I want to install a Wenonah Sliding Foot Brace in the stern of old my 1992 Minnesota II. I am looking for an easy way to install the foot brace without rivets.

I followed RAGGED's advice on a bwca.com post and installed a Wenonah Footbrace into my 2006 Bell Magic using Plexus MA-300 to glue in 10/32 SS Head Screws to the sides of the Magic. I used 2 wood blocks to cover the Head Screws and then attached the Wenonah Footbrace to the screws. It came out perfect but it was a bit of work to complete.




CAMPCOFFEE posted an easier method to install a footbrace. He cut a couple of pieces of angled ash and attached the wood strips to the hull using Plexus MA-300 adhesive and then used Plexus MA-300 to attach the aluminum foot brace to the ash wood strips.





Not sure how durable the bond would be using Plexus MA-300 to glue the ash strips to Kevlar canoe sides and bonding the Aluminum Foot brace to the Ash wood strips. I am thinking you exert a lot of pressure on the foot brace when you are paddling.

FRENCHY19 posted a while back that he was going to use CAMP COFFEE's design and hook up with RAGGED to design a wood strip . I emailed FRENCHY19 and CAMP COFFEE last month to see how their FOOT BRACE installations have held up? But I have not heard back from them.

BUTTHEAD suggested to me via email to maybe forgo the angled wood strips and glue the Wenonah Foot Brace directly to the side of the canoe. This installation would be the easiest, but I am not sure if the Wenonah sliding foot brace would slide because the slider would not be vertically positioned, because of the angled canoe sides. When it gets warmer I will take my MN II down from the ceiling and look how the footbrace matches up with the angle of the canoe sides.

Would appreciate any input on foot brace installation.

I attached a Northstar sliding foot brace directly to a Magic using 3M structural adhesive recommended by my favorite canoe dealer. I just taped off the spot where the foot brace attached and roughed up the hull and foot brace with sandpaper and did one side at a time (you only have about 2 minutes before the adhesive starts setting up). I can't comment on long term since I sold the boat but it was rock solid and felt like you'd have to destroy the hull to get it off. I'd do the same thing next time. I think the Northstar instructions have you measure up from the floor of the canoe to locate the height of the foot brace so I don't think you'd have any problem with binding with a Wenonah foot brace since the foot brace will be level enough.

Justpaddlin,

Thanks for the quick comeback.

Your foot brace installation looks great. Simple too. I like your idea of using dumb bells to hold your foot brace down when applying 3M Adhesive.

I think I misunderstood your concern about possible binding. The bracket on the Northstar sliding footbrace is bent more than 90 degrees so it does closely match the shape of the boat. I'm not sure how it would work with a Wenonah footbrace. I like the Wenonah design better since you really need to honk down on the knobs on the Northstar brace to keep it from moving (you won't be adjusting it while paddling).

Cheers Wally