Is that wood bench your seat?
New Fishing Rig. "mini"
Bought a new raft roughly 6 months ago but due to a new child things got put on the back burner. It is finally getting worked on and completed though. Its a 9' raft that weighs 60lbs. Setting it up for some upper river steelhead sections that are walk in/out only. With the light weight axle I built once its balanced right I can lift it and pull it around with one finger no problem. Hopefully it makes it fairly easy to walk it in on service roads. Next step is building an anchor setup.
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Yep. Not sure how comfy its gonna be and might have to add some foam. I just really like the varnished wood look and wanted to keep it simple.Is that wood bench your seat?
Ouch!Is that wood bench your seat?
I guess you could glue some high density foam to it.
Does the frame breakdown?
Thats what I'll end up doing if i have to. Frame doesnt breakdown. No need for it to on this boat. Even with all my NRS frames ive never had to break one down.Ouch!
I guess you could glue some high density foam to it.
Does the frame breakdown?
That is a nice looking little setup. I dig that frame.
Interesting, that seat is quite low. Lower center of gravity, but your visibility will be reduced. If you seat was at the same level as your top tubes, your visibility will be MUCH better! Have you had it out in the water yet? What length oars do you have? It looks like your oar handles will be quite high when rowing(way above mid chest). The wood seat looks nice, but unless you're in you 20's you'll want some form of padding!!!
From all my past experience in smaller boats I hate the fact that I feel top heavy from sitting to high up "level with the tubes". Especially on bigger white water rivers. For the most part visibilty will not be a issue. I can read rivers pretty well and when in doubt I either pull over or stand up to pick my run. I have not had it in the water yet with this frame set up and the oars I have for it are tiny. The oars for now are gonna be for smaller streams. I plan on getting some 7' mini mags though. Yes the oars will be slightly below mid chest. That is OK with me. From all my future rafting experience i believe this will be the most comfortable setup for what I expect out of it. Im 30 abd life is catching up to me so yea that hard wood definitely might hurt my ass.Interesting, that seat is quite low. Lower center of gravity, but your visibility will be reduced. If you seat was at the same level as your top tubes, your visibility will be MUCH better! Have you had it out in the water yet? What length oars do you have? It looks like your oar handles will be quite high when rowing(way above mid chest). The wood seat looks nice, but unless you're in you 20's you'll want some form of padding!!!
Nice little project; looks cool. We recess the seat to be lower than the top of the raft if a customer is planning on using fins as part of their fishing, whether in a river or a lake. If not, then we'll keep the seat level with the top on a boat (with no standing floor) to increase visibility and comfort and for a little drier ride. If the boat has a standing floor, then we'll raise the seat 4 inches for even more leg room and ease of getting in and out of the seat. This approach has worked pretty well for most of our customers. The trick is getting the oar tower height right for each situation, taking into account a guy like Bandy with 8 foot arms and Freestone, with considerably shorter arms.
The 7' Mini Mags should work fine on that width of boat. At some point I would consider getting rid of those oar locks and replacing them with something a little more substantial.
Doesn't matter if nobody else likes it so long as you do.
The 7' Mini Mags should work fine on that width of boat. At some point I would consider getting rid of those oar locks and replacing them with something a little more substantial.
Doesn't matter if nobody else likes it so long as you do.
The oars locks are for the current setup. I actually have a pair of NRS oar locks that will take its place in the future. As of right now this whole setup is for small creek fishing where i need my oars as small as possible. My main concern at the moment is not being able to bring my seat forward enough to get the proper weight balance load in the boat. Only time will tell. If not this will work as a platform for a two person frame and I'll make another.Nice little project; looks cool. We recess the seat to be lower than the top of the raft if a customer is planning on using fins as part of their fishing, whether in a river or a lake. If not, then we'll keep the seat level with the top on a boat (with no standing floor) to increase visibility and comfort and for a little drier ride. If the boat has a standing floor, then we'll raise the seat 4 inches for even more leg room and ease of getting in and out of the seat. This approach has worked pretty well for most of our customers. The trick is getting the oar tower height right for each situation, taking into account a guy like Bandy with 8 foot arms and Freestone, with considerably shorter arms.
The 7' Mini Mags should work fine on that width of boat. At some point I would consider getting rid of those oar locks and replacing them with something a little more substantial.
Doesn't matter if nobody else likes it so long as you do.
Oars will be slightly below mid chest?From all my past experience in smaller boats I hate the fact that I feel top heavy from sitting to high up "level with the tubes". Especially on bigger white water rivers. For the most part visibilty will not be a issue. I can read rivers pretty well and when in doubt I either pull over or stand up to pick my run. I have not had it in the water yet with this frame set up and the oars I have for it are tiny. The oars for now are gonna be for smaller streams. I plan on getting some 7' mini mags though. Yes the oars will be slightly below mid chest. That is OK with me. From all my future rafting experience i believe this will be the most comfortable setup for what I expect out of it. Im 30 abd life is catching up to me so yea that hard wood definitely might hurt my ass.
Looking at it I thought you'd be at shoulder level or higher. What's the width of the boat? Tube diameter?
It'll definitely be a wetter ride being lower!!!
Wetter ride? What are we talking about here? Doing small creeks or class III rapids? I just went out and checked and the oars being parellel to the bottom of the boat/concrete the handles are at my belly button...Oars will be slightly below mid chest?
Looking at it I thought you'd be at shoulder level or higher. What's the width of the boat? Tube diameter?
It'll definitely be a wetter ride being lower!!!
Interesting little set up. To ME just looking at the frame in the picture, the oar vs seat geometry just does not look right due to how recessed the seat is but maybe I'm not taking into account that the oar towers aren't that high, and you said it works for you (really?) so..... I would never use the fixed oar locks you have, more likely to break an oar or blade that way but for easy stuff they will get the job done. Like you said you have other oar locks. The position of the frame relative to the chafe strips on top of the raft, I would move the frame farther forward towards the bow (I know the pictures may not be indicative of the final position, so correct me if I'm wrong), as far forward as it will go on the chafe pad so your bow-stern weight distribution is at least neutral if not slightly bow heavy for white water performance.
I know, I know, you're sick of hearing it, but I too would prefer to have my seat bars level with the top of the raft. Increased visibility is a big one (every inch counts....), but you're also forgetting another thing - gear. If you move the frame as far forward as it will go on the chafe strip with the present set up to get neutral or slightly bow heavy bias, you won't have much room in front of the leg brace to put gear (if any), and putting crap around your legs or between your legs is a bit of a no-no - you want to give yourself lots of room there. That means with the drop bars most of the gear will have to go behind your seat which could affect being bow-stern weight neutral or slightly bow heavy potentially making you stern heavy which is not desirable. This would be as opposed to underneath your seat where with seat bars level with the tubes you would have much greater space for gear (and potentially a small cooler). With stuff under the seat you can more easily cam strap it to the bottom of your frame below you for easier access if needed instead of having to reach behind you, while you are in the boat. If you ever flipped having it directly below the seat lashed to the frame would be more secure potentially so you do not yard sale as easily. With everything under the seat, this means the space behind the rower is potential leg space for someone sitting on the back of tubes as far as a "get the job done" jump seat (in a pinch anyways) or MORE gear for a multi day trip, if you're so inclined.
If in the future you wanted to alter the frame or use a different frame (perhaps the NRS frame system as it's modular/adjustable as you already know) where you wanted to accomodate a front fly fisher you'd have a front seat bar with seat, front leg brace, then rower seat in the back. With drop bars for the rower you have absolutely no room for gear as the frame will be slightly longer with that arrangement. With rower seat bar even with the top of the tubes or maybe even raised slightly, you have room for gear for you and your front fly fisher (if they could fit on such a boat). And plus you'll want the rear seat height then for easier visibility around your front passenger.
Just some thoughts anyways....
I know, I know, you're sick of hearing it, but I too would prefer to have my seat bars level with the top of the raft. Increased visibility is a big one (every inch counts....), but you're also forgetting another thing - gear. If you move the frame as far forward as it will go on the chafe strip with the present set up to get neutral or slightly bow heavy bias, you won't have much room in front of the leg brace to put gear (if any), and putting crap around your legs or between your legs is a bit of a no-no - you want to give yourself lots of room there. That means with the drop bars most of the gear will have to go behind your seat which could affect being bow-stern weight neutral or slightly bow heavy potentially making you stern heavy which is not desirable. This would be as opposed to underneath your seat where with seat bars level with the tubes you would have much greater space for gear (and potentially a small cooler). With stuff under the seat you can more easily cam strap it to the bottom of your frame below you for easier access if needed instead of having to reach behind you, while you are in the boat. If you ever flipped having it directly below the seat lashed to the frame would be more secure potentially so you do not yard sale as easily. With everything under the seat, this means the space behind the rower is potential leg space for someone sitting on the back of tubes as far as a "get the job done" jump seat (in a pinch anyways) or MORE gear for a multi day trip, if you're so inclined.
If in the future you wanted to alter the frame or use a different frame (perhaps the NRS frame system as it's modular/adjustable as you already know) where you wanted to accomodate a front fly fisher you'd have a front seat bar with seat, front leg brace, then rower seat in the back. With drop bars for the rower you have absolutely no room for gear as the frame will be slightly longer with that arrangement. With rower seat bar even with the top of the tubes or maybe even raised slightly, you have room for gear for you and your front fly fisher (if they could fit on such a boat). And plus you'll want the rear seat height then for easier visibility around your front passenger.
Just some thoughts anyways....
Any hydraulic that hits the side of your boat will flush over your tubes. When sitting higher up you stay drier. If the small creeks have no rapids or hydraulic then it's a non-issue obviously.
I'm a huge proponent of proper rowing egronomics, so when rowing backwards(blades in water) your oar handles should be a mid chest level. If it's higher(shoulder level), then your power is greatly reduced and you become fatigued more quickly. If it's too low, then you don't have the clearance from your legs.
If that frame works then it must be wider than the boat looks and the tube diameter smaller?
Another thing to consider is quick egress from your boat, if you need to land on shore due to a terminal hazard(strainer/log jam). You're probably way more agile than me, so maybe not a concern for you.
I hope you're not taking my feedback as criticism, just offering some advice.
Nice rig.
Cheers
I'm a huge proponent of proper rowing egronomics, so when rowing backwards(blades in water) your oar handles should be a mid chest level. If it's higher(shoulder level), then your power is greatly reduced and you become fatigued more quickly. If it's too low, then you don't have the clearance from your legs.
If that frame works then it must be wider than the boat looks and the tube diameter smaller?
Another thing to consider is quick egress from your boat, if you need to land on shore due to a terminal hazard(strainer/log jam). You're probably way more agile than me, so maybe not a concern for you.
I hope you're not taking my feedback as criticism, just offering some advice.
Nice rig.
Cheers
Here's another thought that Darren's post got me thinking - if you need to stand up for whatever reason in the raft, whether to scout, or maybe fly fishing out of the raft in easy class 1 water, or whatever, having a higher seat & higher seat bar behind you - if you rest your legs against it when you stand up it will function as a bit of a rear lean bar if it's fair to say (just a bit of rear lean on your part into the bar/seat), to help you with balance. With the current drop bar that is not possible (unless you spread eagle and lean against the drop part of the bars).
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
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