Hello all,
This may be a silly questions because I have not yet seen a Bell serial number. Anyway, when I start shopping for a new canoe, I want to know the date of manufacturer. Can anyone tell me how to determine the date of manufacture from a Bell serial number?
Usually, the last two digits is the year of manufacture.
Thanks
Philip
Solotripping…
Solotripping has a great thread on this:
http://www.solotripping.com/community/showthread.php?2967-Bell-Canoe-Works-serial-number-system-year-of-manufacture&highlight=serial+number
the last three are the year
and the A-L indicates the month. Its etched on the hull at the stern.
Only posted that cause there is a bit of stuff on the cited site to sift through and some of it was a good guess!
Here is CEW’s post " Default Bell HIN numbering.
The DQH started as Demeret Quick Hulls, but became Bell, Mnfg. Id, Code when the Bell bros bought Bob Demoret out.
The 14,914 number indicates you have the 14,914th hull Bell built. Bell had no model nor layup, nor trim code in its Hull Id. Number.
H indicates the Hull was made in August. A indicates January for Bell, the rest of the months falling out as per the alphabet.
The 606 indicates 2006 model year, made in 2006."