Which Otter Seat to Buy?

[stick]

I am making some modifications to my Otter Lodge (after seeing posts from the gathering...thanks guys), and the great seat a buddy made for me (the butt bridge) probably won't work after the modifications. My platform will be flush with the top of the sled, and my current seat drops down an inch or two. Anyway, I was looking at 3 options on Otter's HSOforum. The metal bracketed swivel seat, the plastic base swivel seat (with a cupholder), and the bench seat. I am leaning towards the bench seat but I was wondering if it is heavy, cumbersome, a pain to lift all the time, etc. Any thoughts or comments?

[Captain B.R.K]

I first bought the swivel seat from Otter and thought that was the cats meow. That was until I took it out of the box. TO HEAVY for one seat. So I went with the bench seat and have been happy with it ever since. If you are fishing yourself, it acts as a gear holder as well to just lay whatever on it. It's comfortable and is not clumsy to lift up or down.

You'll be happy you bought one if you go with the bench seat.

[Animal]

I've had a bench seat for my Otter the first 4 years that owned the hut. I found the bench back to be too short and the seat to be too narrow. After several hours it would get really uncomfortable. I'm 6'0 and 190lb. Last year I used the bench seat base to attach a padded boat seat with a plastic frame that I got from Cabellas. This seat was a 100% improvement over the bench. The new seat lays about as flat as the old bench so the cover still fits and I still have the hinged seat for easy access to the sled. I still have the option to attach the bench if I'm going to be fishing with a partner. My advice is to try one out.

[ChuckN]

I've owned the plastic base seat and I've used a friend's metal bracket by Otter. I then used my friend's bench seat one weekend, and that made me switch to the bench seat.

I used the bench all last season and it is definitely the nicest seat/set-up I have used. It is very light, made of aluminum and the padding was very comfortable. And, the bench seat is completely removable with 2 pins if you wish to take it off.

[stick]

Thanks for all of the info, guys. One question on the mounting of the bench seat. On their HSOforum, it looks like there are vertical bracketes that are mounted on the wall of the sled. Is this true (and more or less, does anything drop down under the height of the walls)? This will affect the design of my modificaiton, but actually may help me.

[Moose-Hunter]

I have never tried the bench seat in my Otter. So here's my 2 cents... The swivel, individual seats make it possible for me and my bad back to stay out for hours rather than minutes. With my other brand house and seats, I was up on my feet every 10 minutes or so to stretch the kinks out. Kind of heavy... Yes. However the comfort factor (for me anyway) out weighs their mass many times over!!

[Animal]

The frame for the seat does not drop below the walls. It has an arch the rises approximatey 3 to 4 inches above the top rail of the seld. However, the hinged brackets attached to the back wall of the sled.

[hanson]

I have the swivel plastic seats from Otter without the cupholder tray. I love them. Here's a photo of my shack.

From my personal experience, if you are doing some sort of 'similar' modification to your shack, the single seats will provide you with more versatility.

[augernaut]

Hanson, that picture gets me going!

For you guys with Otter factory seats - do you have any idea what the various models weigh? Bench seat, the bait try seat, the economy seat, etc? I'm building my own seat out of 1" square aluminum for the brackets/struts, and I'm going to mount a lightweight fold down seat of my choice to it - also will have a cup/tool holder mounted on the side. I may even be able to make it so it can slide and swivel. Swiveling is easy, sliding is trickier :-) This is for my new Otter Den. I think I will be saving a substantial amount of weight with this, but I'm curious to know how much. I am hoping to post some pics of it when I get it done. If it turns out like the little sketch in my head, it will be COOL!

[ChuckN]

stick,

Yes, the mounting brackets are verticle and are mounted on the inside wall of the sled. Very simple design.

I have the tool box that mounts to the sled and I had to drill through the box to mount these brackets. I really love the box to store rods and everything is within easy reach while sitting on the bench seat.

[castmaster]

i have one of the plastic swivel seats (with cup holder) in my older style lodge, and the bench seat in my newer lodge. i think the swivel seat may be a bit more comfortable, but a much bigger pain when loading/unloading gear. the other style swivel seats may be less hassle as they actually have bracket that goes over the lip of the sleg, where the plastic one just sits on top, easily falling off when pushed or bumped. the bench seat works great for loading/unloading as it flips up to get at stuff in the sled. also, the bench seat will work with the otter sled cover where my plastic seat fits, but stretches the cover tighter. the bench seats would be much more comfortable if the seat was a bit wider, and/or the backrest was made to recline to a couple different positions.

about the only way your really going to be able to decide is to go to a retailer that has shacks set up with the different styles of seats and decide which you like best. you should be able to buy two of the swivel style seats for just a little more than the bench seat, so cost wont really be an issue.