Seats for Otter Lodge

[Huck]

Hey everyone,

Im from WI so I hope I dont get beat up to bad here!

I have an otter lodge. Ive been using buckets for seats for 2 yrs now and its time to change. The buckets dont sit well on the ribbed floor. The factory seat is pretty expensive. Any tips on what would work well. By the way, Ive been hanging around for the past month reading alot. Great site and info!

Huck

[Dragonfisherman]

I too just recently purchased my lodge and havent had the money yet to get a bench seat so I just use the yard chairs that fold up together, nice compact and resonably comfortable for the time being.

[hanson]

So this kind of seating isn't in the cards for you?

My suggestion would be to purchase the seats (yes they are sold alone at many, many outdoor retailers), and construct yourself some kind of bracket or platform to bolt them to.

Lawn chairs or Stadium chairs are another option for seats. I like the "old style" lawn chairs with webbing but can't stand the new fold-up stadium chairs. Thats just me though. I "sink" into stadium chairs too much.

[jltimm]

Man,I had to do a double take as your set-up looks so similar to mine!

[mnhunter2]

I built a seat for my otter by first buying a padded folding boat seat and building a bracket out of 2 3/4 angle that goes accross the otter with a 4" of 2 1/2 welded on the ends to catch on the lip of the sled and bolting the seat onto the cross members, looks like the picture but costs about 25 for materials.

[Surface Tension]

Huck, welcome to FM. I've had Otters since they hit the market many years ago. In that time if had quite a few configurations for seating. The folding chairs will get you by but I find it hard to tend the hole while sitting in that type seating and the sissor type sling chairs are the worst.

If your not able to fabricate your own brackets, Otter sells the bracket and any boat seat will mount right to it.

[tashit]

I use some $10 Glacier folding chairs that I found at Fleet Farm last year. They are not the same as the ones there right now. The ones they have this year have the bars running horizontal across your back which is very uncomfortable. The ones I got are smaller and have the back supports running vertical on the sides (if this makes sense?). I love them because they are small and hold me up, I do not sink down into the chair. They did not sit well on the ribs of the floor either so I just laid a small piece of plywood in the bottom of my sled for a flat bottom.

[iffwalleyes]

jltimm you set up might be similar to Hanson's. But Hanson was the original for fish house mods. I have to get going on my own otter mods. Too much to do not enough time. I myself took two boat seats and weld frames up myself. Total investment probably less than 30 buck but it took my time to do it. I had once of otters pro seats or what ever it is called with the big plastic seat bracket but it was too bulky and I didn't like the seats on it. The seats like Hanson has showen in his picture curve up on the side. I am a big guy and with those curves on the sides they cut into my legs and made it uncomfortable to fish the whole day. So that is something to consider as well when looking at seats if you body size will allow comfortable fishing out of them.

[nitroant]

I have the lodge too and I use a bucket because 1. its less weight 2. it fits under my flat cover on my truck 3. its cheap. I made a seat that goes on top of the bucket that has foam covered with an old towel. It works pretty good, but no back support. As far as the bucket on the ribs, get a mat like the picture above shows and set the bucket on top of that, it makes it much more stable. You can get them at Home Depot or Menard's. I got mine for $1.09 at Home Depot.

[hooksetter]

Very timely post as I have been reconfiguring my seating on my Otter Cabin - Medium sled. I had trouble finding just the bracket (the seat and bracket combo is a pricey $79 if you can find them in stock at Gander) so I built my own using the display model as a guide. So far so good. $4 for the sheet metal for the end pieces that hook over the edge of the tub and cross bar made from an old piece of exercise equipment that was collecting dust.

Hook

[jltimm]

Iffwalleyes,I get alot of GREAT ideas on the internet forums,that must be why Hanson's looks so similar to my own set up.I also have one of them Otter pro seats (the bulky plastic tray type).I have not,and probably will not use it,because of it's awkward size and shape!