I needed a yoke for taking my Wenonah Solo Plus on a solo trip so I designed and made one (at work). I saw a design that grabs at the inside corner of the seat being sold by Wenonah and based my design on that. The yoke mounting piece grabs at two axis of the seat.

I failed to get a picture of these, but one axis of movement is controlled by some “locking lugs” which stop it from sliding off backwards. The other axis of movement is controlled by some easy-to-use thumb screws that keep each end from moving out. The thumb screws operate on a slot that gives the yoke ends enough room to move far out of the way but also enough range to tighten up and securely squeeze the seat.

I milled out lots of the aluminum to cut down on the weight. Solidworks says the aluminum should weigh 3lbs and I would add another pound for the pads. I wrapped some additional foam across the mid-section. I gave them a quick test and they do well. The real test will be the BWCA tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

Just sharing for fun but let me know if you have any questions.

I have an interest in " Do It Yourself " projects and I enjoyed your post. I am curious to know how it performed. Did you like it and if so is there anything you would change?

Tomcat: "I have an interest in " Do It Yourself " projects and I enjoyed your post. I am curious to know how it performed. Did you like it and if so is there anything you would change?"

It worked good, no changes necessary. I would modify it if i can figure out how to use it as a lower back support while paddling too. It is almost comfortable for that without modification. The only issue i had is it was a little tight slipping it into place. I had applied a layer of duct tape to the inside of the slot to make the fit tighter but it seems to have not needed this.

Thanks for the update.

The photos don't show it fully installed, I am assuming that it installs on the front edge of the center seat for portaging and on the back edge of the seat when paddling.

Tomcat: "Thanks for the update.


The photos don't show it fully installed, I am assuming that it installs on the front edge of the center seat for portaging and on the back edge of the seat when paddling."

I should have got some better photos of it. When paddling it was either on the bar right behind the seat or else at one of the ends. It grabs on well at any of these places and holds itself up and out of the mess below.


The canoe seat also has green foam taped over it which makes it hard to see the portage yoke.


If you look close you can see it stored at the rear of the canoe. It hooks over the last crossbar perfectly.

Nice!

I like that you can clamp or park the carry yoke on a thwart while paddling. That keeps it out of the way yet available and secure in case you capsize. I imagine that the shoulder pads provide enough bouncy to float the carry yoke should you capsize and it falls out when stowed in the bow or stern locations.

I wonder if you replaced the rear thwart with a modified rear thwart that allowed you to clap or park the carry yoke vertically instead of horizontally so that the shoulder pads could be used as a backrest while paddling?