Old Town 50#er thwarts/seats

[ticonderoga]

My winter project is to restore a OT 50#er that needs a fair amount of work. I will be replacing the in/outer gunwales soon and have a few questions on placement of the thwarts. ( The existing gunwales have so many holes that it is not possible to tell which ones were the original ones and they owner had home made seats at odd locations ). First : What are the lengths of the bow and stern thwarts and where are they located away from the center thwart , Second : by chance does the location of these correspond to the location of the seats? Third : what are the lengths of the seats ( hole to hole across the seat ) and where are they located if they don't line up with the thwart holes ? I ask this because I want to have no seats to keep the weight down, but would like the option to add a seat or two in the future without drilling more holes. Thanks for any input.

 

[Dan Miller]

I won't speak to the seat location, as I don't have one to measure. However, the Old Town 50 pound model only has a center thwart.

 

[Dave Osborn]

15' Old Town with new inner and outer gunwales....no seats in pic1.
Same canoe with seats in pic2.

How do you add a seat or two at a later date without drilling holes?

 

[ticonderoga]

I realize that I would need to add 2 more holes per seat, but didnt want to add 4 more due to improper placement of the "thwart". I was hoping that the inner most seat "rail" could be used to lean on as I kneel when I paddle and be part of the seat if I decide to add one in the future. Dave, beautiful canoe!

 

[Woodpile]

As Dan said, just one thwart centered.

 

[Dave Osborn]

I'm still a little confused on what info you want, but I can measure seat placement, if you are interested.

 

[ticonderoga]

Seat placement would be perfect. thanks

 

[Dan Lindberg]

If you are restoring this for you, and you have a "blank canvas", why not put where they work best for you?

If this is for someone else or to sell, that's a whole nuther matter.

Dan