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Hewes - Matching Bench Seat Hinges Found!


searing

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57 minutes ago, DavisIslander said:

Count me in for a set as I'm getting ready to get my bench seat reupholstered.

Tampa FL

Gotcha and Thank you.   2 more and I'll order the case. I'll reach out to everyone when that is. 

I would love to see pictures when you get your seat back. Are you doing anything special like the logo or roping?

Dennis

 

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20 hours ago, searing said:

 

Are you doing anything special like the logo or roping?

Dennis

Not sure yet - I've been price shopping and it ranges from $900 up to $1500!  Going to stop by one of the shops early next week to see designs; bubble(?), inserts (?), etc.  

I will definitely keep you and everyone informed.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Sawyer Martin said:

Hoping this order can get placed soon, ready to purchase two sets of hinges from you! The bench seat on my buddy's Bayfisher is currently unusable from the broken hinges. Can't wait to get her back in working order. 

Hi Sawyer,

 We only have 9 maybe 10 pairs committed but I'll order them now if everyone would be ok with $50.00 per pair shipped specially since I forgot to consider the shipping cost to me from the manufacturer. I'll cover the cost of the extra hinges in the case and list them for sale somewhere.

The easiest and quickest method would be to Zelle me the cost for your committed sets. If everyone could message me with your shipping addresses and I'll reply with my info for a Zelle payment. 

Thanks, Dennis

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Hey Searing 

Thanks again for your effort in finding and ordering the hinges for us. I sent the $ today. My hinges are still working but are showing their 20+ years. I’ve heard the struggles of other members trying to get replacement ones so I’m getting a set to help out but mostly to have peace of mind that my bench seat will always be functional. I’m planning on installing the new ones and saving the originals as back-ups. 
 

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On 4/18/2023 at 6:30 PM, Moderator said:

Thank You, Dennis !

You are doing a lot of work to help other members !

I figure a lot of guys will need them soon, and will ask if you have any more. 
Do these hinges for all the Redfisher models with the deck-over seats ?  16 and 18’ ?

Marc

Thank you Marc,

  I don't know this 100% but I'm pretty sure that all the models with the bench seat using this type of hinge regardless of boat size used the same hinge dimensionally.

   Doing this wasn't without being totally unselfish. I looked for about a year before I found my boat. I wanted a Hewes 16ft model for fitting in my garage and specifically wanted the flip up bench seat configuration and one in really good original condition. When I got it one of the things I didn't like was the condition of the hinges so I knew eventually I would want to replace them. Then one day after a trip while trailering the boat back home I noticed in the rear view mirror and noticed my bench seat had been blown to the up position. That's when I started trying to find a pair of hinges. I hadn't realized the seat was ever unsnapped let alone checked it before getting on the road. I mention this because I'm sure this has and will happen to many people and when it does it's a ton of force on everything. Either the hinges will end up bent, broken, or worse fracturing fiberglass. After replacing mine I realized they were bent slightly backward allowing the seat tilt back further than it's meant to. While searching for them I learned a lot of people had also been looking for them with no luck for the original ones or even a good match so I was on a mission. After finding a good match I couldn't get them without wanting to help let others who were looking that I had found a good match that will fit properly.

   In my searching I've noticed that while the dimensions might be the same I think they were made out of different materials and colors over the 10yrs or so. The older ones seem to be all powder coated aluminum, and the the later models near or up to roughly 2010 appeared to be stainless and if not it was polished aluminum. Maybe someone with a later model can confirm if they're stainless. Mine is a 2000 which was black powder coated aluminum like the ones I've found for us. Stainless ones would be nicer of course and would be awesome to source or at least find out who made them. Knowing the importance of having a working set of hinges on these models and knowing the difficulty to get them I'm actually surprised there aren't more people wanting to at least tuck a spare set aside. I replaced mine with the sample set and will also have a spare set. Sorry for the long post.

Dennis

 

 

  

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That deck-over bench seat is such a great feature.. The hinges had to be fabricated for the production. Scott and Skip were not afraid to make hardware for all the models, to offer cutting edge fishing and comfort features.

The downside of this is parts availability decades later. 
I figure they built a bu-gillion Redfishers with the bench seats and the replacement hinges will be in demand. 
 

My buddy blew his hinges towing and his shop had a pair fabricated. It cost a few dollars more than 50.. 

I would suggest you complete the shipping and close out the thread with a link to the fabricator you are dealing with. 
This will help those needing replacements in the future. 

I do thank you for your work and efforts !

Mod Marc.

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43 minutes ago, Moderator said:

That deck-over bench seat is such a great feature.. The hinges had to be fabricated for the production. Scott and Skip were not afraid to make hardware for all the models, to offer cutting edge fishing and comfort features.

The downside of this is parts availability decades later. 
I figure they built a bu-gillion Redfishers with the bench seats and the replacement hinges will be in demand. 
 

My buddy blew his hinges towing and his shop had a pair fabricated. It cost a few dollars more than 50.. 

I would suggest you complete the shipping and close out the thread with a link to the fabricator you are dealing with. 
This will help those needing replacements in the future. 

I do thank you for your work and efforts !

Mod Marc.

I plan to purchase the case as soon as I have all the payments. The day I receive the hinges is when I'll ship just as I said. 

I and many others I think would love to learn about which shop was able to fabricate those hinges? For some people if they could make them in stainless the extra $$ might be worth it to them. 

As soon I let go of the entire case of hinges I plan to do just as you said to help people for future needs.

Thank you

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Hi,

Just wanted to let everyone know who had sent me the money for a set or sets of hinges they committed to that I’ll be ordering them today and expect them to arrive to me sometime next week. Once I have them I’ll ship them to each of you and forward the tracking numbers. Every person committed has paid now. It will leave 9 sets still available. Reach out here or message me if you need a set while available.

Thank you,

Dennis

 

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    Hinges arrived today and everyone that wanted a set so far is boxed and shipping today. There are still 6 more sets available if you're in need or know someone who is.

I hope these all work out nice for everyone and was glad I could help.

Thanks to all you guys who got into the group buy in advance.

Dennis

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