Bench seat removal

[AnglerJake]

I have a question about removing the middle bench seat on a Lund WC 14. I would like to open up the middle for more room. Am I going to to create hull instability if I do so? Thank you, Jake

[jwmiller33]

you should be just fine. i did it in my boat and have had no problems. ive seen a handful of the same boats with the same middle bench removed too. you will be just fine by doing this

[bigrog]

I modified my Lund S14 earlier this Spring. I left in portions of the middle and rear bench seats on each side to save the bracing. The little benches come in handy for setting small items and I will be adding some cup holders. I used aluminum extrusions for the bracing under the casting platform to cut down on weight and for added strength. The boat is much more enjoyable to fish out of and not having that bench between my legs is heavenly! Good luck on your mod.

[AnglerJake]

Thanks! The photos really help too. Jake

[Jim Almquist]

Jake just make sure to take the foam from the bench that you remove and redistribute it in the other seats that remain so that if your boat should get swamped it will still float.

[jwmiller33]

Jim makes another good point I forgot to mention. One thing you don't want to do is take out the middle benches foam (1/3 of the boats flotation) and not redistribute new foam anywhere into the boat. On my boat, I had a 16ft Lund and took out the middle bench and was lucky to have high density foam already inplace under the other benches and sidewalls. Also, the middle bench in my 16ft did not have any foam in it originally, as it was not entirely a full bench across, but you could make it a full bench with a piece of plywood (hard to explain).

Here are before and after pics of my boat.

[bigrog]

Good point on the foam flotation guys. I forgot to mention that. I did add foam under the front casting platform and under the floor. Although the wood floor adds some flotation, it's best to add extra foam.

[jwmiller33]

yes, adding a bunch of wood to the boat adds some buoyancy as well. good thing to note

[SkunkedAgain]

One thing to keep in mind when doing these mods, especially if adding casting decks, is to think about how you are making the boat more top heavy and therefore tippy. Plan accordingly.

[jwmiller33]

i added the casting deck to my boat and it isnt top heavy one bit. if anything, the boat is overall much more sturdy

[SkunkedAgain]

...and for others it does. So just be aware of it as you make modifications.

[Far-I]

the casting deck made my 14 ft alumacraft a lil more tippy i've noticed

[AnglerJake]

Thanks for all the help, guys! Not planning on adding casting deck, just want a little more room. Jake

[Meat-Run]

AJ,

i removed my middle seat some 20 years ago and it's been very nice for my muskie fishing with the big net, boxes and just handling of larger fish (when I catch one). No worries it should be good for rigidity.

mr