Anyone have an opinion on the Canoe Chair III?

Never tried one, but noticed it is 48% off at the (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
 
CradleLounger for $20

Let me start by saying I wish I would have bought a computer YEARS ago instead of months ago. I own a Bell Merlin II & a 1989 Bell CJ I strap crazy creek chairs to the seats and It works ok. HOWEVER, It needs more cushion. My wife likes the SITBACKER better but its a pain on portages. Can't help on the buckets. Check Paragis.

As always, lots of good information and options. I think we’ll start with seeing how the Crazy Creek chair adapts to the seat, seeing as how we already have one of them. As mentioned, they already have the Velcro to hold the backrest to the seat for portaging as well.

But then again……

The backrest Jimbo has presented does look comfortable, but for the price of one of those I’m close to getting 2 of the Crazy Creek chairs! Does make me wonder though how difficult it would be to make? I’ll take it there are some type of struts that hold it vertical? Does it pivot down for portaging? It does have the plus of having ones butt in direct contact with the seat, a point that came up when discussing this with my bowman. Might be something worth pursuing.

I installed one of these in my Prism last year & it does a good job:   (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Jimbo  

Gimp, I have used the Crazy Creeks for about 7 or 8 years now on my wood/cane seat Bell as well as the same style seats on my Penobscot.  Initially i was concerned about the attachment straps running parallel (long way) with the seat, but this turned out to be no big deal.  They work fine.  It may seem like a minor thing, but as DD mentioned, the value of a velcro strip included to fasten the back down to the seat when portaging should not be underestimated.  Crazy Creeks have these.

I've used the bucket seat you are refering to in my Spirit II. Yes it is comfortable when adjusted properly. But I found that it tends to shift around and causes me to sit too far forward. It does not allow my large hind quarters to get the full benefit of the tractor seat. I found a better solution to be the gel seat and backband I purchased from Wenonah. The gel seat stretches over the tractor seat and secures with a sinch cord and is easily removed. The backband attaches to the frame on the back of the seat and has 2 adjustable straps that run forward and attach under the gunnels (I found it more secure to attach them to footman loops rivoted to the inside of the hull). This setup is very comfortable and supportive. This is ideal when used with a foot brace. I can put a lot more power into my strokes and corrections. For the backband you can go right the source at Chosen Valley Canoe Accessories, (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Looks like Snowdog and DD have the answer. Learn something new every day!

Snow_Dog wrote on Apr 2^nd, 2009 at 2:57pm:

I've been using this one on my Prism for about 5 years now.  If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

This particular model has two straps that lash under the seat to hold it firmly to the tractor.  The two "side" straps attached to the back will need to lash to something roughly even with or slightly forward of the front of the seat.  (This isn't a natural lash point for the Prism with the slide-mount tractor seat, but by adding a nylon strap loop somewhat loosely around the slider rails in front of the tractor seat you can accommodate this issue.  I originally added "wings" made of short sections of conduit to the front chair support for this purpose ... the conduit fits the aluminum tubing just about perfectly... but this solution adds more weight to your canoe, albeit at the center of mass for a Prism.)  The seat also comes with two Velcro tabs and "belt loops" so you can secure the seat back to the seat when portaging (or parking for the night).

The downside of this design is that it doesn't work well as a stand-alone camp chair.  However, I sometimes use mine with a small folding (Coleman) camp stool.  The bottom straps go under the the aluminum tubes that constitute the stool seat and the side straps attach to the "U" of the front legs.

dd

Something like this?

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It will be interesting to see what this thread generates. I'm not aware of any seat backs for tractor buckets, tho there must be some. I use 'sit-backers' in my canoe, very comfy, but they are made for use on bench flat seats. One option might be to change out your seats. Another might be to shorten those grueling fishing sessions to about 30 min.