Reinstalling Seat Frames

This being my first restoration I am not always sure what to expect. After spending the summer replacing broken ribs and planks, and revarnishing the interior of my Old Town Yankee, I am about to refit the seats and thwarts. The bare hull spread out several inches, but a couple of clamps pulled it back in shape and the thwarts went in easily. The problem is that the seat frames are now about 1"-1 1/2" too wide to refit in their original positions. I am nervous about trying to force all this together with clamps and doing some damage. Is there a trick to this or do I take the cowards way out and trim the seat frames to fit?
Thanks for the help-
Bruce

If those seats fit originally it sounds like the hull distorted. I'd be inclined to remove the thwarts and attempt to reinstall the seats and then see if you can gently pull the hull back into shape so as to reinstall the thwarts. Just my two cents worth, I'm sure others with more restoration experience will chime in too. Best of luck!!

I would suggest that you take the thwarts back out, put the seats in, and then put the thwarts back in using your clamps to pull the rails back in as necessary along the way. The ends are always the hardest to fit so start there and work your way to the middle. You can always trim the seats if the hull has changed shape significantly over ths summer.

Benson

Are you hanging your seats?

bdpvt:

I just installed some seats in an OTCA. The bow seat is hung well below the inwales and the stern moderately so to allow for the significant tumblehome of the canoe. Are you hanging the seats or trying to mount them directly under the inwale?

The seat frames and thwarts are original to the canoe. I am attempting to reinstall using the same arrangement of bolts and spacers as I found when I removed the seats. I suspect that some of the tumblehome was lost while the hull lay splayed open over the summer.
If I remove the thwarts, the stern seat will probably go in with some clamping and persuasion.The bow seat seems to be the bigger problem. Anyone have ideas on how to add a little more tumblehome in that section of hull? Sounds like I will end up triming the seat to fit.
Bruce

i sure wouldn't force anything. better to trim the seat than have to repair the hull again. who's gonna know but all of us. hehe

Or

Just had to respond. If the seats need trimming would not the gunnel need to be expanded? Pushe out? but it it opened up over the summer?
You could put the clamps on and gradually crank em in a little bit at a time in the area of the seats. i'd every couple days add alittle squeeze. Once the seats fit go a small bit more and let set a few days. If the gunnels aren't fair you may have to trim.

I can't picture the seat frames being too long if the canoe opened up over the summer or if it lost some tumble home. i would have guessed they'd be too short. So the rails must be following the center yoke?

Worked on an Otca that had been left on a cellar floor without decks, seats and thwarts. The center thwart was too short by 5 inches. Now by pulling in the inwales to fit the thwart the hull bends at its easiest curve which is through the bottom, not the sides of the hull. So the canoe is no lomger in an Otca profile but more like an HW profile. You are correct that some of the tumblehome has left the building.

I was able to get some back by tilting the canoe in the slings, and soaking the ribs with boiling water poured on towels. One side and then the other with several soakings. Then the canoe with thwarts installed was set on the floor and weights were added to basically squash the tumblehome back in to canoe. When things dried out there was more tumblehome than before.

Now yours is varnished so this method probably won't do much. Maybe you can submerge it for a while and the gently squish the devil.

Maybe others have better suggestions.

Here's a stray idea, and a couple bow seat photos of a 16ft 1955 Yankee with to help with your diagnosis

Lay the seat over the inwales, do the 4 bolt holes in the seat line up with the bolt holes in the inwales?

If they line up, you have a tumblehome problem.
If not, the bow thwart may be short, or you may have flattened the curve in the inwales.

You can see the inwale curve and tumblehome in the attached pictures.

Oh, and I had to do what Andy and Benson said to get the bow seat back into this canoe.

That portaging yoke!

I like the look of that removable portaging yoke!...How does it clamp or mount to the boat, where did you position it in respect to balance. I have one that I never installed and thought about using it that way

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I did try placing the seat frames over the inwhales and the mounting holes match pretty close, but the frame ends extend beyond the width of the hull. I measured the overall width at 34 1/2" instead of the original 36" and the bottom has rounded out a bit compared the the nice flat bottom you expect to see on a Yankee. Now I know where the tumblehome has gone!
I may attempt to get some tumblehome back by gradually applying weight along the keel line in an effort to flatten the bottom and slowly force a little more bend into the ribs. Has anyone been successful in reshaping hull like this?
Bruce