Velcro works fine
They sell velcro with better glue. But if that doesn’t stick then you can use contact cement to get the velcro to stick. With Velcro you can move it back and forth to suit you and you can try other seats if you want.
Barge Cement
Barge is a contact cement. You can buy it at shoe repair and good hardware stores. It is used to resole shoes, sticks great and is flexible. I use it to put my knee pads down in my canoe.
Is Barge cement anything like ShoeGoo?
From the Mothership
– Last Updated: Jun-27-11 11:22 PM EST –
McMaster-Carr has Marine-Grade Adhesive-Back Polyester Hook and Loop on page 3427, if the gluing options above aren't appealing:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/117/3427/=cxrmi1
You have to copy the whole link to get to the page, or type 'page 3427' into the search window.
If you install two or three 2" strips fore-aft on the hull and on the underside of the seat, it will be highly adjustable.
Barge Cement
– Last Updated: Jun-28-11 12:26 AM EST –
I experimented with seat position on my Explorer LV by putting in heavy-duty Velcro.
After oh, maybe the 2nd or 3rd time I used it, the glue failed with a peculiar result. I had rolled a few times, when suddenly my body slid forward and I failed the roll. Didn't realize what had happened until I saw the foam seat floating around.
Since by then I'd decided on a seat position, I just installed the seat with Barge Cement. In case I (or someone else) ever wanted to remove the seat, I didn't cover 100% of the contact area. Instead, I laid down the glue in "switchbacked" lines. The seat stayed put and is still solid.
P.S.
Masterful roller or not, a loose foam seat could go flying if you leave it in the cockpit and forget to remove it before driving.
P.P.S.
Smooth-skinned neoprene sticks unpleasantly to foam that doesn't have a fabric cover.
Velcro Seat
I have tried Velcro for foam seat and hip pads with mixed success. I had to glue the Velcro in with Weldwood contact cement. I bought Velcro Extreme 1"x4" from Lowes.
- Rough and clean boat and foam seat surfaces.
- Put the fuzzy stuff on the bottom of the boat.
- Tape the fuzzy side with blue tape while leaving 1/2 inch exposed at the top and bottom.
- Place the Hook and fuzzy together. They will separate easily later.
- Place seat in boat where you want it. Make some outline marks of the seat on the hull with a sharpie.
- Remove the hook tape and place it on the seat parallel to the boat toward the sides in the middle of the seat. Press it down firmly
- Remove the tape on the fuzzy side. Slowly align the seat with the marks and press it down.
- Gently remove the seat and the blue tape.
- Outline the Velcro on the seat and boat hull. Later if the Velcro comes loose you can glue it in with contact cement in the correct place.
JimZ
One other little wrinkle, and thanks!
Thanks to all for these excellent suggestions.
Here’s something I should have said in my first post. There is a piece of very thin foam already glued to the seat position in this boat, and it is in the shape of the seat. It may have been under the original hung seat. I mean, it is thin. So my foam seat sits on top of this factory-installed (I believe) layer of foam. (This boat is an NDK Pilgrim.)
I suppose I could cement my seat on top of this thin layer, yes?
G in NC
Seat woes
– Last Updated: Jun-28-11 10:27 AM EST –
Hey Ginger , congradulations on the new ride. Was wonder why you where going to sale your Fathom LV. I bought a Romany a little while I go.Love the boat, hate the seat. The factory hung seat is the worst. Toying with cutting it out and replacing it with the foam one. Good Luck with new ride. Hope to see you on the water again soon.
sure
Or you could remove the existing pad.
Attaching the seat with velcro or some other releasable binding has merit if you need to be able to remove the seat or adjust it fore and aft. Otherwise, you will wind up spending more money to install a seat that is at least marginally less secure than you would if you just glued it in, and you will still have something glued to the hull bottom.
If you install hook and loop strips, I would affix them to the hull bottom, not the existing foam pad. You can generally free up existing foam without too much effort. Warming the foam pad with a heat gun on low setting, or a blow drier, or just putting the boat out in the sun for a while often helps. Gently work under the foam with a putty knife or paint scraper to break it loose.
If you need to remove the glue residue, mineral spirits and gentle abrasion usually works, but the solvent may need to be in contact with the foam for a while and may need to be repeatedly applied. If you don’t mind the additional thickness of the existing pad, you can just glue the new seat to it. When using waterproof contact cement like Weldwood, at least 2 coats are needed on foam.
Whether you glue the new saddle to the hull or the existing foam, I would try to shape the bottom of the saddle to match the contour of what you are attaching it to. Foams like minicell or Ethafoam can be shaped with sandpaper, Red Devil Dragonskin, or Stanley Surform tools.
That’s a factory pad
Probably meant to keep grit from getting between the bottom of the glass seat and the hull floor, thus grinding a hole in the floor over time.
I have the same thin foam pad under my P-Ex’s glass seat (which I absolutely love).
If the pad is solidly glued to the hull, then glue your foam seat to the pad. If it’s not secure, remove it, clean the hull, and then glue the seat to the floor. That’s assuming yours is like mine–it seems to be minicell foam.
Congrats!
Hot melt
Hot melt glue is a great semi-permanent adhesive.
It sticks well enough, but not so well that you won’t be able to remove it easily.
i use thickly applied silicone
have foam seats in 3 boats this way. if i need to remove the seat, and i have on 2 occasions over the years, i can pull the seat off, without tearing it, as would be the case with contact cement. it’s sort of permanent, but possible to remove. a bit sloppy though, until it dries.
Pika, this is the boat I should have . .
gotten in the first place – except that I sat in one with a tiny hung seat and my butt wouldn’t even go in. But with the seat removed, the kayak is a terrific fit.
G
hot-melt, silicone, velcro strips
I love all these possibilities as not too permanent. Thanks to all for really great suggestions. What would I do without PNet?
hot melt
I only got about half a season using hot-melt glue for thigh braces. I’d say it’s not long-lasting enough.
Another alternative is indoor/outdoor Carpet tape.
This stuff is wickedly strong, and waterproof. If you clean the hull and seat with alcohol, and get a good tight fit (no gaps) then I’ve had carpet tape hold a seat in for years without problem. Easily removable too.
Maybe the best idea would be to use carpet tape while you’re playing around with seat placement, and then when you’re happy with it, glue it down with a couple stripes of contact cement. No need to cover the entire area.
I wouldn’t use silicone
Once a surface has been exposed to silicone, nothing else will stick to it. It leaves a layer that can’t be removed even with mineral spirits or acetone. I wouldn’t use silicone anywhere it won’t be permanent.
that’s what I want . . .
an effective but not for-the-ages attachment – in case I change my mind.
Is this tape widely available, say at the big box stores if not a good hardware store?
G
I use velcro
Biggest advantage is it doesn’t damage the hull in case you decide to sell the kayak and the next buyer doesn’t like the seat.
Get maybe 4 strips velcro, as wide as you can find, maybe 8"-10" long.
No
Barge Cement is a brand of contact cement
yes
You can get carpet tape at a good hardware store, and likely at a big box store.
There are two kinds. One is just a plastic film, like cellophane packing tape, but sticky on both sides - Don’t get that one.
The one you want is a fabric tape with a grid of reinforcing fibers in it. It’s much thicker, and stronger.