Hi, I’m a new poster and new to the canoeing scene.
My wife was given a Rogue River 14KT by a friend. We have enjoyed fossil trips down the Peace River and more locally the Blackwater and Cold-water in Florida k no fossils here). Anyway, looking forward to some easy trips with this boat maybe even to the Sepulga for another fossil hunt.
The Rogue is definitely not a high class boat by any stretch of the imagination but my wife feels comfortable in it and that’s what matters. And the price was right.
I do have one small repair I need or would like to make. The thwart had loosened and the bolts holding it on have almost worked through the end of the wood. It appears to measure between 41"-42" and I would like to replace it.
I see yokes that length but not thwarts.
Do you all have recommendations on where to buy a 42" thwart? Or can i make one out of something like a 1x3 piece of lumber? Or should i just replace it with a yoke?
Lastly there is only a center thwart in this canoe. Would i be better off retrofitting 2 with each being a little fore/aft of center or should i just stick with one?
Thanks for the info. Lots of questions for a first post i know but thanks.
Have a good day.
I picked up a 14’7” OT canoe and it came with a rotted center yoke as well. I never would carry it overhead so I did something similar to what you are thinking. In my case I wanted it to be a solo not a tandem so I removed and replaced thwarts to suit my needs. I had a pile of aluminum tent frame poles from a long gone cabin tent and I cut them to lengths I needed and flattened the ends, drilled and bolted into the gunwales with stainless bolts and nuts and special washers for a near flush top surface.
In my case I spaced them both for where I needed my cockpit to be and also at useful spacing for items I often carry like a small cooler.
Wood is beautiful and all but requires some maintenance. Going with aluminum tube is IMO stronger and easier on the hands when moving the boat around on land.
I will see if I can find a photo showing how that looks.
Also welcome to the forum.
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Thanks for the reply. That’s a nice looking setup and would be easier than the wood. I think I’ll look for some tubing when i get home and maybe add 2 thwarts instead of one. Who knows, maybe 3 to hold 2 coolers like you did.
Thanks for the info. Have a good day.
The nice thing about having a couple extra thwarts is like in my case the center one of the three is sometimes removed. It only takes a minute and if say I were to take along a small child 6-8 years old or the family dog I move the cooler to behind my seat and then toss my rescue seat cushion down so they have something to sit on.
I find the thwarts easier to lash things into the canoe than drilling and putting loops down both sides as is common in Europe.
If you do make the tubing thwarts leave them a little long and trim the ends on the angle to match the hull shape. Don’t fit them real tight to the hull as with flexing they will saw into the plastic. Round all the edges and hold them in place with a C-clamp and drill the gunwale and the thwart at the same time for perfect alignment.
Post a pic when you get done it will help others with modifying their boats.
This is good advice, and it applies to the fitting of new wooden thwarts too. A wood thwart which has ends that are in contact with the hull may not “saw into” the hull, but it could do wear damage, and at the very least is likely to make noise as the hull flexes. So this is an issue that applies generally to constructing new thwarts.
Thanks for the info and tips. When i get home I’ll round up some aluminum tubing and give it a shot.
I’ll post pictures when I’m do.
Thanks
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