Broken Cushion?

[ratchetdu]

Well, we were out at the lake on Saturday (weather still beautiful, and water temps nice), when one of the bow cushions started to feel "soft". Lifted it up, and the whole underside has a crack that spiders out from the center. Any ideas how to repair without buying new cushion? I was thinking it may possible to get some sort of wood/plastic and create strips to screw along the bottom to reinforce and just hold it together? Would this work? Any other ideas?

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Can you inject contact cement into the cracks? I am thinking that you could lay the cushion on its face and then lay a heavy flat object on the substrate to help ensure the panel cures flat. Also if that does not work you could simply visit your local West Marine and buy some Starboard. Then you could trace and cut your new board and attach to the cushion's bottom side. It would take several screws but I think it could be mended that way with little help from an upholstery shop.

 

[Ronnie]

Both of mine were cracked when I got my used boat from the original owner. I ended up screwing a band aid into place made up of treated plywood cut to fit the opening under each bow seats. I fond it a lot cheaper than replacing each cushion or even using starboard. Here is a yjb link to my post on the subject. Sorry, it's just too much of a pita to find the pics elsewhere.

http://yamahajetboaters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=53865&hilit=Cracked cushions&start=30

 

[ratchetdu]

Thanks for the responses. I will probably try the contact cement trick first, and if it doesn't work, move on to making a piece out of some materials. Both seem easy and feasible.

 

[Sacamano]

Please keep us posted, mine are cracked too.

 

[Ronnie]

If you have spider cracks on the surface contact cement may work but if they are all the way through like mine do I don't think contact cement is going to cut it. It's either a band aid/patch, replace the cracked piece or replace the entire cushion. I chose the cheapest and easiest alternative. Yeah, I know I went nuts with the screws but as a result I'm fairly certain that I won't have to deal with this again, ever.

 

[GTBRMC]

If you have spider cracks on the surface contact cement may work but if they are all the way through like mine do I don't think contact cement is going to cut it. It's either a band aid/patch, replace the cracked piece or replace the entire cushion. I chose the cheapest and easiest alternative. Yeah, I know I went nuts with the screws but as a result I'm fairly certain that I won't have to deal with this again, ever.

View attachment 14261 View attachment 14262
View attachment 14263 View attachment 14260

Holy sh!t, that's a lot of screws!

 

[Ronnie]

Iol, I was showing my son how to drill and use the electric screw driver and "we" got, a little, carried away. It was fun though and the only time anyone sees the seat bottoms is when I make an intentional effort to show them.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Wow, lots of stainless there!! Cool fix though.

 

[Big Shasta]

Definitely seal up the plywood with paint or even clear sealer. I'd be afraid that even though it's treated, it might soak up water/moisture and delaminate.

To the OP, Starboard is awesome stuff, we use it at work all the time. If you cut it exactly to fit in the opening, it would look stock even unless compared to another cushion. (not that it matters much, it's unseen). There would be no need for the alignment tabs on the bottom. Cuts pretty easy with a jigsaw, just go slow so it doesn't melt.

 

[Captbob]

I had a crack like Ronnie and it was covered under my yes warranty, for what its worth. Yamaha sent a whole new cushion.

 

[ToddW850]

When I purchased my boat last year, the smaller port seat cushion (storage cusion by the glove box) had been replaced by the previous owner with plywood. Although it was treated plywood and had also been painted, it is coming apart and flaking everywhere now. Even the staples used to secure the cushion to the plywood are coming out. I'm going to look at doing the starboard myself. If it looks to complicated, I'll probably be taking it to Jet Boat Pilot to see what he can do.

 

[Ronnie]

My plywood patches seem to be holding up fine. I treated them but they are not prone to getting water directly on them in that the seat cushion cover is water tight and the gutters/drainage channels under and at the edges of the seats seem to be doing their job. If Delamination is a concern I would definitely be looking at plastic or starboard. Again l, it will be more expensive and probably more complex from a labor perspective but it will still be hundreds cheaper than replacing the entire cushion wih a new one.