Need some ideas on Otter seats

I am in need of some ideas for seats in my Otter Mag. I am trying to find a way to make some decent seats and not spend a bunch of money on the factory ones. But, I am not the most mechanically inclined . I am debating on making a bench seat or making 2 seats using boat seats. Should a guy use aluminum or wood? How much is aluminum these days? I ask here because there are a bunch of geniouses on board who can come up with much better ideas than I can . The only stipulations, easy and cheaper than factory. What do you think? Thanks for any ideas.

Just made some seats for the Otter . Total cost to make two seats-$20. I got 2 pieces of angle iron 9″ long-one for the front and one for the back. Then I took 2 pieces of 1 1/2″ square tubing 32 3/4 inches long. We welded these in a rectangle. Then with the boat brackets for the boat seat, we bolted a piece of flat stock to the brackets so the chair is adjustable. The boat seats were $6.96 each and the brackets were $3.96 each. We had the steel laying around the shop. Total time was roughly an hour to make the two seats. I saved myself quite a bit by making them myself. Now, bring on the ice

can you post a pic on those home made seats?

Sure can, give me a about an hour and they will be up

Here are 3 pics of the seats. The first one is what they look like in the sled

This one shows how the brackets were made and an idea on how the seats are able to slide on the brackets. I am going to make a small change by adding a little longer bolt and wingnuts vs. the bolt and nut pictured.

The third one is just like the second only a little farther away. If you have any other questions, let me know
These are definitely not the most elaborate, but when you are on a tight budget or are looking for a cheap alternative, these will work great.

Cool that was what I was kinda thinking, where did you get the seats at?

I bought the seats at Wal-Mart. There were also similar seats at Farm and Fleet for more money. You could also upgrade to seats with padding, but then the cost goes up. Each seat and a bracket was $10 at WM. If a person doesn’t have access to a welder, you could also bolt everything together just as easy.

How much does the seat weigh with the brackets?

Not sure on the weight? That was a concern when I came up with the idea, but after it was done, the weight wasn’t too bad. The seat itself is very light and the amount of steel is minimal due to the short lengths. It is probably close to 5 pounds per chair. I left them in the sled and then put it in the back of my truck by myself just to see if there was a major difference in weight, of course I don’t have the skin on yet this year . I think the weight is real close to the factory one I seen at Gander.

Those seats look great! My wife found a couple of “stadium seats” at a garage sale. i made a simple frame out of 1X4’s with a notch cut in each end to fit over the lip of the sled. They’re this awful tiger print color but they’re light and they work pretty well. I like yours better!

Now if we can only get some ice.

Rootski

I am hoping I didn’t jump the gun getting my ice stuff ready Everytime I look at the forecast it keeps getting warmer and warmer We are expecting a low of 6 tonight, but then low’s in the 20’s the resst of the week. I might have to head north just to see ice

I lost 3 fingers a toe and both my ears walking to my truck today….Damn frostbite….oh well it just means that ice fishing is soon upon us! (knock on wood) I can’t wait to check conditions tomorrow. I just hope the chill spreads towards your area as well.
Chris

I built one almost exactly like this last year. Only thing I would have done differently is put longer angle iron on the front and back. when i lean over to pick something out of the sled, i almost go for a ride.

For the long square tubing pieces you coud use the perforated stuff. Fleet sells it. Then you could have quick clip pins in the holes as oppossed to the bolts and wingnuts.

I bought the folding padded seats and swivels from Walmart and then copied the steel factory seat mounts from polar.
They are more expensive but much more comfortable. Seats are like $33 and 5 or 6 for the swivels. The factory bracket holds both sides of the sled in place so you won’t fall in.

Well guys, I may be stupid but I set up a folding chair over the edge of my Otter with the back legs in a groove in the sled and the front legs on the floor of the living room. Worked great but I don’t know how it will work when there is snow on the ice.

Putz, that would work, but the front end might sink into the snow. Last year I set up a camping chair in the tub, worked great, but hard to lean over to pick anything up out of the tub.

well i don’t have an otter, but i did have a pull over house at one time. I used my folding chair that comes in them little bags that you can toss over you shoulder. it even had a can holder in the arm of the chiar. it worked really well and helped hold the sled from sliding.

shane

Just thought I would add a few a tip for anyone thinking of building seats similar to what I made. I have been experiencing some difficulties with the design and the problem of the sled’s sides bowing out. When 2 people would sit in the chairs the sides would bow out causing you to end up in a mess in the bottom of the sled . So today I finally fixed the problem. I drilled a hole in the angle iron on each end. I then drilled a hole in the rail of the sled and put a bolt through the angle into the sled. This will keep the sled from bowing and keep you fishing istead of cussing . I broke the reel handle off of a new rod and smashed other things. Just a heads up.