I bought a canoe. Had hole. Fixed hole. Broken bow seat. Help!!!
That’s a Coleman canoe or the generic equivalent. I would be shocked if you could order replacement parts anywhere, though these boats were dirt cheap and millions of them are laying around in people’s yards and garages, so perhaps with some searching you can find someone willing to part with theirs for not much $.
That said, here’s what I would do. I’d get some stainless steel strapping (“flat stock”) in roughly the same width as those cracked aluminum frame sections. You can get this at any hardware store. Pre-bend pieces of that flat stock to match the bend on the existing frame sections. Disconnect the existing frames from the rail of the boat and bolt the piece of flat stock on as a patch, and put it all back together. I’d overlap the patching piece all the way up to the top of the existing frame, so that where it bolts to the rail of the boat, the bolts go through the both the existing frame piece and the patch. It’ll be stronger than new. If you’re good at this kind of thing, you’ll have it done in half an hour. If you’re like me, it’ll take three-times that long.
Okay, here’s option #2. Ditch the original seat. Buy some aluminum angle stock, and bolt that to the inside of the hull at the same height you want your new seat to be (you’ll have one piece of angle stock on each side). The horizontal section of the angle stock that sticks out from the hull will be the platform to support your new seat. Go to Ed’s Canoe Parts online, and order a wood-framed seat that suits your fancy. Take that seat and cut the four individual frame sections that stick out sideways (two on each side) to the proper length so that the cut ends sit perfectly on the two pieces of angle stock that are attached to the hull. If you don’t mind mismatched seats, this is the better option. Or, avoid the mismatched issue and replace the rear seat too.
Just a hint. With wooden seats, the kind that have a bit of curvature built into them are mighty comfy - more than you might expect if you already think that seats with webbing won’t be as comfy as the padded seats you have now.
Here’s one more hint. The plastic hull of your canoe is extraordinarily flimsy (oh, it’s very tough in some ways, but it is very flexible). Therefore, choose a large size for you angle stock, like something that’s two inches wide, or better yet three inches if you can find it. because a broader area of attachment to the hull will be more stable once the weight of a person is on the seat.
Yeah. Fabricate or find someone who will for you.
You might try sitting on a cooler or something. I don’t know about safety and other considerations.
Btw… Those metal pipes along the bottom that make your boat more rigid also indicate its really really soft.
Consider buying another cheap kayak.
I need to replace yoke in middle. I picked up this canoe a few years ago. And didn’t realize till a year ago it was missing. Any ideas on how to replace the yoke
Sorry to say you have one of the worst canoe designs around. You can find plenty of wood parts to use to replace the steel or conduit or whatever they are made with. thwarts and seats are easy to find made of wood.
What brand of canoe is it? Can you post a photo?
When you decide how to fix the seats and yoke, bear in mind that that tube that runs down the middle of the hull is not for decoration. The seats, yoke and thwart are all connected to it and that is all that keeps that particular style (late '70’s early 80’s) of Coleman from collapsing on itself if it gets pinned, so you need to bear that in mind That old Ram-X had no real structural strength without all that support. If you can find some of the mounded plastic seats that have the pedestal on the bottom from a newer version, they would probably work pretty well.
Back in the day, I sold hundreds of these things and for that I apologize.
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