Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best (2025)

So what do you guys have to say about Springfield seat bases/pedestals/mounts? Success and horror stories appreciated

I'm rebuilding an 18' Crestliner Super Hawk I/O and in the market for seat bases/pedestals. The boat has 3 old bases left in it, but it looks like I'll need to replace these as Springfield doesn't have anything exactly like these anymore,,, from what I can find. Springfield has several different systems; Plug-In, Spring Lock, Spring LockII, Taper Lock, King Pin, but I don't know which of these are the best, their benefits and which ones to stay away from.

When I was at BPS tonight I saw most of the Tracker boats used the Plug-In series and it looks like these are going to work best for the way I'm going to configure the boat, but not sure if this is their most reliable and easy to use system. The Spring Lock series looks cool, but I have a feeling that plastic tab is going to break off eventually. The King Pin series looks weaker than the others, so it's off my list.

I want to have all seats movable/removable and strong enough to stand up to heavy conditions. The boat is going to be configured with 1 base in the bow, 2 bases behind the dash (driver and passenger), 2 bases by the engine cover and 1 base on top of the engine cover. The engine cover will convert into a casting deck by covering the 2 seats in the stern. The boat is pretty much setup like this now, but I'm changing the location of the 2 stern seats.

Thoughts & suggestions?

Thanks,
Fishrdan

Re: Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best

the back you put under the bases make the seat. most all pedistals are about equal these days. over the years they all are going to stick. i keep a pipe wrench in my boat.

Re: Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best

I put taper locks in my last boat and by the end of the first season wasn't able to get them out. Maybe they need to be lubed or something but I never did it which could explain it. With a proper backing plate and good anchors or bolts, they're very stable and despite my problem removing them, I would recommend them.

Re: Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best

that's way i have a pipe wrench.

Re: Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best

I want pedestals that are not prone to sticking as I'm going to be reconfiguring the boat often, or pulling out the seats to crash on the floor of the boat on overnight trips. The Plug-In series seems like it's designed to remove easy since it's a straight bore and keyed to keep it from turning.

Here's another question, from what I read at Springfiels's site, pedestal systems have a rating AD AP and B. AD for driver at high speed, AP for passenger at high speed and B for seating below 5 MPH. The Plug-In combo I bought (and saw in several new boats for all seating positions) has a sticker on the pedestal saying it's B rated, less than 5MPH. What gives? Kind of odd new boats would have these for all seating positions when it could be a liability if the seat mount failed. Maybe it's just Springfield covering their ***?

Re: Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best

My Ranger has 2 Extreme pedestals with slides for the driver and front passenger seats. They?re rock solid.

http://www.springfieldgrp.com/products.php-subcat1=Extreme Removable&varmaincat=.htm

Then locking Spring-lock for the other 2 seats

http://www.springfieldgrp.com/products.php-subcat1=Locking Spring-Lock Series&varmaincat=.htm

There are four bases for the Spring-lock seats. Two in the cockpit and one in each casting deck. They feel good and solid underway and I don?t have any trouble ?wiggling? them out when I need to move them.

Re: Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best

In my Starcraft I used the kingpin style bases that use the 3/4 diameter pin. The reason I chose those for that boat is because I didn't want to trip over te bases when I removed the seats and posts for fishing. They are as flush as you can get, but you need some underfloor space for them. I also modified the seat base by grinding off th little step so that they don't lock on to the post. Made it real easy to remove the seat from the post. The post itself slides in most of th way and then is threaded the last little bit. Got stuck sometimes but I carried a little rubber strap wrench in the boat.

My fathers Smokercraft has the taper lock bases and they do get stuck too, but we carry a rubber hammer and just give the post a whack r two and they come loose.

My BIL's Crestliner has the plug in bases. I've never removed the posts from that one so can't say if they would get stuck or not.

On all of these boats we use rather tall posts in them and they all seem pretty sturdy. Never worried about it in any of them.

For my Sea Ray project I'll be starting this fall I am going to use the taper lock base because I'll be putting one right over the gas tank and there isn't enough clearance for the king pin base and because the boat came with one and a power-rise post. Otherwise I would be using the kingpin base in that one as well.

Hope this helps.

John B.

Re: Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best

Thanks for the replies guys!

I discovered the 3 bases I have are Spring-Locks, I actually thought they were tapered by looking into the base's socket,,, but it was an optical dillusion The straight shaft Plug-In post I bought from BPS fits right into the base snugly.

Not sure which seat mounts I need to use for the driver and passenger positions, but was thinking of using High-Lo series (non-lockable) swivels. Do I need lockable swivels for the driver and passenger positions? I had bench seating in my old boat so not sure about the locking swivel for the driver position???

What length posts are you guys using for the driver, passenger and bow or how far off the deck is the bottom of the seat? I was playing around with a seat and think the 12" post is about right for the driver and passanger,,,

What cha think?

Re: Springfield seat bases/pedestals, which are the best

The bases in the cockpit of my boat all have the locking ?key?

http://www.springfieldgrp.com/productdetail.php-prodid=128&subcat1=.htm

I guessing that a non-locking seat could easily swivel around unintentionally when the deck is at the most extreme angle coming up on plane possible tossing a passenger on the floor. I guess I could ask my Wife to unlock her seat and turn it about 45 degrees while I gas it and see what happens. The other two bases on the casting decks don?t have the key so they spin freely. I think you?ll want locking bases for the ?underway? positions. I?ll try to measure my posts and floor to seat top heights later.