Barrel bolts on sliding aft seat

[ramon]

Those barrel bolts that hopefully keep the aft seat in place have failed on my 895. By failed i mean bent bolts and fasteners continuously coming loose. Today I put one of the bent bolts in my vise to straighten it up and in broke in half at the weak point which is where the little handle screws into the bolt.
Knowing that I can't be the only one with this problem has anyone come up with a better solution?  Does anyone know of a source of the original replacement barrel bolts?  It certainly looks like these bolts are not up to the job!

[lynnardm]

Ramon,

Are you referring to the 2 spring bolts that hold the sliding cockpit seat when in the forward position? Is the 3rd spring bolt that holds the seat in the aft position bending? Do you use the fwd position only when the motor is up and when no one is sitting in it?

Capt’n Lynn

[puravida35]

The barrel bolts sound a lot like the ones on my Sun Odyssey 439 that are used to “secure” the life raft locker lid. Woefully inadequate as the lid also serves as the stern boarding step. Mine have bent and failed twice, just as you described. I purchased 4 from Jeanneau Spare Parts website as replacements and spares (~ $12 each). Unfortunately, that web site is down.

In my case, they not only keep the lid closed, they are also used to serve as a pivot or hinge when opening the locker lid. These barrel bolts do not appear to be designed to be used in this way or to take the load of which they are subjected.

I’m still looking for a better solution than stocking spares.

[lynnardm]

I’ve finally got around to strengthening the sliding cockpit seat on my 895. When in the fwd position it’s only held by the two sliding bolts on the stbd side and not Intended to be even sat on in this position . I added a sliding bolt on the port side as shown. It’s now able to support the weight if someone does sit on it in this position. See pics. If anyone is interested in how to do this let me know. It’s fairly easy

Capt’n
Lyn

[jdl01]

I had the same issue with the factory installed barrel bolts as Puravida. They turned out to be chromed brass - totally inadequate for the task. I replaced them with two stainless steel bolts of the same diameter and length. There is a little more work involved if you want to remove the lid but I feel it is a worth while trade off.

[paulh]

One of the life raft locker lid barrel bolts broke (just where the small handle joins the bolt) on my 2012 SO379 just this weekend.
I’ll be trying to replace with something of the same size from chandlery soon.

Any suggestions on what and where to get same size replacements?
uk based - I’ll be heading to Force 4 to have a look at the weekend

[westboating]

A barrel latch on our boat failed, and the dealer replaced it for free in conjunction with another job.  My point is these things must fail enough the dealer stocked them.  I'd catch up with your dealers service department.

[sanjuan895]

Apr 28, 2022 22:57:26 GMT lynnardm said:

If anyone is interested in how to do this let me know. It’s fairly easy.

Hi Lyn,

I’d be curious about the material and steps you took to shore up the seat. I’ve got a sheared off barrel bolt from the previous owner I’m going to be replacing anyway. I’d like to leave it better than I found it.

[lynnardm]

Sanjaun895

Adding the 3rd barrel bolt to properly support the seat in the forward position was worth the effort. I had a spare barrel bolt and marine board spacer blocks from the salon table. (I replaced the stock salon table with a custom table). So you will need to get those plus 4 stainless bolts and nuts as per the pictures. I placed the seat in the fwd position and then picked one of the existing holes in the top of the seat rail that I was going to use. I then enlarged this hole to be big enough to accept the barrel bolt. Then I determined the height of the spacers that would be required to place the barrel bolt at the correct offset from the back of the seat structure. As I mentioned I already had the marine board spacers that I removed with the stock table. If memory serves me correctly I needed the spacer beneath the barrel bolt to be 1.25 inches. If yuh look close at the picture you’ll see that I used 2 spacers. One was 1” thick and the other I cut down to be .25” thick (again, if I remember correctly). Then once this is all prepared you can determine where the 4 bolt holes are needed in the aft seat structure. I consider it luck that the bolts and nuts we’re at locations that worked with the shape and structure of the seat structure. So… if yours also works ok for this it’s just a matter of locating and drilling the 4 holes and installing the barrel bolt with the bolts and nuts. There was already a round access panel on the seat structure. I removed it to help access installing the nuts.

Capt’n Lynn

[venus1]

A friend ran over a log doing just 12 knots. The seat was in the aft position on his MF795.
The motor kicked up, pushing the seat forward and breaking the barrel bolts.
He said he was glad the bolts broke to soften the blow for the motor.
i realise this doesn’t relate exactly to the forward position issue - just sharing for interest.

[powerflex]

Did anyone find a source for the barrel bolts in the UK or Europe?

Also is there a site for Jeanneau spares? I have a broken bolt on my 895.

Thanks

[hnb]

May 4, 2022 2:14:34 GMT westboating said:

A barrel latch on our boat failed, and the dealer replaced it for free in conjunction with another job.  My point is these things must fail enough the dealer stocked them.  I'd catch up with your dealers service department.

[hnb]

I am looking for a new barrel bolt for aft seat. Is there a place to order one from?