Need a Honwave Seat/Bench - Make your own, its easy!

[sergeant]

So, deciding that I wouldn't ever spend £90 on a 'seat' for my Honwave T38, I opted to make one! In my opinion, the official Honda seat is over-engineered.

I purchased a nice piece of solid wood from B&Q for about £15, I then purchased two specialist seat brackets from EBay at £10 for a pair:

Inflatable Boat Seat Hooks/ Brackets, Free UK. Postage | eBay

I first shaped the piece of wood to the exact size of the supplied bench by jigsawing and rounding/smoothing the edges with some course sandpaper. Finally, I applied a few coats of paint to it, attached the brackets and it was ready to go! Overall, it took just a few hours to do.

The top surface is just as equally anti-slip as the standard bench as I did not use a gloss paint, it also has the benefit of being lighter than the standard bench, whilst maintaining the same strength. I'm tempted to make another and sell the Honda bench to save overall weight on the boat.

I'm happy to help/give advice if anyone else is planning on making one.

[frankc]

That is a fine looking seat which should get the job done for sure. If it bends too much in use, just screw and glue a strip on the bottom of the plywood to make a tee section. The outer fibers are what resists bending, so the thicker, the more resistant to bending forces.

[petethebass]

hmm very good ,but was the holders for the seat allready on the boat or can you buy them to glue on ? cheers

[sergeant]

Originally Posted by frankc

That is a fine looking seat which should get the job done for sure. If it bends too much in use, just screw and glue a strip on the bottom of the plywood to make a tee section. The outer fibers are what resists bending, so the thicker, the more resistant to bending forces.

Agreed, but this bench really is solid and it doesn't warp even with two sat onboard, although I might follow your advice and secure a reinforcing strip to the underside, potentially metal - but unless you intend on jumping on it, I really don't see it cracking/snapping

Originally Posted by petethebass

hmm very good ,but was the holders for the seat allready on the boat or can you buy them to glue on ? cheers

The boat came with two seat positions already attached, however you can buy the pads and simply glue them to the boat.

[jbavvo]

I'm glad you posted this as it's a job I've been meaning to do all summer (in fact I've had the seat hooks in my eBay watch list for months!). And seeing this, I finally clicked buy it now.

My YAM 330 never had the benches, and all my other inflatables have and I much prefer them. I've got some 18mm exterior ply I was planning on using for the seats and planned on sanding down and then painting. If you didn't use gloss, what paint did you use?

For anything like this I've always used Dulux Weathershield Exterior Gloss. I can see they do a Weathershield Exterior Satin too. Do you think the latter would be best, or something else?

Finally, how did you attach the seat hooks? I've got some stainless steel screws but the holes look bigger and I can't see that they've been bolted all the way through.

Cheers

[Fenlander]

Nice job Serjeant. I still don't regret buying my second seat new from Honda but yours looks fine. In fact you've produced a better result than the seats that come with an expensive new Zodiac. Get an adult sitting in the middle of one of those and they really flex alarmingly in the rough stuff.

Last time I did I seat replacement on a hard boat I painted them with grey bilge paint which had a slightly matt grippy finish. It did the job and lasted well.

[sergeant]

Originally Posted by jbavvo

For anything like this I've always used Dulux Weathershield Exterior Gloss. I can see they do a Weathershield Exterior Satin too. Do you think the latter would be best, or something else?

Glad that this has inspired you as I needed to get the seat ready that weekend (for taking friends out) I painted it with the closest matt emulsion that I had on the shelf to match the standard seat - its not a waterproof paint but my seats never get wet as I haven't yet been out to sea, plus its nice and non-slip. Once I start to venture a little further out, I'll probably paint it with something more water-durable.

Originally Posted by jbavvo

Finally, how did you attach the seat hooks? I've got some stainless steel screws but the holes look bigger and I can't see that they've been bolted all the way through.

I'm in the midst of a DIY project on the house, therefore I have a massive range of varying screws, I just found some which would not fully penetrate the piece of wood. Don't use bolts, use self-tapping

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Nice job Sergeant. I still don't regret buying my second seat new from Honda but yours looks fine. In fact you've produced a better result than the seats that come with an expensive new Zodiac. Get an adult sitting in the middle of one of those and they really flex alarmingly in the rough stuff.

Thanks Fenlander, much appreciated Perhaps I should start making and selling these, I am sure it could be a good little mini-business as few could ever justify the ridiculous cost of the benches from the manufacturers!

[Glow]

If you sell your original, I am looking for one. Could be interested in one of your replacements otherwise!

[T4bus]

Just done exactly the same for my Zodiac £13.50 for the brackets from Bristol Boats (Saltford) & Offcut of marine ply from Avon Plywood Keynsham.

Complete 2nd seat that looks identical to the Zodiac one £13.50 all in.


Looking forward to our 1st outing with the kids when the weather improves. We have the same motor as you, do you get any issues with it oiling up when plodding up the rivers?

[humberrib1]

Hello All,

I'm new to "Ribnet" having recently bought a Honwave T38 although I'm not new to power boating including RIB's and SIB's. Viewing the images of the seat both in and out of the boat; I think it's a cracking job and likewise I simply would not pay £90+ on a manufactured seat from Honda. I always say that DIY is fine providing that the finished product looks professionally made and NOT a cheap aftermarket item! Readers appear to be discussing which type of paint to use that will give durability whilst at the same time providing an anti-slip surface. Perhaps I could suggest using a purpose made anti-slip paint designed for marine use? I recently purchased a 500ml tin which cost approx £12 and is light grey in colour which I think would be a good match to that of the manufacturers seat that comes with the boat. Screws: Yes; self tappers or perhaps a suitably sized plated "Spandex" type screw? I also have a spare pair of seat mounting brackets and will no doubt be doing the same prior to using my boat. Well done and thanks for sharing your concept.

[0ldbloke]

not mine ... and nothing to do with me ...
just thought I would highlight it ...
when I was looking for a spare ... I got mine for £12 ... INCLUDING postage!!
Honwave seat | eBay

[sergeant]

Originally Posted by T4bus

Just done exactly the same for my Zodiac £13.50 for the brackets from Bristol Boats (Saltford) & Offcut of marine ply from Avon Plywood Keynsham.

Complete 2nd seat that looks identical to the Zodiac one £13.50 all in.


Looking forward to our 1st outing with the kids when the weather improves. We have the same motor as you, do you get any issues with it oiling up when plodding up the rivers?

Hi T4Bus - thanks, yeah really pleased with the end result, and saved lots of money!

No engine issues so far, but I'm fairly newb to this and so the term 'oiling up' is a symptom that I might not recognise - could you enlighten me?

[T4bus]

Originally Posted by sergeant

Hi T4Bus - thanks, yeah really pleased with the end result, and saved lots of money!

No engine issues so far, but I'm fairly newb to this and so the term 'oiling up' is a symptom that I might not recognise - could you enlighten me?

My history with 2 stroke engines has been with racing bikes, so may not be relevant to boat engines, but if they are used continuously below the optimum engine speed, the oil in the fuel mixture does not burn efficiently causing the spark plugs to wet (hold oil) and the engine generally clog with unburned oil.
I have nearly the same set up as you & would like to use it on slow rivers so interested to see if this gave you any problems? Seems like yours has been fine so I presume as they run on a very lean oil mix it's maybe not an issue, good news if this is the case
I guess there's no harm in putting the motor into neutral while on the river & giving it some hard revs to clear it through.

[slate1234]

I have seen the painter's in work useing kiln dried silica sand for non slip floor's between coats, could work on the seat, thin the final coat of paint to scrach your a.se accordingly more thinner's more sratches lol, as for the brakets just buy a £1 plastic bread board cut to size and bend useing heat, ie over the cooker (make sure her indoor's is out) sand the corners, I have ordered a bench bag with the padded top for the seat I made saturday useing 1/2in ply and 2x1" stringers, I woulden't use metal on a seat that is close to a tube I don't recall ever seeing metal on any original sib seat's correct me if I'm wrong

[sergeant]

Originally Posted by T4bus

My history with 2 stroke engines has been with racing bikes, so may not be relevant to boat engines, but if they are used continuously below the optimum engine speed, the oil in the fuel mixture does not burn efficiently causing the spark plugs to wet (hold oil) and the engine generally clog with unburned oil.
I have nearly the same set up as you & would like to use it on slow rivers so interested to see if this gave you any problems? Seems like yours has been fine so I presume as they run on a very lean oil mix it's maybe not an issue, good news if this is the case
I guess there's no harm in putting the motor into neutral while on the river & giving it some hard revs to clear it through.

Interesting - no issues so far but I have only run it for about 5hrs so far, fingers crossed all will be well.

With my engine, its impossible to put it into neutral to rev it, oh unless you remove the cover I guess and manually play with the throttle bit?

[wavehopper]

Originally Posted by sergeant

So, deciding that I wouldn't ever spend £90 on a 'seat' for my Honwave T38, I opted to make one! In my opinion, the official Honda seat is over-engineered.

I purchased a nice piece of solid wood from B&Q for about £15, I then purchased two specialist seat brackets from EBay at £10 for a pair:

Inflatable Boat Seat Hooks/ Brackets, Free UK. Postage | eBay

I first shaped the piece of wood to the exact size of the supplied bench by jigsawing and rounding/smoothing the edges with some course sandpaper. Finally, I applied a few coats of paint to it, attached the brackets and it was ready to go! Overall, it took just a few hours to do.

The top surface is just as equally anti-slip as the standard bench as I did not use a gloss paint, it also has the benefit of being lighter than the standard bench, whilst maintaining the same strength. I'm tempted to make another and sell the Honda bench to save overall weight on the boat.

I'm happy to help/give advice if anyone else is planning on making one.

Hi i am missing both seats as the boat was bought second hand with out them. Could you give me the measurements and Thickness of wood please. Also what wood did you use ? Ply?