betterboat.com. Good luck!

[@jayosuna2301]

What caulk was used

[@FishTalkMagazine]

Hey Jay - that's Boatlife Marine Silicon.

[@skeeterspeedboatlife7751]

What size of screw ?

[@FishTalkMagazine]

That can change depending on the base, on the thickness of the deck, and on what's beneath it (IE if there's a fuel tank or rigging under the location you surely wouldn't want a screw long enough to touch it). As a general rule, however, just as long as the screws fit the pedestal's predrilled holes, bigger is better.

[@skeeterspeedboatlife7751]

Ok thanks for the tips . I currently have 3/4 inch plywood with gelcoat. It’s an older style bass boat and I don’t have much space below floor anything over 2inch could potentially go through the hull. 🤦‍♂️

[@bipedalhominid6815]

This needed a video?

[@daveengstrom9250]

Those screws look too short.