Cumberland Crappie Adjust-double Seat Mount, Hi Tek Rod Holders

[fished-out]

After reading so much about it here and playing around with it in my buddy's boat, I've finally decided to adapt my boat to spider rigging. Haven't done much of it, but it helped us place in several tournaments last year and it definitely has its place for me. Plus I think it would be easier for my grandchildren to do and have fun.

I wanted something easily removable and easy to set up in my 19' Lund Pro-V. I've got a cable controlled trolling motor that's not going anywhere, so I need a system of rod holders and seat arrangements that the cable on the trolling motor won't interfer with when I raise and lower it. And I wanted to avoid drilling the holes, etc., for a permanent mount.

Right now, I'm leaning toward the Cumberland Crappie Adjust-double seat as the seat arrangement. I like the fact that you can move the seats forward or back depending on where you want them--seems to me that's an advantage over permanent pedestal mounts. I also like the low threshhold in the middle between the seats, as it looks like you could step through more easily than some of the others I've looked at. Terry seems like a nice fella, and told me he can design the seat post receivers so they'll take my existing seat posts, which means I don't have to carry extra seats--I can just pull the two back seats with their posts and drop them in.

Cumberland also has a couple of arms that will come off the central post and hold your rod holders. They come in different lengths and it looks like you can vary the position in the arc of the arm by loosening one knob and swiveling the arm. This means I can move the rod holder out of the way by pushing the arm and rod holder all the way to one side of the boat, allowing me to raise and lower the trolling motor without the cable interfering with anything. Makes it easier to move from place to place. Again that seems to be an advantage over a permanent mount where I would have to remove the rod holder on one side of the boat to raise and lower the motor.

Here's the question: Cumberland also offers the rod holders and posts to fit these arms. I was looking at the Hi-Tek rod holders as well, although I'm not sure how I'd attach them to the Cumberland arms yet. What are the pros and cons of each?

Also, any other suggestions more than welcome. I'm a complete novice at this, and I need all the input I can get. I've read alot of posts here, which is how I arrived at the Cumberland and Hi-tek products.

Thanks folks.

[Oldyankee]

I bought Terry's from Cumberlands seats, they are perfect.

[Wood]

I bought the seats and rod holders from Cumberland last year and we've had a ball. The setup is very intuitive and easy to adjust. We used it riggin as well as pullin cranks. It even came in handy holing my rods for night fishing. I bought a couple extra bases for the back as well. The rod holders worked great on my 22' Xpress to secure rods while on the move. Nothin but good things to say about Cumberland.

[jim8861]

Cumberland is the way to go.terry is one of the best guys to deal with got his stuff on 2 boat and just ordered Monday for the 3 rd boat got a email today was ship out with the tracking #.

[crappiecrazy]

A friend of mine bought the Cumberland double seat and used it all week at Guntersville. It was the first time he had used it. He really liked it, he gave it a 9 on a one to ten scale. I looked at it closely, it is really well made! He weighs about 300 lbs and his partner 230 lbs. He bought the more expensive one that Cumberland sells. I have hiteck rod holders on my canoe and they are great! The owner (hiteck) was great to deal with! He made them custom made for my canoe. Hope this helps!

[David Schneider]

Love mine!

[wilbur]

They are both good. The Cumberland holders are basically a copy of the Hi-Tec.

[High Bridge Hooker]

I mhave the hitek and love them. But I bought a rod rack from Terri and looked at his double seat and rod holders and they are well made. I think either would be good.

[fished-out]

Thanks guys. Guess I'll go ahead with the straight Cumberland and forget about trying to marry the Hi-Tek to the Cumberland arm.

[bjordan61]

I don't have the seats, but really like the 360 rod holders. Terry's a great help in figuring out what you want and how to adapt it to your rig. Highly recommended.