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Seating Setup in Airboats.

C

coondog123

Well-known member
It appears there are a variety of seating arrangements used in Airboats and I need some pro/cons on the different arrangements. To answer this question most of you would probably ask what am I going to use the boat for. Honestly, I don't really know other than riding and some fishing and spending money. The arrangement that catches my eye is two seats up high and wide passenger seat in front. My concern there is my size. I am tall and lets say heavy, very heavy. That tells me I should be in the center and not sure if front or back would be the best. Any suggestions on the safest place to sit that won't affect the handling of the boat.
 
well at least you added in there "spending money" :lol:


the higher you go the more you change the CG so you need a wider boat. allot of boats especially smaller one have front seat driver witch is great for frogging but also help balance the weight better . my old boat was set up that way the new one is the top rear seat driver so I can see everyone including the dog and kids to know that no one fell out :roll: my rear seat is a single then the middle seat is a single and also set up with a 2nd stick for a trainer type an the front seat is a double.
on the single side by side rear seats for driver i think you want to consider the hulls width, height of the seats and rotation mass of prop/engine or at least that is what i would consider to make a choice

good luck let us know ho wit comes out
 
Coondog, here's something you might consider too. My seats are a side-by-side double, and I weigh around 235 lbs. , but my boat torques to the right (belt drive SBC) so that tends to lift me up. The same would be true if I had an A/C engine. If you have a gearbox boat then center steer might work better for you.

I have a removable wide front seat also, but I seldom put it on.
 
COONDOG,

I RUN A 14 X 7 AND THE SEATING ARRANGEMENT I CHOSE WAS FOR A FEW REASONS. I HAVE A SINGLE DRIVER WITH A SINGLE PASSENGER SEAT ON ON MY FOOT STAND AND THEN SINGLE PASSENGER ON EACH SIDE THAT SPLITS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DRIVER AND FOOT STAND POSITION.
THE REASON I CHOSE THIS IS THAT IF I WOULD HAVE WENT WITH THE BENCH SEAT I WOULD HAVE WASTED A LOT OF USABLE FLOOR SPACE. SECONDLY WEATHER I HAVE ONE OR FOUR PEOPLE WITH ME MY LOAD IS ALWAYS EVENED OUT AND WE STILL HAVE ROOM FOR ICE CHEST, DECOYS, AND DOG OR WHAT EVER YOU MAY NEED. I WILL TRY TO POST A PICK TO SHOW YOU MY SETUP.
 
if your going to use your boat for gigging talk to a few guys that have side by side console split seats for the driver. I haven't gigged off a boat like that but the few guys I have talked to said they had to have someone else with them do the gigging. Seems to me I see this set up more on guide boats.
Gold is spot on about the front seat driver as far as balance and gigging ability. I personally perfer a mid height rear single seat driver with a double front (boats up to 14') I am 6'2 and 295 pounds. Some guys like a double seat rear driver so they can keep a kid right next to them or snuggle up with their gal and still have the ability to gig and fish by moving to the middle of the seat.
Beyond the balance issues and the usability for fishing and gigging you need to know what your going to use it for the majority of the time how many people you want to carry and the realistic space for each seat.
 
Single rear and double front, Just like Gold said to keep an eye on my passenger and if they have a question they can turn around and ask instead of tapping on my shoulder. The only thing that might consider is that the reason people build boats with double rear is that the boat when running will actually lift the back end up so you want put most of your weight in back so you can run the hill better. But if your a big man already or your boat is real stout anyhow the point is moot.
 
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