Seats 6&7 just got easier

F

flymartin

VIP Member
Messages
131
Location
New Forest
Vehicle
T6.1 Beach camper 150
Having owned the 6th and 7th seats for my Beach for about a year, I have found their weight has made them much less usable than I had hoped. Lifting one of them into the van is a serious back breaking endeavour - I literally budget a couple of days’ recovery time after fitting or removing the seats. Not for spontaneous larger group trips.. Also they are hard to move around the garage if they get in the way.

Well not any more! Had some spare timber lying around and bought some castors on Amazon, and fashioned myself this trolley/dolley.. Nifty features include a 30cm overhang for reaching in to the van, and a storage area underneath for van related stuff.

Tested removing a seat and it is much easier as the seats just slide across the deck of the trolley and then I can wheel them away into the garage.

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Found the easiest way was to fold the tops flat with headrest facing away from you, lift at hinge on armrests whilst resting the seat on your stomach. then walk them to the edge of the van floor, then shuffle into the slots.

...but your trolley looks far easier!
 
Good work, carrying those seats in and out have caused a few bad backs over the years!
 
Wait til you try lifting out / in an SE / Ocean rock and roll rear seat bench. I know it has to be solid for crash safety, but good lord, they are so over engineered. It won't be coming out again (I'd been just using a 5th seat instead, to make transporting precious e bikes inside).
 
The rear bench would be a good test, I looked at it and decided removing it wasn't happening in mine as it is so heavy!
If it were easier to remove I'd be tempted to pick up another two captains chairs when I see them secondhand as it would be easier to carry a paddle board etc with two separate rear seats when I don't need the downstairs bed.
 
The rear bench would be a good test, I looked at it and decided removing it wasn't happening in mine as it is so heavy!
If it were easier to remove I'd be tempted to pick up another two captains chairs when I see them secondhand as it would be easier to carry a paddle board etc with two separate rear seats when I don't need the downstairs bed.
Video on YouTube if you ever need to remove the rear bench, but do read the comments as they correct some errors in the video.
 

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