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Canoe seats

Joined
Apr 27, 2020
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Location
Rochester NY
Hello folks,

Curious as to your choice in seats.

I have used the fabric ones from Wenonah, and am currently using the GCI. It may be this is just the current state. Both of the seats did offer some comfort, but not a huge amount. I am constantly afraid the aluminum frame on the GCI will break and puncture a major organ, something you need.

I weigh 270ibs and all my 6'2" height is in my torso. Got some short legs. My back has been messed up since the 70's.

Have you folks tried any other seats outside of the 2 above and had good results? It is getting a bit more difficult to paddle long hours without some major squirming around.

I have considering trying my kidney belt, used in off road road motorcycle riding to see if that shores things up.

Thank you!
 
A lot of those add-ons are pretty narrow for big guys like us. I haven't tried the Wenonah, but I cannot stand the GCI. The strap may help quite a bit, but maybe not. I would look into changing the whole seat to something tolerable and working from there. Swift has some great seat options, but take some work to install. I ended up putting their wide/deep contour seat in two of my boats and love it. I have also considered buying their packboat seat and building up a minicell foam pedestal to mount it on so I'm not down on the floor.
 
Hello folks,

Curious as to your choice in seats.

I have used the fabric ones from Wenonah, and am currently using the GCI. It may be this is just the current state. Both of the seats did offer some comfort, but not a huge amount. I am constantly afraid the aluminum frame on the GCI will break and puncture a major organ, something you need.

I weigh 270ibs and all my 6'2" height is in my torso. Got some short legs. My back has been messed up since the 70's.

Have you folks tried any other seats outside of the 2 above and had good results? It is getting a bit more difficult to paddle long hours without some major squirming around.

I have considering trying my kidney belt, used in off road road motorcycle riding to see if that shores things up.

Thank you!
I’ve had good experiences with Ed’s Canoe in Vermont. Being a bigger guy at 235, I broke a wood seat and was seeking a replacement seat that would hold up to WW use. Called them and they offered me a heavier frame than they usually build. I’ve been very happy with that seat.

 
Thank you!

Great info -

Tryin', could you please send me a picture of your Swift install?

Will, thank you for the info on Ed's Canoe - gotta do some looking around on that site!

Great day gents!
 
If you've tried cloth or cane and found them inadequate you might consider either:
-A tractor seat, much loved for racing/cruising canoes
-a wider, more supportive flat seats. See the ones posted in the other thread, below.
- Ed's and others also have curved cloth/cane. These are also much praised on this forum.

This thread also called canoe seats, but in different category.
 
Thank you Tryin' - just what I needed.

Gotta order some stuff. Will post photo.

When I ordered mine, Swift told me that I was the first to request the drops. As such, they didn't have a part number for them. I told them I wanted the truss drops for the Dragonfly, and that cleared things up.

Alicia is their parts guru, and she was fantastic to work with. A phone call was the easiest way for me to get things rolling, but she also responds to email, albeit with a day or three delay.

An installation note was included in the email correspondence that read as follows:

Everyboat is slightly different so this hanger will need to be trimmed to fit your desired height. We trim from the top flat edge of the hanger and it will not necessarily be a straight cut as everyboat is slightly different in shape and size or if your boat has an angle to the gunwale you will want to ensure that your hanger is cut to the angle. There are no pre-drilled holes in them either as if you're installing them to a seat that already has the holes in it they may not line up so they come undrilled. They come with a left side and a right side so the rounder smoother edge would be on the inside where you may rub against it where the squared edges would face the outside.
Please let me know your thoughts on all this,
Thanks!
Alicia Hodges


I ended up trimming about 5/8" off of mine to bring the seat up to where my boots would clear. The drilling requires a drill press and long bits (or some ingenuity/recklessness)

You will note that the bottom of the seat is not perpendicular to the hanger bolt. I debated using a spacer cut to the angle, or creating a flat spot on the bottom with an end mill, but ended up just flipping the jam nuts upside down so the radiused side of the nut mates with the hollow of the finishing washer. It seemed to firmly mate up, so I will roll with it for now.

I'm no wood worker, but we muddled through it.

Let me know if you need pictures or other clarifications.
 
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