Just finished my new yoke for my next solo trip, I'm going with a curved yoke with water pipe wrap for cushion, I used it on my Sundowner and really like the feel of it, the weight seemed more spread out over my shoulders versus having 2 separate pads, my solo weighs about 8lbs less so I'm thinking it will work even better.



Yes the black tape looks a little hooky, but it works well and is an easy fix on the portages if needed.

Interesting idea, housty - let us know how you like it after you try it.

Cool idea. I have a very similar yoke with pads, but could remove them. Does your head end up in the canoe or bump the seat? The midpoint for balance in my magic is at the seat and I think the spacing of the pads keeps the seat off my head. Something to check out tomorrow. I agree the pads slip around and are not ideal for weight distribution.

quote housty9: "Yes the black tape looks a little hooky, but it works well and is an easy fix on the portages if needed. "

What are you trying to say?




:D

quote hooky: "

quote housty9: "Yes the black tape looks a little hooky, but it works well and is an easy fix on the portages if needed. "

What are you trying to say?





:D"

HAHAHA!

Mark have you thought of trying a Teal yoke like the Souris River canoes use, they are curved and dished out in the shoulder area. Personally I don't like them but according to Harlan up at Red Lake they are the best. FRED

quote bhouse46: "Cool idea. I have a very similar yoke with pads, but could remove them. Does your head end up in the canoe or bump the seat? The midpoint for balance in my magic is at the seat and I think the spacing of the pads keeps the seat off my head. Something to check out tomorrow. I agree the pads slip around and are not ideal for weight distribution."

I'm going to try it out Sunday when I go paddling at the Mississippi river and will let you know how it works out, plus I'm going to try some new cloths layering in the colder temps in the morning.

Nice and simple.

While I did not put the yoke on, the seat will be an issue, especially with the sitbacker in place. Hope yours works for you housty9.

quote FOG51: "Mark have you thought of trying a Teal yoke like the Souris River canoes use, they are curved and dished out in the shoulder area. Personally I don't like them but according to Harlan up at Red Lake they are the best. FRED"

Back in the 70's I got one of them dished yokes for my old town. I didn't like it. I like your "hooky" idea Mark.

Thanks for the laugh hooky, I'm sure he meant hokey. :)

Sorry, just discovered these personal/solo sites, I know this an old thread, but I use the dished out yoke and Gorilla glued some padding on it. It seems OK, I would not say great. Portaging with a padded life jacket over the shoulders helps.
My canoe with yoke is only about 35#'s. I cut down the yoke so it slips into my gunnels and rids a little lower. I did not like the looks of my Yoke being up above the gunnels.
I spent a lot of time balancing my canoe with the yoke "C Clamped" in place (So I could move it around) to figure out the exact spot it needed to be as far as center of gravity is concerned, since it cannot be moved easily.
I seem to have good visibility with my canoe over my head.

Here is the pic.

To each his own.. I insist the yoke be above the gunwales. I never want my head in the canoe.
a. the bugs are there
b. I need to see where I am going.
c. I hate banging my fat head on a canoe that is 12 inches deep.

quote LindenTree3: "Sorry, just discovered these personal/solo sites, I know this an old thread, but I use the dished out yoke and Gorilla glued some padding on it. It seems OK, I would not say great. Portaging with a padded life jacket over the shoulders helps.
My canoe with yoke is only about 35#'s. I cut down the yoke so it slips into my gunnels and rids a little lower. I did not like the looks of my Yoke being up above the gunnels.
I spent a lot of time balancing my canoe with the yoke "C Clamped" in place (So I could move it around) to figure out the exact spot it needed to be as far as center of gravity is concerned, since it cannot be moved easily.
I seem to have good visibility with my canoe over my head.

Here is the pic. "

I really liked my one in my sundowner, looking foward to trying the one in my solo this spring.

quote FOG51: "Mark have you thought of trying a Teal yoke like the Souris River canoes use, they are curved and dished out in the shoulder area. Personally I don't like them but according to Harlan up at Red Lake they are the best. FRED"

I saw this as well with Algonquin Outfitters. They relayed that they never use portage pads only this naked yoke style.

quote hooky: "

quote housty9: "Yes the black tape looks a little hooky, but it works well and is an easy fix on the portages if needed. "

What are you trying to say?





:D"

Black Tape Matters.

quote HighnDry: "

quote FOG51: "Mark have you thought of trying a Teal yoke like the Souris River canoes use, they are curved and dished out in the shoulder area. Personally I don't like them but according to Harlan up at Red Lake they are the best. FRED"

I saw this as well with Algonquin Outfitters. They relayed that they never use portage pads only this naked yoke style."

I got the dished yoke for my old town. It was not very comfortable. Marks idea is a good one. I'm going to try it. Especially if carrying a pack at the same time. My solo yoke has the extended chosen valley pads now.

quote LindenTree3: "Sorry, just discovered these personal/solo sites, I know this an old thread, but I use the dished out yoke and Gorilla glued some padding on it. It seems OK, I would not say great. Portaging with a padded life jacket over the shoulders helps.
My canoe with yoke is only about 35#'s. I cut down the yoke so it slips into my gunnels and rids a little lower. I did not like the looks of my Yoke being up above the gunnels.
I spent a lot of time balancing my canoe with the yoke "C Clamped" in place (So I could move it around) to figure out the exact spot it needed to be as far as center of gravity is concerned, since it cannot be moved easily.
I seem to have good visibility with my canoe over my head.

Here is the pic. "

Your dog needs a pad under its head. I love how dogs can adapt in a canoe.

In the pma it might be better to have the canoe a little lower with the bushwacking.

quote housty9: "In the pma it might be better to have the canoe a little lower with the bushwacking."

Here's how I measured the yoke for my canoe.

I C-clamped it on the canoe above the Gunnels and moved it to the bow or stern accordingly (on my shoulders)to see how it balanced. Then as you can see, I screwed it below the gunnels in the picture's. I screwed it into place and cut it down half the width to gain me a little extra space. I wear a hat and padded life jacket to gain me a little extra space and have never hit my head on the bottom of the canoe.

Granted my canoe is only 12.5 feet long, but I have good visibility out of it.

Here is another picture of my dog without the thwart chin-rest. :-)
She is a rescue dog, who was missing her left eye when we rescued her. She is a awesome canoe dog, jumps into the boat delicately and pretty much stays there, with little movement.







Even with this hat, I do not hit my head on the bottom of the canoe.