I ordered the Harmony track style foot brace kit for my Mohawk Solo 14. Any advice on installing it? Or “What NOT to do”??? Ha.
Thanks,
Chris
Well, sit on the seat and determine exactly where the balls of your feet are going to wind up in whatever paddling position you find most agreeable. With tracked foot pads you are generally best positioning the ball of your foot on the pad. Mark that location on the side of your canoe carefully to determine the height you want the pad and the longitudinal placement.
Now move the foot pad back on forth on the track and determine the center of its range of motion. That is generally not going to coincide with the center of the track. Put the foot pad in that position. You are going to want to mount the track so that the foot pad is at the marked position on your canoe. That will allow you the maximum range of adjustment if you wear different shoes or other people paddle your canoe.
Now you need to figure out how to position the ends of the track so that the foot pad remains at the same height throughout its range of travel. Generally speaking, you do not want to just align the track with the bottom of the hull and certainly not with the sheer line.
Having done all that you can mark the locations of your bolt holes. Presumably, your foot brace kit came with some stainless steel machine screws that tap into the plastic tracks at the screw holes, and perhaps some nylon washers. You will have to drill holes through the hull for these screws. Some people use a fancy forstner bit to do this to cut a clean hole with less chance of chipping gel coat. I have simply used plain jobber bits and have never had a problem. But I do start with a small bit and progressively enlarge the hole with bigger bits. Also, put a piece of tape on the hull exterior where the bit is going to come through and it will reduce the tendency for gel coat chipping. Don’t drill both holes for the track at the same time. Do one hole, mount the track with the screw, position the track, then use the other screw hole in the track as a template for the second hole in the hull.
Some people will apply a bit a silicone caulk or sealant to the machine screws as the are inserted. I generally have not, but I do use nylon washers. The machine screws will wind up above the water line so you don’t need to worry about a lot of water leaking in.
Wow, what a great response. Some things I hadn’t thought of. Thanks for your time.
I got them installed tonight. I’m liking them. They are much more sturdy after getting them snugged down than I thought they would be. I’m happy.
Well done.
Looks good.
Chris @Adventure357 , please post back again and let us know how you like them in the Mohawk after a paddle or two. I know in another post you said you like to kneel sometimes, so I’m guessing you have a high seat. I was thinking of putting a Wenonah foot-brace in my OT Pack which has a relatively high seat as well. I’ve only ever had them on floor-sitters like the Wenonah Moccasin and MR Serenade, so I’d appreciate hearing your experience using them with a high seat.
Will do. I may go for a paddle over the next few days, so I’ll post up.
One thing about the kit. It has 3 screw holes in the track, but the kit only came with 2 screws for each side. It is pretty sturdy with just the 2 screws securing it, but I went ahead and contacted Harmony about sending me 2 more. I will feel better having another screw in the middle of the track. Which is where the pedal will be located and therefore most of the stress on the system will be centered in the middle. So I would recommend, adding the 3rd screw.
@Canadice Clipper said:
Chris @Adventure357 , please post back again and let us know how you like them in the Mohawk after a paddle or two. I know in another post you said you like to kneel sometimes, so I’m guessing you have a high seat. I was thinking of putting a Wenonah foot-brace in my OT Pack which has a relatively high seat as well. I’ve only ever had them on floor-sitters like the Wenonah Moccasin and MR Serenade, so I’d appreciate hearing your experience using them with a high seat.
I’ve installed the Wenonah sliding foot brace in multiple solo canoes with high seats to allow kneeling:
Bell Flashfire, Yellowstone Solo. My Merlin II already had kayak style foot pegs in it.
Curtis Lady Bug. My Vagabond already had one.
I think they greatly increase versatility of the canoes, since I alternate sitting and kneeling.
I plan to add them to a few more, as time allows.
My Serenade Came with the Harmony foot braces factory installed, they only used two screws each as well. You are right though, with the pads toward the center of the rail, there was quite a bit of wobble.
@Canadice Clipper said:
Chris @Adventure357 , please post back again and let us know how you like them in the Mohawk after a paddle or two. I know in another post you said you like to kneel sometimes, so I’m guessing you have a high seat. I was thinking of putting a Wenonah foot-brace in my OT Pack which has a relatively high seat as well. I’ve only ever had them on floor-sitters like the Wenonah Moccasin and MR Serenade, so I’d appreciate hearing your experience using them with a high seat.
I have an OT Pack that I use for fishing and photography. I split my time just about equally between sitting and kneeling. My seat is an Ed’s contour mounted high and angled forward. I installed a set of foot braces that I remove from Wilderness Systems kayaks. I upgrade the kayaks to Sea Dog braces as I don’t care for the factory versions. They do however work very nicely in the little canoe. I’ve had these in there for a few years now and highly recommend the foot support even with the high mount seat. I’m a little over 6’-2" and have no stability issues with this set up. The foot braces really help when sitting to fish and take pics as well as paddling.
@Holmes375 , at the risk of going off topic for just a minute, I see you moved the seat forward, as did I. I added a second thwart in the old hole locations to give those vinyl gunnels a little extra support, as I have been using the Pack in light white-water, hence my interest in adding the brace. I have never felt the need to ‘lock in’ with braces for fishing or normal flat water in any of my vessels with high seats, but I can understand those who do.
