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At the Outdoor Adventure show a few weeks ago I noticed that Swift's solo boats now come equipped with a threaded bore at the balance point on the gunnels to allow clamping the removable yoke directly to the boat, rather than having to use the bracket clamp. It appears to be a much simpler and more stable setup, and existing boats can apparently be retrofitted with the same hardware. I'm seriously considering having this done, and am wondering if anyone out there has experience with the new system? From my call with Swift yesterday, they have less than a year's worth of feedback and the system has not been extensively field tested. My concern is simply that with the bracket setup, any stresses while carrying are spread over a wider contact point with the gunnel, where with the new system pressure may be directed at the clamping screw itself, and by extension, the bore through the gunnel. Thoughts?
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The bracket-clamp system used on Swift solo boats' yokes seems like an attractive concept, and the yoke's certainly a pretty looking thing. Strange, in spite of all its woodsy beauty and its hefty price tag, it is a slippery, poor-fitting, lame device. It likes to skate right off the slippery gunwhales. This can and does result in the canoe's hull crashing down onto one's head. A friend of mine endured this indignity while gamely portaging his rented 14' Prospector in APP, and he was more than a little annoyed about it. 
Useful canoe-buddy that I am, I had to rescue the yoke from the marsh grass across from the put-in after he heaved it, in a noisy, bloody splash, into the lake. Okay, I made up the "bloody" part, but you get the point. And don't bother trying to put grippy material such as duct tape on the gunwhales at the attachment points. That's no way to set up a yoke. Sorry, Swift, nice boats, but a Mickey Mouse yoke. One bolt-hole drilled into each gunwhale works well on my Osprey's portable yoke__mine, not Swift's__ and should suffice on lightweight solo boats. Normally, though, permanent centre-thwarts and yokes should be installed with two bolts per side. A good idea for heavy cedar and canvas and royalex boats, but probably overkill for boats weighing in at under 40 pounds. Remember, before drilling into those nice new gunwhales: when carrying, better to have the stern "heavier" than the bow, i.e. drill an inch or two in front of the mid-balance point.
Last edited by martin2007 (3/15/2019 12:26 am)
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martin2007 wrote:
The bracket-clamp system used on Swift solo boats' yokes seems like an attractive concept, and the yoke's certainly a pretty looking thing. Strange, in spite of all its woodsy beauty and its hefty price tag, it is a slippery, poor-fitting, lame device. It likes to skate right off the slippery gunwhales.
LOL well said. Indeed, I've had this happen many times myself, hence my interest in the new configuration. What I've learned about the clamp setup, mostly through misadventure, is: a) it has to be set at exactly the correct tension (which is pretty super-tight) to avoid slippage, so the idea of loosening it off to remove it between portages is absurd. Which means you have to set it up and then pop it off by pushing in at the gunnels--obviously not a great practice for the boat's hull over time, and one Swift recommends against. b) You must lift the boat by the gunnels when flipping it up on your shoulders for portaging. Again, not the way I cut my teeth learning to carry heavy tandems, that's for sure. However, with a 30-pound boat it is certainly doable. Apparently even with the permanent mounting station drilled in the gunnels, they recommend not lifting by the yoke--makes sense since, as you say, there are only two bolts rather than the usual four.
Re. positioning, I agree with your comment in that it's always easier to carry with the stern slightly heavier than the bow--or at least, that is far preferable to the opposite! I'd probably still position at balance point though and rely on clipped-in or strapped in items to provide counterbalance (safety kit, paddle, fishing rod, etc).
@martin2007 thanks for the input!
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Just an update on this, in case anyone is ever interested. Dropped my boat off at Swift Gravenhurst on Saturday to have the retrofit completed. Will be about a month. It seems a brand new yoke is required, but I was planning to install my own anyway as the cherry contour yoke I got from Swift doesn't really work for me. The old so-called "Teal" yoke has been my standard for many years so I purchased one of those from my friend who runs a canoe shop just outside Ottawa and will outfit it once I get the canoe back. Had to have Swift add in the new yoke hardware to my order--hopefully it won't be much of a job to complete once I get the boat back--it'll be cutting it pretty close to paddling season by then. Will try to circle back to this thread once everything is done and I've given it some trials . . . again, just in case anyone is ever curious.
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So I recently purchased a 12’ aramid lite Trapper from Nova Craft for my solo adventures.. Beautiful boat weighing in at about 27lbs. I asked to have their version of a removable yolk installed to ease the stresses of portaging, and they did a great job. After getting the boat home in my garage I soon realized that the seat will now be in the way for my gear pack on my shoulders while carrying the canoe... so I turned the yolk 180 degrees and that solved the pack problem, but now the seat will be kinda close to my face while portaging and will somewhat impare my field of vision . It’ll have to do but it was honestly something I didn’t consider when adding a yolk to a boat that originally didn’t have one . Let me know how you make out with your setup in comparison, I’m curious if there’s a better solution?
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I've discovered that the solution to the seat interfering with the pack is to use a smaller pack. I now max out at a 70 litre drybag canoe pack -- the MEC Slogg to be precise. However, for a larger pack Bill Swift recommended I use spacers with longer hardware for the fasters, to create a gap between the where the yoke rests on my shoulders and the top of the seat. Have you considered something similar?
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Ok thanks for the info, I actually use the exact same pack. And I’ll look into that. 70litre packs are nice if your trying to shed the excess weight of non essential gear. Walking the portage once is my preference when I’m trying to cover km’s to save energy and time.
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