I need to make a portage yoke for my canoe. What wood should I use? Is there a good one that's strong enough but not too heavy?

Probably ash which is what the commercially produced yokes seem to be made of - light and strong.

I think Kanoes made some out of high quality laminated wood, aka 9-ply plywood. That does have some advantages. I've thought about that.

Otherwise, Ed's canoe makes themout of ash, black walnut, and cherry. I notice that he only makes the longer ones from ash. But I'm not sue if that is for strength or availability of longer pieces.

Ash is best, though I have made great ones of cherry.

I wouldn't worry about weight- any weight savings in that small of a piece of wood are not worth the tradeoff.

Whatever you go with- find a board with the section that has the straightest grains- no swirls or knots. This is priority #1. it will break at the knots.

Ash is used because it's one of the tougher and stronger readily available woods. its got great "shock resistance" which is why it's been used in baseball bats forever. It's also a very workable wood.

Mine is made out of walnut. That's a good choice as well.

Cherry also good but not quite as strong.

Oak is a bad choice as it's very prone to splitting. It fractures too easily when thinned past 1/2"

Pine is not strong enough. Nor is cedar or basswood.

Hickory would be an excellent choice but is hard to work.

Same with maple- harder to work and has a tendency to burn with power tools, but could be a good choice. It's certainly attractive enough- more so than ash.

Poplar might not be a bad choice but it's kind of ugly.

Birch would be a solid #4 choice as well.

Talking about strength on a 3 ft piece of hardwood might seem silly because none are likely to snap in all truthfulness, but remember, there are usually two thinner "horns" for lack of a better word sticking out over your shoulder. This is where we'd likely see some failure.

ash--- and specifically -- white ash. Green ash is not as long lasting.

Also- google the wood database".

Has stats on weight of wood, strength, hardness, and shock resistance. This should help in your decision.

I've made them from cherry and ash with no issues.

Find a clear white ash board with no knots or imperfections to build it. That's what hockey sticks and baseball bats are made out of. Flexes but very strong.

It would depend on your canoe. If you have a 42 pound kevlar boat then you could probably make the yoke out of a clear, straight-grained piece of cedar or spruce or white pine. Ash or walnut used to be the standard when old wood/canvas boats weighed 80 pounds or even more when they were wet. Not necessary on a boat half the weight. Most of my yokes are southern yellow pine.

The comment that weight savings in a small piece of wood is minimal is certainly true.

The canoe is of medium weight--54 pounds. I did wonder about the lighter woods mentioned here, but of course the weight savings would be small.

I made mine out of poplar, alight hardwood, for a 61 lb. cedar strip canoe. Once it was varnished, the wood was rather handsome and it has proved to be well up to the task for which it was intended.

Mine is ash and has been very functional thus far. Cheap too.

quote Grizzlyman: "

Oak is a bad choice as it's very prone to splitting. It fractures too easily when thinned past 1/2"
"

Not sure I agree with you. My SR came with an Oak yoke and I've made a yoke for my solo from oak and never had any issue, and frankly I wouldn't trust any wood at 1/2" for a yoke.

Oak is strong, readily available and cheap. Disadvantage would be weight.

Daniel

quote Grizzlyman: "I wouldn't worry about weight- any weight savings in that small of a piece of wood are not worth the tradeoff.
"

Amongst different wood species, yes. But (thinking outside the box) if ultimate lightweight was a priority, a carbon composite yoke might bring weight savings in the area of one pound or more over wood.

That said, my ash yoke suits me just fine.
In fact, I think it kicks ash.

hickory,

quote dew042: "

quote Grizzlyman: "


Oak is a bad choice as it's very prone to splitting. It fractures too easily when thinned past 1/2"
"

Not sure I agree with you. My SR came with an Oak yoke and I've made a yoke for my solo from oak and never had any issue, and frankly I wouldn't trust any wood at 1/2" for a yoke.


Oak is strong, readily available and cheap. Disadvantage would be weight.


Daniel"

You're 100% right- as I mentioned 3/4 hardwood shouldnt break regardless of which species. However if you carve a contoured yoke for the shoulders or thin out the "horns" on the yoke, then that usually involves thinning it down locally. Thin oak splits. Does that mean it will? Who knows but I'd hate to put the work in and find out. There's a reason oak isn't the primary yoke material or used for tools/ handles. That's all I'm saying.

quote Grizzlyman: "

quote dew042: "

quote Grizzlyman: "



Oak is a bad choice as it's very prone to splitting. It fractures too easily when thinned past 1/2"
"

Not sure I agree with you. My SR came with an Oak yoke and I've made a yoke for my solo from oak and never had any issue, and frankly I wouldn't trust any wood at 1/2" for a yoke.



Oak is strong, readily available and cheap. Disadvantage would be weight.



Daniel"

You're 100% right- as I mentioned 3/4 hardwood shouldnt break regardless of which species. However if you carve a contoured yoke for the shoulders or thin out the "horns" on the yoke, then that usually involves thinning it down locally. Thin oak splits. Does that mean it will? Who knows but I'd hate to put the work in and find out. There's a reason oak isn't the primary yoke material or used for tools/ handles. That's all I'm saying. "

Got it, agreed. I remember doing oak because it was cheap at the local lumberyard.

Daniel

I made this one completely free hand for my solo canoe out of Poplar (it was the most cost effective at Menards). I've used it at least 20 times since April and it's performed really well. Just enough flex and strength.