It hasn’t been abused or used all that much, but it’s cracking by the hump.
Re-cane it. It is not that difficult. Contoured seats of that type do put more stress on the cane at the bends.
To get the old cane out, cut it off along the margins of the seat frame. Soak the spline and remaining cane that is held into the routed groove with hot water until the material and glue soften. You may need to reapply hot water several times. A narrow wood chisel is helpful for cleaning out the routed groove. After you clean the rout would be a good time to refinish the seat frame if it needs it.
I have purchased cane and materials on several different occasions from this company:
https://www.caneandbasket.com/default.asp
You will probably want the 1/2" fine open mesh cane webbing. It is sold in different widths by the lineal inch. Buy a big enough sheet to overlap the width between your routed grooves by several inches both transverely and longitudinally.
https://www.caneandbasket.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CW-102M50
You will also need enough spline to go around the perimeter of your routed groove plus a couple of inches. This is sold in 6 foot lengths and comes in different widths to match the width of the routed groove in the seat frame so make sure you order the proper size:
https://www.caneandbasket.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CW-SP6
I would also recommend you buy a set of the hard wood wedges. These are used to hold the cane in position in the groove as you go around the seat frame:
https://www.caneandbasket.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TL-HWW
I would recommend you start applying the cane at the central “peaked” area of the front seat frame cross piece.
You will also need a good glue. Cane and basket sells glue but I have generally use a waterproof glue made by Tightbond.
Ed’s also sells a complete repair kit if you prefer. Pblanc’s source is probably more economical. I used an Ed’s kit to recane a seat and it came out great. It looks like yours failed because the cane was dry (in addition to any pressure points from the seat contours) so maybe take it as a reminder to oil the cane on your seats once or twice a year.
https://www.edscanoe.com/canerepairkit.html
My late Mom took a number of courses in furniture repair and restoration and repaired and maintained our many family antiques. She taught me that caned seats (like those on the set of walnut dining chairs my great grandpa made and I inherited) need to be soaked with water about every 6 months to keep the material from becoming brittle and also to shrink sagging seats back to shape. She would lay a warm wet towel or washcloth over them for about and hour and then let it dry for at least a day or two before being used again.
Many restorers recommend lemon oil for protecting caning but you really need penetrating moisture periodically to keep it “healthy”. Of course, with a canoe seat that is usually going to happen at some point with regular usage.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I had no idea that cane seats required so much maintenance or I probably would have bought webbing seats.
I’ve never oiled the two that I’ve installed, there was nothing in the instructions regarding maintenance, but I guess that I should have assumed that they would require some sort of finishing. I better oil the cane bucket seat in my Lady Bug before it cracks and breaks as well. It’s seen a lot more use than this seat in my Flashfire.
The proper repair (cane replacement) sounds like it’s more work than I’m likely to do this year, so I’ll likely just put some Flex Tape over the torn part, oil the remainder of the seat and call it good for this season.
I also have cane seats it two different tandems that were already missing the cane when I bought the boats. I’ll check the pricing for re-caning vs new seat and decide how to approach them.
willowleaf, I may try that approach for tightening slack cane on chairs. Sounds worth a try.
Thanks again, everyone.
@willowleaf said:
My late Mom took a number of courses in furniture repair and restoration and repaired and maintained our many family antiques. She taught me that caned seats (like those on the set of walnut dining chairs my great grandpa made and I inherited) need to be soaked with water about every 6 months to keep the material from becoming brittle and also to shrink sagging seats back to shape. She would lay a warm wet towel or washcloth over them for about and hour and then let it dry for at least a day or two before being used again.Many restorers recommend lemon oil for protecting caning but you really need penetrating moisture periodically to keep it “healthy”. Of course, with a canoe seat that is usually going to happen at some point with regular usage.
That’s interesting info and sounds like good advice. If you search around the canoe forums it’s not at all clear what the “best” way to treat and maintain cane is but it makes sense that the furniture folks have a lot of knowledge. I never heard of the warm towel soak but that also seems logical. I think (but don’t know) that cane comes varnished on just the top side so it’s weird stuff. Somehow it seems logical to me to soak it using a towel but also to get some oil into it periodically.
Hey Yanoer, if your time is worth anything you’d probably just replace your seats. I recaned the seat on the Blackhawk Shadow in the pic because Blackhawk also made their own unique seat frames and I really wanted to keep it “pure Blackhawk” but on something like a Bell where they just purchased seats that weren’t very special I happily replaced them with better seats from Ed’s. Also - if I can recane a seat you can too. 
The Ed’s canoe bucket seat sells for $56.25 plus shipping. And then there is the time commitent required to fit the new seat, which will include measuring and cutting the ends of the seat frame, drilling the holes in the frame to accept the machine screws, and treating the exposed end grain of the cut ends of the seat frame as well as the drilled holes, with varnish or polyurethane.
Yep, all good points. On my Blackhawk I recaned the seat without removing it because again I just didn’t want to disturb the factory installation which was rock solid after almost 25 years. On the other hand for Yanoer’s tandem Ed’s also offers less expensive options. Hemlock also offers some tempting alternatives.
@pblanc said:
The Ed’s canoe bucket seat sells for $56.25 plus shipping. And then there is the time commitent required to fit the new seat, which will include measuring and cutting the ends of the seat frame, drilling the holes in the frame to accept the machine screws, and treating the exposed end grain of the cut ends of the seat frame as well as the drilled holes, with varnish or polyurethane.
Pete,
I’ll probably buy those materials and give it a try. I might even try to interest the 17 year old grandsons to give it a try.
Cane is a natural fiber and the tubular grass-like stems are split lengthwise and flattened to create the slender ribbons for weaving (which is why they are just slightly curved in cross section). They are not “varnished on one side”: that is the natural outer surface of the dried reed stem, like you would find on dried bamboo. The side that is not a little glossy was originally the inner surface of the tubular reed.
The seat in my Lady Bug was re-done with woven 1" cotton Shaker tape (the Shakers preferred fabric to reed or cane because it was simple and durable.) A lot easier to do than cane, though not quite as classic looking.
I have replaced badly damage cane with 1/8" rope woven like the rawhide used by Native Americans. There is one mistake in the weaving of the seat pictured that I didn’t go back and correct as it is only noticeable if closely inspected, and was fully functionable. On the next two I did I paid a bit more attention and avoided any mistake in the weaving.
This link shows how to do it. It is an inexpressive way to repair the seat.
I like both willowleaf’s and castoff’s approach because they both add a warm/soft/natural feature to the canoe versus synthetic webbing.
Hey Yanoer, I suggest that you still get some moisture into your cane seat to minimize further tearing even if you plan to just tape it for now. Once dry cane starts tearing it tends to open up like a zipper.
Yes, when cane goes it is sort of like making popcorn. One or two pop and then all of a sudden, a lot more go off.
Thanks for the alternative suggestions - I will look into them, as well.
TomL, what kind of moisture before applying tape? Just water? Or some oil? The finish will need to allow the tape to adhere.
By the way, that wild pattern inside the Lady Bug is one of those closed cell foam kitchen floor mats that I got for $5 at a discount store. Makes a very nice kneeling pad just the right size to lay across the hull. Similar material to yoga pads but non-skid on the back.
@Yanoer said:
Thanks for the alternative suggestions - I will look into them, as well.TomL, what kind of moisture before applying tape? Just water? Or some oil? The finish will need to allow the tape to adhere.
I’d defer to willowleaf’s recommendation and leave a wet towel on it for an hour and then give it two days to dry. If you expect the tape to adhere to the cane then don’t oil it and if you want to just oil the cane use whatever you use on your gunwales but don’t get it on the seat frame. I’m no expert so if anyone else sounds confident I’d follow their recommendation.
@willowleaf said:
By the way, that wild pattern inside the Lady Bug is one of those closed cell foam kitchen floor mats that I got for $5 at a discount store. Makes a very nice kneeling pad just the right size to lay across the hull. Similar material to yoga pads but non-skid on the back.
I have to admit I was curious and wondering if you cut up your grandmother’s linoleum kitchen floor.
That kitchen mat is similar material to the gym and playroom modular foam mats that many people report using for canoe kneeling pads. It’s non-skid and non-absorbent (they are meant to be used on the floor in front of sinks and food prep areas) so it is well-suited to the purpose. I could have gotten one in a solid color (or one with a salty quip about drinking more wine than cooking with it) but I have an old hippie’s penchant for bright colors and patterns, as reflected in my home-sewn cockpit covers.
Very cool cockpit cover.
I really like that it adds a touch of the owners personality to the boat!