source for helm chair or chair parts on 47/45?-gctid348001

[Woodsong]

So our new 45 is running great. 30+ hours on the main engines on this trip thus far without an issue. It's been a blast!

But- the plastic base that attaches the helm chair to the post base cracked. Thus we have very wobbly pilothouse helm chair at the moment!

I may replace the entire thing with a more cushy chair but thought I'd see if anyone here knows a source for parts for these chairs. If I keep what we have right now I need to replace the plastic base that is bolted to the underside of the chair that sets atop the metal post of the base.

[ksanders]

Woodsong wrote:
So our new 45 is running great. 30+ hours on the main engines on this trip thus far without an issue. It's been a blast!

But- the plastic base that attaches the helm chair to the post base cracked. Thus we have very wobbly pilothouse helm chair at the moment!

I may replace the entire thing with a more cushy chair but thought I'd see if anyone here knows a source for parts for these chairs. If I keep what we have right now I need to replace the plastic base that is bolted to the underside of the chair that sets atop the metal post of the base.

There are aftermarket chair-post systems. While I havn't studied the 45 chair in depth I cant see why one of these wouldn't work. I think the sizes and bolt patterns are pretty standard.

We bought a new helm seat from Garalick for our last boat, very nice unit but the sticker shock was pretty bad. You can easily drop upwards of a large boating unit on one, and the skys the limit.

[Guest]

Check this thread out. Hope it helps.

Darby

http://www.baylinerownersclub.org/forum/showthread.php?12260-Swaardvis-Chair-Plasztic-Seating-Base&highlight=helm+chair+parts

[The_Other_Gary]

Tony, before you do that you may want to contact them.

The catalogue says they have a lifetime Guarantee.

http://www.zwaardvis.com/

an email or call can't hurt, perhaps they have a US distributor that will honour the guarantee.

oops, yes they do, is the part on one of these 4 pages?

http://www.marinenutz.com/brands/Zwaardvis-Marine.html?page=1&sort=featured

[Woodsong]

Just to follow up....never did get a response from zwaardvis via the emails I sent them inquiring about replacement parts (thanks for the links Gary!). I pondered a few other alternatives including entirely replacing the helm chair. However, given how relatively narrow the 45 pilothouse is I like the fact that the stock seat folds up to get out of the way...handy for us when we are going through the locks here on the TN River as it allows me to stow the seat at the base of the flybridge ladder/steps and stand at the helm so that I can quickly go to port or starboard to tie off to the bollards at our midships cleat.

In the event anyone else has this issue though we got it fixed for about $40. I ordered this seat base online:

http://www.boatfix.com/shop5/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=5830

The post of the stock pilothouse helm chair is 2 3/8" Diameter (that is the outside diameter). The bases available these days, including the one I ordered, does not fit the bolt pattern of the seat of the helm chair. The bolt pattern for the base I ordered is essentially 5" square whereas the original bolt pattern is 8" square. So- I had a friend of mine that has a machine shop on the manufacturing end of their company make me a mounting plate with 8" pattern for the seat and 5" pattern for the new base. Pictures attached:

1) Broken base- you can see where the plastic part cracked and fell off.

2) The new base mounted to the new plate we had fabricated.

3) The new assembly all attached.

it all fits great and it is nice to have a stable pilothouse helm seat again.

Attached files [img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/657880=24968-broken base.jpg[/img] [img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/657880=24970-New base attached.jpg[/img] [img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/657880=24969-New Base.jpg[/img]

[SuperiorDiver]

the plastic base inside the lower helm seat bottom on my 4087 cracked. I located an original replacement for $75. Needless to say, I disassembled the chair and glued the cracked piece, reinforced it with some thin metal. I'm sure a plastic supplier would be able to duplicate the piece as well, I just wasn't close to a supplier at the time and did the repair during a trip on the lake.