do folks refinish (sand and varnish) wooden yokes or just buy new after years of use? when is it necessary to do so. take a look the the yoke off my SR and let me know what you think...is it time to replace/repair it? does anyone know who manufactured this yoke? what brand of yoke should I replace it with?

sand and refinish. I don't see any breaks or end rot.

If you're a project guy, and like doing that sort of thing, go for it.

That said, it appears you live in the Twin Cities, so it's quite possible Midwest Mountaineering might have a replacement yoke you can purchase from them and cut to size.

If not, there's several online locations where you could order a replacement yoke. Rutabaga of Madison, Wisconsin has a yoke in stock that would probably work for you.

Replacement Yoke

You could also try contacting Souris River. They may still stock the exact same yoke and it's possibly cut to size, or could be at your request.

When you consider the cost of materials to refinish the Yoke, it's probably about half the cost to replace it. Considering the price of the replacement Yoke featured on Rutabaga's Website is $21.95 + shipping, it's relatively cost effective enough to just replace it.

Several years ago I picked-up a used Dagger Passage. The thwarts, seats, carrying handles and seats were not in the greatest shape. I just replaced the parts instead of refinishing, but that's me.

Many people just enjoy doing projects like refinishing or painting, like my wife, regardless of the economics. If that's you, then just refinish it.

Just my two cents.

Hans Solo

quote yellowcanoe: "sand and refinish. I don't see any breaks or end rot. "

Totally agree. If you want to replace, run over to Northwest Canoe.

I would just refinish it. Sand it down well to get off all of the old varnish. Then apply several coats of boiled linseed oil since the wood looks kinda dried out. Then apply some good quality marine spar varnish. Be sure to lightly sand in between coats of varnish.

Remove the varnish off with a paint/varnish/stain stripper and sand it down to bare wood, then use marine spar varnish.

I've refinished a handful of yokes/seats from canoes. I enjoy the project and that task of cleaning it up. It is however quite time consuming. A set of yoke/seats easily takes me in the neighborhood of fifteen hours.

I think your yoke would be a good candidate to be refinished.

I would refinish the existing yoke. What you "should" do depends on how much time you have on your hands, your tolerance for sanding, and how nice a final cosmetic result you desire.

If you choose to replace your yoke you don't need an exact replacement. Just buy a flat yoke from Ed's Canoe: http://edscanoe.com/portageyoke.html

or Essex Industries: http://www.essexindustries.org/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=4

Even with added shipping costs you might find that buying a new $13 yoke from Essex will set you back no more than the sandpaper, finish, and foam brushes that would be required to redo your yoke.

If you do buy a new yoke, use your old yoke as a template to cut the new yoke. You should apply some type of finish (penetrating oil, varnish, polyurethane, or even epoxy) to the cut ends of the new yoke before installing it. After trimming the new yoke, clamp it in place and use the holes in the gunwales as guides for drilling bolt holes in your new yoke. I would drill these holes slightly over-sized and apply some oil, varnish, linear polyurethane, or epoxy to the holes before installing the yoke.

If you refinish your old yoke and want it to look nice, you will need to sand it down to bare wood. You might find that it takes quite a bit of sanding to get the areas of greyed and weathered wood down to fresh, unstained wood. You can then apply your preferred finish.

Either a penetrating oil or a surface finish such as linear polyurethane or traditional varnish will work fine. If you use varnish you should apply at least 3 coats and you can wet sand with fine (e.g, 320 grit) sandpaper after the first and second coats. Probably the most durable finish of all is to apply a coat of clear epoxy followed by a coat of linear polyurethane or several coats of varnish.

If you go with penetrating oil, you will need to reapply it at least yearly if not more frequently, and it is best to take the thwart out when you do, so that you can get the ends of the thwart, which are far and away the most prone to rot.

If you just want a functional thwart and don't mind a somewhat weathered appearance, you don't need to go to as much trouble. It looks as if the thwart was originally varnished. You can just sand the greyed areas down to sound wood (without getting off all the stained wood) and sand the areas with intact varnish with something like 120 grit paper without going down to bare wood. You do need to remove any checkered or flaking varnish. Then just apply several coats of fresh varnish. The wood will have a weathered appearance but it will be adequately protected.

By all means repair it. Sand it well with the grain and finish with Watco Danish Oil. The advantage to the oil is that you can add another layer again and again when needed. Of course varnish works well too.
It's good to invest some of yourself into the upkeep of your gear; it lasts so much longer and you can take some justifiable pride in the top line and ready to go condition of your kit. Also, as your going over some piece of equipment you'll find where it's starting to wear and you can catch it before it fails.
Now a days it's "throw it away and get a new one" and the only one that works for is the guy who's going to sell you the new one!

Best Wishes, Rob

As has been stated, it's easy and cheap enough to buy a new yoke. However, I refinished my yoke when I refinished my canoe (using the same spar varnish). It felt good to invest some of myself in my canoe.