Used Pontoon Boats

I bought a pontoon boat that i am fixing up. Some of the seats are sun beaten and split. I would like to replace them or buy a seat cover that goes over top of the worn out seats. I googled pontoon boat seat covers, but all that i am offered is a cover for when the seats are not in use. I’m looking for something like a fitted seat cover. Any ideas???
i think it would be less expensive to buy seat covers. looking into new seats, it looks like it will cost more than 2,000 and i can’t afford that now.

This may be a bit long, but its detailed in the boat seat installing and some other important restoration details.

Yes, it generally is cheaper to buy outright new boat seats than to have them reupholstered. One year ago I had the interior restored of my 1985 Bow rider I/O.

Considering for someone only 26 years old and restoring a boat, it was bright and stubbornly cheap enough for me to recognize I didn’t want to have EVEYRONE do the work for me. I’d have ended up paying over $2,000 to do it. That’s too much bloody money, especially for a cheapskate like me.

The boat seats was a bigger pain than I originally planned.

One of the most critically important parts which I say I did right was properly measure your boat seats. Grab a sheet or two of paper and be VERY detailed on the measurements and type of each seat or section you are measuring.

For example, there are seperate arm rest sections, corner sections, flip flop seat, captain seat (for driver), corner couch (left/right), etc.

The next critical part is looking at how they fastened each boat seat to the boat floor. Did they use brackets that were fastened in the boat floor that hooked up to the seats, or were the seats directly fastened into the boat floor?

If they used brackets, try to save them in case you can use them when you get new boat seats. If they screwed the seats directly to the boat floor, then getting them up might a bit more difficult. You will most likely never use the same exact screw holes for the new boat seats, therefore they must be properly sealed.

Either way the seats are fastened, do NOT take the boat seats out until you are ready to seal EVERY hole with epoxy that is from the screws fasting the boat seat down into the floor.

Failure to do this could result in your boat floor rotting and require an expensive replacement.

Now that you are armed with your seat measurements for each type, and seat color, its time to go boat seat shopping… YAY! Blow more money!!! *Sarcasm*

First, practically almost all new boat seats are manufactured with only plastic and corrosion resistant materials. However, make sure they are 100% plastic and all corrosion resistant hardware. Also, make sure you get them with sufficient thickness upholstery.

First, check online at reputable boating supply stores. Overtons (My favorite), Cabelas, Bass Pro Shops, etc. See what color schemes they offer and if they offer what you need in the sizes you require for ALL sections needed.

It won’t help you to buy from that brand of seats if they only have 70% of the seats and other sections that match your size requirements. So make sure you can get 100% of your needs.

Next, check locally and instate for boating dealerships, boating stores, and some boat service shops on what they offer and the prices. If its Wise brand seats you chose, I can confidently say that buying online through Overtons or another similiar reputable online store is the cheapest route. However, feel free to compare the price with local stores special ordering from Wise seats.

Finally, when you do buy the seats, you have to consider HOW you are going to fasten them to the boat floor. Most seats will not provide brackets that you can use to fasten to the floor first, then screw the seat into them. If they had, installing my boat seats would have went 4 times faster.

However, I also personally hate removing each screw, then having to fill hole with epoxy, then having to refasten each seat into the floor each time I have to remove a seat. So I made my own fastening brackets out of a bulk long aluminum L piece of metal.

I took a small piece of this and looked for areas that I could safely mount it to my boat seats with bolt and nut. I found the cross braces that go from side to side of the seat at the bottom would be the best place. I took the bracket, measured the right place to drill the hole in the metal piece so the hole would go square middle into the plastic brace and also drilled a hole on the other part of the L bracket for the screw to secure the bracket to the boat floor.

Made a bunch of these pieces, drilled the holes into the metal brackets and seat, fastened them to the seats, moved the seats properly into place on the boat, then screwed each in, backed them out, filled hole with silicone (VERY important). You must fill each hole with silicone and then secure the screw in to prevent water from rotting the boat floor.

Presto! Your boat seats are now finished. Not only that, but you can actually take the boat seats out without having to remove EACH screw and epoxy the hole. All it now takes to take out a seat is a socket wrench and a wrench/pliers.