I built a new portage yoke for my Rapidfire. I wanted it to fit solid and not move on the gunnels if I brushed a tree. I wanted it to be light and easy on and off. It needed to hold the canoe high enough so I could see under the thwart that is in front of the seat. It weighs 41.8 Oz. That does not include the pieces of wood glued under the gunnel to make a flat bottom.
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Happy National Zipper Day (pat. 1913)! 🤐
Cam handle Rapidfire Portage Yoke
- Thread starter MagicPaddler
- Start date
The pads seem awfully large. How do they balance on your shoulders without tending to roll off? I use a standard clamp-in yoke with what are called trampoline yoke pads for my RapidFire, installed with large screw down knobs in seconds. The wood ends extend just slightly beyond the gunwales. Never had a problem with brushing a tree while bushwhacking.
The pads are 3&1/2 inches deep but they set on top of a 3&1/4 spacer box. The pads are a little smaller than similar commercially available pads. Both are green. The spacer put the canoe higher above my head so I can see under the thwart. With my old yoke I did have problems with trees/brush catching on the yoke and removing it from the canoe. Very annoying. It was a press fit between the gunnels and I wanted this one to clamp on the gunnels so that would not happen. This canoe also has the gunnels that are not flat so a modification is required to get a clamp to hold. A piece of wood can be seen in two of the pictures which is glued to the bottom of the gunnels.
I made a clamp system for my solos, and I put PlastiDip on the clamp surfaces to better hold the gunwale--works great, and makes the attachment much more secure.
I like the idea of PlasticDip. If I paint that on the surface of the yoke that contacts the gunnel will it bond strong enough to stay on or do I need to dip it to get it to go all the way around the yoke?
I just globbed mine on the surface (the PD was sort of old). Haven't had a chance to use it yet. In other applications, it has seemed to hold up.
I put Plastic dip on the metal l brackets that hold the yoke in place on my RapidFire to minimize the chance of damage to the hull and integrated gunwales. So far so good
I have glued bicycle inner tube to yokes with mixed results. I will try the plasticdip
In the second and third picture above you can see a triangular piece of wood I glued to the bottom of the gunnel to make it flat. After seeing what Swift does to put a yoke on the same type of gunnel I decided to see if my yoke would fit without the flat bottom gunnel. I moved the yoke forward of the wedges and readjusted the camp and clamped them down. Works perfectly fine. I don
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I dont need the wedges to make the gunnels flat but the way my yoke is made it works better with them. If I had used smaller spacers for the clamps it would work better without the wedges.
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I dont need the wedges to make the gunnels flat but the way my yoke is made it works better with them. If I had used smaller spacers for the clamps it would work better without the wedges.
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I think nothing will last long. Maybe rubber feet
I think that is an awful clever idea - pretty inventive, good on ya! I hope it works well.
Bob.
Bob.
MP, I don't understand the need for the extra high pads. Couldn't you just tip the canoe back for visibility?
It will work without the spacer that extends the pads. I put them there so the canoe would be higher so the thwart is not in my vision path. Small solo canoes don’t leave a lot of space in there for your head. Without the spacers I would have about 1 inch of clearance between my head and the floor of the canoe and the seat would touch the back of my head.
the height is needed as it hurts to grind your head on the seat
The seat is in the worst spot!
OK, I can see it in the second photo. Thanks.
