A crazy solo canoe seat concept for rudder fans...

[Gulfster]

http://plebeianyachtclub.blogspot.com/

Please check out the "Classic Sawyer Solo Seat" modification concept that i drew while being overly caffeinated...Design is for use with rudder systems and will retain fore/aft and up/down seat adjustability, keeping the foot braces the same distance from the seat no matter what position the seat is in.... My wife has a hard time steering my 15' rudderless Sawyer Solo canoe, so i've been thinking about adding a rudder, but i love the Sawyer sliding tractor seat and i want to keep it!....whattya think? Not trying to make any money off this, and if you don't think its a 'Rube Goldberg' monstrosity feel free to make your own! .....Critique/criticisms/jokes welcome. ​

http://plebeianyachtclub.blogspot.com/

 

[Guest]

I know there are designs (perhaps commercial?) for foot braces that move in conjunction with a sliding seat. Rudder pedals would pose an added degree of difficulty; you would need to incorporate some mechanism to adjust the rudder control steering cables.

For foot brace or rudder pedals I am happy with adjustable pedals on a sliding track. That design allows other people to use my boats and, more importantly from my perspective, allow me to quickly adjust for length between times when I am wearing Mukluks or going barefoot. That inch difference is startling in terms of leg angle comfort.

About the Sawyer seat. You should be able to fix it using G/flex. I’d probably add a strip of G’flexed fiberglass to the bottom for surety. For ease of application I’d use seamed edge fiberglass tape and peel ply to knock down the selvage edge.

Handy surface prep chart for G/flex:

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/gluing-plastic-with-g-flex-epoxy/

Plastic tractor seats seem more prone to cracking with age than composite ones, and if it is (UV?) degraded to the point of cracking it may well crack again in a different place.

The drawing is wonderfully executed. If you keep sucking down caffeine there could be a graphic novel in your Vagabond rebuild.

I’ve been thinking about the Vagabond outfitting and tallied up some parts and pieces that would be helpful. PM soon.

 

[Gulfster]

Thanks Mike, today i bought some G-Flex for the clear plastic Sawyer tractor seat. its only got two cracks but we'll see how much longer i can make it last...after that i'm going to contact cement a 1/2 mini-cell pad. BTW thanks for all the in-depth upgrade/DIY info, its helping me a lot. ! if i only had time for a canoe world graphic novel...hey thats an idea though! PS i ordered a few of those neato Northern glue-on D-Ring anchors too. They wanted to sell me their special glue, i said no i'm using G-Flex