are mohawk canoes on par with old town and mad river canoes? i’ve been using a 16 year old, old town tripper the last five years (soloing) and love it, but unfortunately it’s not mine. it’s time to purchase my own. i priced a new tripper for $1079 which is a good price, but i don’t like the rotto molded seat’s (standard) and to replace them with nylon webbed seats is an extra $75. i also want skid plates and that’s another $90. the color is aight, but i really don’t like the greek leaf decals running the length of the canoe. with that being said how does the mohawk intrepid 17 compare with the tripper? i want a canoe that can handle whitewater and the lazy riverz!
thanks,
Dee
Tripper
Hi Dee, While no expert I recommend if you are going to spend in the $1000 range that you look at the Mad River’s, Bell’s, Wenohnah’s.
I have heard good things about the Mohawks, but I don’t think I would buy one, I think you get what you pay for.
I am an Old Town fan, I had in the past a Penobscot 16, great boat.
The Old Town you are looking at is a fairly heavy boat, there are many lighter craft out there.
I just put a deposit on a Bell Northwind, beautiful boat.
Look around more
Regards Tony
Appomattox River Company
Brazenhead,
Appomattox River Company has about the best prices on canoes around, and they are located in Farmville, VA. I was looking at an Old Town product, and they seemed very agreeable to switching out the seats. They are a factory Authorized dealer for Mad River as well as Old Town. Give Bob or Tom a call down there, tell them exacly what you’re thinking, and they might have a few suggestions. They have a very large selection of Old Towns and Mad Rivers in stock, and I am pretty sure they will let you test paddle.
Mohawk
I don’t know the specific boat you are asking about but from what I’ve seen the Mohawk whitewater boats are as beefy and well made as my Mad River boats and any Old Towns I’ve come across.
Mohawk does use R Lite on some of their hulls. That will not wear as well as the standard Roylex.
What
are you planning on doing on the white water? Playing in the current or just shooting down a line and going back to light cruising? who is your usual paddling partner and what is his/her ability level and the wieght? The reason I mention this is if your Partner is good and you are just looking to shoot the rapids and not play in them you might consider a composite boat. I have shot class ?( 3 foot standing waves, clear lines needing skillfull handling and control) I did this in an old 4x32 compcruiser made out of ultralight Kevlar. Depending on what you are doing and ability a composite, either glass or kevlar would be lighter and possibly appropriate.
Oh Yeah The ability of your partner is also importatant. I wrapped my Jensen 3x34 kevlar boat and had to replace the gunwales when I went out with a lesser experienced partner.
Good luck and enjoy your boat search.
Skip the skid plates until you need them
I owned a USED Old Town Tripper from about '82 until about 2000, and only then did it (slightly) need skid plates. The previous owner had used the boat in harsh and heavy whitewater, and I used it for tandem runs and family trips on easy but rocky whitewater.
In my opinion, the tendency of owners of new boats to apply skid plates is similar to the tendency of owners to buy bras for the fronts of their cars.
Tripping canoe
Wha Ho, Pilgrim;;
Aside from the weight the OT Tripper is one of the classic tripping canoes. Big, but nimble it is made for the rough and heavy. Ol’ Mukmukwum - my 26 year old Tripper is still going strong and should outlast me. I’ve put alot of milage on this boat. Still my favorite tandem canoe in my stable of 7 canoes.
One distrubing note: Old Town doesn’t list the Tripper in their 2005 catalog. I hear they will still build one for you on special order, but thats just a rumor. Anyone know for sure?
Fat Elmo
tripping canoe
baldpaddler, i’m 6’, 230lbs. and i like the tripper as a solo… call me crazy, but for me it handles like a dream.
i do a lot of flathead, small mouth fishing and camping trips on the weekends by myself. i also float with my 6 year old
son and my wife occasionally, mostly solo on trips with friends tho. the weight of the canoe isn’t that big of a deal, i’m
able to pick the tripper up myself and load it on the rack:) as far as running rapids i pick a line and go with it, stop drink
a beer and watch other’s attempt…i wrapped a coleman 16’ abs around two rocks on two different occasions with 2 different
paddling partners on mild classIII rapids when i was a teenager… (that’s why i go solo, LoL) with some bending of the
aluminum gunwales replacing the old crumpled aluminum bracing running the length of the canoe and yoke with conduit and applying
some epoxy it still serves my father well…hehe
Det.Dan, i’m planning on purchasing it from Appomattox river co. in Farmville. it’s about a 30 minute drive from my house.
that’s who priced the new tripper (04 model) for me. along with the pricing for installing the skid plates and seats. thanks fer tha info!
i guess i’ll give the mad river’s a look too and maybe just throw the Mohawk out of the equation.
Thank for all the replies,
Dee
new canoe
Mohawk makes a great canoe minus the hype, They are not speed demons but for flatwater the Nova series are competent; for whitewater the intrepids are built similar to the MR revalation I have owned MRs through the years but lately their quality is questionable. Bell, Wenonah, Swift or Mohawk would be my choices.