Tackle Center for 2520

[MayoChad]

Here's a little project, but I thought it was worth posting because it was so easy and might work well for other guys.

I put a flush mount tackle center in the hatch that was on the starboard side jump seat inside the cabin. I bought the tackle center from AllTackle, which is local to me around Annapolis, MD. It's made by Deep Blue and the part number is FMT-4W ($150). I mention this because it fits just right when mounted inside the existing hatch (with a little modification).

The hatch that came on the boat had starboard trim around the inside that acted as a stop to so the door had a solid seat when closed. This trim is in four pieces and is screwed to the one-piece outer edge of the hatch. I hope this makes sense when you look at the pics.

If you remove the entire hatch, the hole in the jumpseat is too big for the tackle center. So what you want to do is stand on your head with a cordless drill and remove all the screws from inside the jumpseat that hold on the doorstop trim and the hing for the door. This leaves you with only the one-piece rectangular part of the hatch that is mounted to the boat.

Keep the stainless screws that held the door stop trim on; they are perfect for screwing the tackle center.

The rest just fell together. The only hitch was that there is no hole for the latch that holds the door on the tackle center shut. I just drilled a couple big holes in the black plastic that makes the inside of the tackle center and adjusted the holes' width with a sharp knife. Not really pretty, but the latch closes nice and tight now and (we'll see, but) I don't think it's gonna rattle.

Anyhow, I hope this is helpful if anyone is thinking about doing this. The whole project (including ponder beers) took around an hour. I'm sure it could have been done quicker.

Also, I think it was B-Faithful that made the suggestion on the Heater Buddy from Lowe's. That thing is awesome! Really makes it toasty in the cabin. You gotta keep after those ponder beers, or they get warm in there.

 

[Mike2043]

Thanks. I was thinking of doing something similar on the seats of my 2110. Now I know I can get the suppies and it should work.

 

[deluxe]

great idea as i did the same thing on the port side because on the 28 the freshwater tank is in the jumpsat, so it was wasted space. The only difference was i constructed my own out of starboard and used existing hatch, it holds five plano boxes and keeps everything neat.. keep the ideas coming

 

[TheOtherLine]

great idea as i did the same thing on the port side because on the 28 the freshwater tank is in the jumpsat, so it was wasted space. The only difference was i constructed my own out of starboard and used existing hatch, it holds five plano boxes and keeps everything neat.. keep the ideas coming

Why couldn't you put a tackle box station where the freshwater tank is? The factory does. Is your tank that much bigger?

 

[Megabyte]

You've given me an idea...
I need to find an XL in my area that I can use to measure those seat pedistals.

I have considered replacing my present 'post' seats with some sort of base that I could install tackle trays for Plano boxes, just as you have done. In my case though, I'd like to add the tackle boxes on the back side of the pedistals so they are accessable from the cockpit side.

Here is what I have now.

If the seats from an XL will work, I'd get a pair of them from my dealer and mount them in place of the present seats. I'd leave the doors on the front of the bases, and mount the tackle centers on the rear. That way I could still use the doors in the front for the storage of small items.

I never considered using a set of XL jumpseats before.
Thanks for the idea!!