Mohawk Foot Brace Rails, 17 in.
[MOH-AR-17-PAIR (14A3)]

From Tom, the shop proprietor:

This foot brace system was first created by Yakima, an independent machine shop in California’s apple growing region. They made car roof racks for apple picker's ladders and those became sought after by kayakers (who also needed foot braces). Eventually the company grew into what we know today as Yakima Racks.

At some point this foot brace system was sold to Werner Paddles, who made them for many years. Werner has recently sold the foot brace system to Mohawk Canoes, the current manufacture. We are still calling them Werner much like we called them Yakima for some time after Werner took over. I think it is about time we called them Mohawk.

I agree that the quality of this foot brace system has dropped since Mohawk took over. I do not know the full details, but the equipment to make them (presumably purchased from Werner, maybe as old as Yakima) was broken and may now be working again. I do not know exactly when this equipment failure happened, what the status is now, or how that would affect old stock, current stock or future stock. (I write this Sept. 2019.)

While we have seen some problems with the Mohawk parts and pulled out some bad stock, our staff cannot scrutinize each component. The kits get much more attention from the staff, as we pre-assemble the components. We slide pegs onto rails and rails into tracks, thus testing it in a minor way. We cannot test each tapped screw hole. The individual components such as these 17 inch rails do not get much attention. We can only trust that Mohawk has a handle on the quality and will not knowingly ship defective products.

If anyone has problems with the quality of the parts sold by TopKayaker you will be taken care of. Please feel free to call 603-651-1036 or email tom@topkayaker.net as needed.