Seat box accessories...

[nottskev]

They are Original PI legs by the look of it . Didn't the boss legs have plastic bases the could be fitted over the metal foot if required ?

The Canal boxes came with these, which I took off the "new" one I got from ebay a while back. 18mm, 13", they have small plastic inserts for a foot and these cute twist-on mudfeet. They were the only design weakness imo. Neither the small feet nor the mudfeet could swivel to suit a rough or stony bank and both were prone to break. Ok if you always sat on a flat, grass or soft bank .....

I replaced the original legs on both of mine. One has the excellent ball swivel feet which can adapt to all kinds of irregularities, The other has some PI legs with swivel feet - ok, but they only tilt in one plane. Boss also did a platform trolley and footplate which is in the shed. These came with aluminium welded feet.

I'd put these on ebay, but I'm too lazy. If you know anyone doing up a Boss box who might want them, let me know.

Here's one for the north-west seatbox connoisseur. In about 1994 on the cover of Angler's Mail there was a colour pic of some dude fishing a north-west dam. I was so taken with his seatbox, a compact little number with a 4" base, a frame like a piece of modern art, both in fire engine red, and two or three Conti-box drawers/trays topped with a pole seat, I called the paper, got a contact with the angler, found out where he got the box and got the maker to make me one. The angler was Dennis Knight, the maker Stuart Platt, who went on to market completely different but very good boxes, I never saw another like the one he made me. The legs, btw, had a H profile - unique. I wish I'd kept the box.

 

[markcw]

The Canal boxes came with these, which I took off the "new" one I got from ebay a while back. 18mm, 13", they have small plastic inserts for a foot and these cute twist-on mudfeet. They were the only design weakness imo. Neither the small feet nor the mudfeet could swivel to suit a rough or stony bank and both were prone to break. Ok if you always sat on a flat, grass or soft bank .....

I replaced the original legs on both of mine. One has the excellent ball swivel feet which can adapt to all kinds of irregularities, The other has some PI legs with swivel feet - ok, but they only tilt in one plane. Boss also did a platform trolley and footplate which is in the shed. These came with aluminium welded feet.

I'd put these on ebay, but I'm too lazy. If you know anyone doing up a Boss box who might want them, let me know.


View attachment 26448

Here's one for the north-west seatbox connoisseur. In about 1994 on the cover of Angler's Mail there was a colour pic of some dude fishing a north-west dam. I was so taken with his seatbox, a compact little number with a 4" base, a frame like a piece of modern art, both in fire engine red, and two or three Conti-box drawers/trays topped with a pole seat, I called the paper, got a contact with the angler, found out where he got the box and got the maker to make me one. The angler was Dennis Knight, the maker Stuart Platt, who went on to market completely different but very good boxes, I never saw another like the one he made me. The legs, btw, had a H profile - unique. I wish I'd kept the box.

Stuart Platt marketed the Platform UK boxes if I recall. Made in St Helens ,
Dennis Knight was a good Northwest match angler , fished under the NWAC banner . He had some good results on the canals and Carr Mill Dam.
Pic of Plattform UK box ,series 5

 

[peytr]

I got infected by the images in this thread and bought an ancient Matchbox a few days ago, just for fun. I stumbled upon this one, which was offered to me for the princely sum of € 10,--. It is an old one and it is a bit tatty but OK. I don't even know if I'm going to use it but it is a truly wonderfull design. This one has the 16mm feet (which are OK, btw) but the fundamentals are just brilliant. It has the deepest GRP tray and a two inch GRP tray and then the box with for front drawers, a large drawer that opens sideways and of course the winder tray under the seat.

However, my question is the following: it seems to me these boxes where marketed under a range of brand names. Shakespeare had them, the above mentioned PF, Daiwa, Boss and even JVS on this side of the pond. Where these built by different parties or where they built by one firm and just marketed under different brand names?

I don't think anybody makes them nowadays; Matchbox went out of business recently.

 

[nottskev]

I got infected by the images in this thread and bought an ancient Matchbox a few days ago, just for fun. I stumbled upon this one, which was offered to me for the princely sum of € 10,--. It is an old one and it is a bit tatty but OK. I don't even know if I'm going to use it but it is a truly wonderfull design. This one has the 16mm feet (which are OK, btw) but the fundamentals are just brilliant. It has the deepest GRP tray and a two inch GRP tray and then the box with for front drawers, a large drawer that opens sideways and of course the winder tray under the seat.

However, my question is the following: it seems to me these boxes where marketed under a range of brand names. Shakespeare had them, the above mentioned PF, Daiwa, Boss and even JVS on this side of the pond. Where these built by different parties or where they built by one firm and just marketed under different brand names?

I don't think anybody makes them nowadays; Matchbox went out of business recently.

Can you post a pic, Peytr, so we can see exactly what you've got?

Matchbox boxes were their own design and build, even though there were lots of brands and generic boxes on the market.

 

[@Clive]

I too have weakened after seeing Kev's classy Boss box. Well, that and continually having to do civil engineering to get my wooden seat box to sit level. Yesterday I happened upon a set Rive F2 adjustable feet with the brackets that I could screw onto my old wooden box, a telescopic rod rest and a side tray. So that is or was the plan; adapt the old seat box into an all-terrain seatbox with built in rod rest and handy side tray. And just now an advert popped up for this at fifty euros

It is in a village only 10 minutes away.

 

[peytr]

Can you post a pic, Peytr, so we can see exactly what you've got?

I will, once daylight, the box and myself will occur in one place at the same time .

Matchbox boxes were their own design and build

Two, three years back they where still in business and to be honest I don't understand why they went out of business. If I remember well they said somehting about the effects of Corona. The quality and thought behind the box is excellent and they sold at moderate prices compared to the big brands. I guess marketing and business channels have played a role.

 

[peytr]

As promised and sooner than I expected... my newly acquired Matchbox

 

[nottskev]

I

View attachment 26896

It is in a village only 10 minutes away.

Before the Boss Box and the Octbox I've just pensioned off and replaced with another Boss Box, I had a gorgeous little seatbox made by Stuart Platt before he made the well-known Platt-Forms UK series. That had a variable number of trays and drawers of the Rive type in your pic, and a similar seat. They were light and the clips that locked them together never failed in years of use - a good design. You'll enjoy being able to level your box. My Octbox had 4 built-in mini spirit levels. The Boss Box had none, but I bought four from ebay for less than a fiver, araldited them on, and they're a help for seeing which legs needs raising or lowering.

 

[nottskev]

As promised and sooner than I expected... my newly acquired Matchbox

Nice box Peytr. The bit on the frame that takes the legs out past the box footprint is a good feature - increasing the footprint makes the box more stable. With my Boss Box, the legs are tight to the box and that's not ideal for stability.

 

[@Clive]

Before the Boss Box and the Octbox I've just pensioned off and replaced with another Boss Box, I had a gorgeous little seatbox made by Stuart Platt before he made the well-known Platt-Forms UK series. That had a variable number of trays and drawers of the Rive type in your pic, and a similar seat. They were light and the clips that locked them together never failed in years of use - a good design. You'll enjoy being able to level your box. My Octbox had 4 built-in mini spirit levels. The Boss Box had none, but I bought four from ebay for less than a fiver, araldited them on, and they're a help for seeing which legs needs raising or lowering.

View attachment 26903

There is an inevibility about this. I love the old wooden box, but it is rare to find a swim where it sits level without wobbling or rocking. I use a trowel or folding spade to level it up. The frame and legs would avert that at the cost of losing the traditional naivity. Rive have recently stopped trading so there are bargains to be had second hand. I declined the foot grid though. I do have some standards!

 

[peytr]

increasing the footprint makes the box more stable

I think they stopped doing this on the later models with square and telescopic feet.

 

[nottskev]

There is an inevibility about this. I love the old wooden box, but it is rare to find a swim where it sits level without wobbling or rocking. I use a trowel or folding spade to level it up. The frame and legs would avert that at the cost of losing the traditional naivity. Rive have recently stopped trading so there are bargains to be had second hand. I declined the foot grid though. I do have some standards!

I've got a footplate for the Boss Box, but I only attach it as and when. I'll set up in the shallow margins, where the ground is often flatter rather than mess with aluminium clutter. I like the minimal, footloose and fancy free approach, Clive, but many banks are just not to be re-modelled with a folding spade. I won't fish without a level seat and my feet flat on the ground, and pole fishing is out without those, and I keep an old platform in the boot - I bought it for an Irish trip in 1992 - which often solves all the problems at a stroke. I fished it out today, for instance, in a swim that had a rocky edge and a steep drop. The box feet are a perfect fit inside the lip of the platform. If I'm only fishing a short walk from the car, it's no trouble to carry.

 

[@Clive]

The one I declined slid under the box and had its own feet at the front to make the unit a 6 legger. The sort of places I fish don't need that.