Does anyone have a suggestion regarding the center thwart on my Jensen 17? I am not sure if I can simply attach yoke pads to my center thwart since it is round aluminum. I'm worried that if I get the clamp on type pads they might tend to "spin" around the thwart as I'm portaging. Would it be better to just replace the thwart with an ash yoke? I'm hoping to find a solution that will work well and be at a somewhat reasonable cost. Ideally, I'd like to leave the thwart so I don't have to try to remove the rivets that are holding it on. however, maybe it would be best to remove the thwart and replace it with the Spring Creek yoke/seat combination which would also be good for paddling solo since I can't reverse direction due to the bucket seats. Anyway, any help would be great!

In my opinion, the most secure way to attach a yoke to your Jensen 17 would be to permanently mount the portage yoke with the hardware I linked below.

Wenonah Accessories

When I worked at Rutabaga years ago, I mounted many portage yokes in various canoes using the laminated wood yoke shown on the right with the Ash Yoke Mounting Kit shown to left of the laminated yoke shown on the linked Wenonah page. It's the yoke I have in my Wenonah Odyssey shown below, although I changed to the sling-style pads a few years ago. I don't consider myself the most mechanically inclined or the handiest with power tools, but I found it fairly easy to install the yoke with the mounting kit.

I also have a Kevlar Center-Rib Jensen 18 with a removable yoke. The primary reason I have a removable yoke in my Jensen 18 is because the Center Rib construction has shock absorbers that are attached to the thwarts. Mounting the aforementioned yoke would eliminate the center shock absorber, which I don't want to do.

Hans Solo

Excellent advice! That's what I will do. Is it a real pain to remove the rivets to take out the center thwart?

quote CDandRockythedog: "Excellent advice! That's what I will do. Is it a real pain to remove the rivets to take out the center thwart?
"

I replaced the aluminum gunwales on my Jensen 18 a couple years ago. First time I'd ever attempted anything of the sort. Removing the thwarts was easy.

Dave

quote CDandRockythedog: "Excellent advice! That's what I will do. Is it a real pain to remove the rivets to take out the center thwart?
"

Removing the rivets is probably one of easier steps. You need to use a drill bit slightly smaller than the hole the current rivet(s) are inserted in. All you need do is center the drill bit on the head of the rivet you want to remove. Press firmly against the rivet and drill out the rivet. The drill bit will essentially "manage" the rivet enough that the pieces should fall out.

Pictures below are of my Jensen 18 with the discontinued Center-Rib lay-up. As you can see, mounting a permanent ash yoke, (as I have in my Wenonah Odyssey), is not really a practical option if I want to retain the integrity of the Center-Rib lay-up.

Hans Solo

Thanks for all of the very helpful info! I just ordered the laminated yoke along with the mounting hardware. I'll let you know how the installation goes! I'm really looking forward to not having the bar sitting across my shoulders!

I'm not sure if this picture uploaded correctly. But, if it did, here is the new yoke, just as you suggested. I had a couple minor issues with the installation (probably just me): I had to get longer rivets because the ones provided were just a bit short to go through both sides of the gunwale and the canoe itself. I also needed to use longer screws because the bracket sits at a bit of an angle because of the fact that the canoe is not a perfect right angle. Anyway, it I did get it installed about a week ago and I tried it out portaging on about a 100 rod portage near my house. What a difference!! Thanks for the advice!!

Well...It looks like the picture uploaded, but it's sideways! Oh well, you get the idea! Haha!

Looks great CDandRockythedog!

Glad it worked out for you.

Hans Solo