Canoe portage yoke ?

I am thinking of making a canoe portage yoke and using a piece of 3/4" aluminum tube as the cross piece to make it as light as possible.

Does anyone else have that rather than a wood yoke?

The canoe weighs 39 pounds and I am hoping the tube won’t bend.



Thoughts?

Comments?



Cheers,

JackL


E-mailed foto to you.
Mick

Thanks I will check it out…
…after I leave the forum.

Regards,

JackL

yoke
Have a 40# Sawyer DY Special with round aluminum gunnels and a Wenonah sliding pedestal. Do a lot of portaging so I rigged a crossbrace that fits in by pressure.



Took a piece of 1.5" schedule 40 white plastic pipe just a hair longer than the inside width of the gunnels and hull. Used a hole saw,(same diameter as the gunnels), to cross drill the two ends, keeping about 1/2 to 3/4 of the hole in the pipe. The drilled holes are just open enough to be a slip fit over the gunnels. Simply place the pipe bewteen the gunnels at an angle and by slightly forcing the sides of the hull/gunnels apart, the drilled holes snap fit onto the gunnels which return to their normal width. Cutting the holes so a bit more than half of the drilled hole is within the body of the pipe provides a bit more grip on the gunnels preventing them from flexing apart. Wrap the center of the the pipe with a non slip material or deck paint for “grip”. Light weight, quick and easy to use and stows neatly.

That sounds pretty neat, but…
I think the PVC would have to be bolted in at each end to the gunnel.

I would be afraid that the continuous beating it will take on these goat paths would knock it loose.



JackL

JackL
I suggest you find the balance point of your Jensen. Mount in a piece of 7/8 x 2 1/2 ash and then put on a set of portage cups. If anything fails during the 90 miler it is tough to get to a hardware store at 6.30 in th evening in the aderondacks.

I did the aderondacks in an eighteen foot tuffweave sundowner one year. No yolk worth mentioning…

Please do not try to reinvent the wheel, Nanci ( your much younger and better looking other half ) is not strong enough to carry you and the Jensen…