Dagger Suwannee

Hoping to get a price range I should expect to pay for a used Dagger Suwannee canoe… Royalex…not sure of age…maybe 10 years. No apparent damage… Thanks…

price
Maybe $300. Less if it is a project.

I might go as high as $500, if I
was sure it was exactly what I wanted. Steve Salins in Canoe & Kayak gave it a good review. He liked its solo behavior, though it’s a bit wide for solo. Usually one likes to keep width to 30". It’s sort of a pocket tandem, vaguely similar to the Bell Morningside. That’s another one you could watch for on the used market.

Depends Upon Condition

– Last Updated: Feb-25-14 3:52 PM EST –

Having owned a Dagger Suwanee and a Dagger Reflection I'll tell you that Dagger used a very nice layup of royalex in their canoes. They were very sturdy. I sold my Suwanee for $600-650 if I'm not mistaken; that for a boat in good shape with surface scrapes and scratches and vinyl gunwales and good seats. I also threw in a paddle.

The Suwanee was a nice, stable, flat-bottomed boat. Fishing and a "Guest boat" for beginners were it's forte. It is sloooowww, but user friendly and well made. As g2d points out, it can be used tandem or solo. Compared to the Reflection 15, it is slower and less responsive.

I think one in good shape should bring $400-500 minimum and $700 wouldn't be out of line if it's in excellent shape. That $300 would be accurate if it was pretty beat up, but had someone low-balled me like that on mine I wouldn't have contacted them. Here's a few pics of my old Suwanee to give you an idea of one that sold for $600 a few years back.
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/image/154621958
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/image/154621957
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/image/154621960

Suwanee…
A lot of what wildernesswebb said, I’d agree with.



The Suwanee is what it is; it is not light weight, it won’t turn on a dime & give you change, it won’t track like it’s on a track, and it won’t win any races,



It is a decent boat for someone who wants to lollygag down stream, and wet some fishing line. It’s a decent loaner boat for a beginner, or for someone who is not a beginner, and wants to paddle with a small child up front, or paddle with a good sized dog. Not a canoe you’d want to portage a lot. It will carry a good sized person & more gear than a normal person needs for an overnight or a multi overnight river trip. Not a raving beauty to amaze, and awe your friends.



Just a decent, multi purpose canoe.

Are there better canoes; you bet.

Are there worse canoes; you bet.



If I had one for sale, and it was in nice condition; I’d probably offer it at at 475 (maybe throw in a little boot), or take 450 (no boot).

If someone offered me 300 for one in nice condition; that conversation would be over.

If all I could get for it was 300; I’d make a raised flower bed out of it.



BOB

Thanks
Thank you for the replies.



Currently I have a Tripper… but with a growing family need to get another for the older kids. Will be used mainly for fishing…

Hey Terry
I like the second photo. Is that Wally’s truck?

Yup
Wally’s old Chevy a few years ago. If I’m not mistaken, my Suwanee was about 2001 model? One of the last years Dagger made “Real” boats.

weight capacity
One other question…



My tripper can hold a lot of stuff/weight. How does this compare to this Dagger I’m considering? My two boys will be adults soon… will this do for them considering it would be them, their added weight as they grow, and some fishing gear?


found this
http://dagger.com/assets/images/uploads/files/DG98aCanoesKayaksSOTs.pdf

The weight rating put into perspective

– Last Updated: Feb-26-14 11:09 AM EST –

The six-inch freeboard weight is pretty commonly stated, but it's not very informative, and it's also a load that you wouldn't want to put in the boat except perhaps when using it strictly as a cargo hauler for a short distance on calm water (need to get a load of shingles to your cabin on the island, by chance?).

For more realistic ratings, I'd pick a canoe of similar dimensions on the website of the defunct Bell Canoe Works. Their Morningstar is fairly similar in dimensions when compared to the Suwannee.

http://www.bellcanoe.com/products/default.asp?page=product&id=594&catid=194

Note that the six-inch freeboard capacity of the Morningstar is considerably greater, probably due mostly to the one inch greater depth amidships and the half-foot longer length. The weight ratings for the various waterline depths will give you a rough idea what the reasonable load capacity might be. There won't be as much difference between these weight ratings between the two boats as there is between the six-inch waterline weights. This isn't a perfect way to figure out the reasonable weight capacity for the Suwannee, but it's probably close enough for your purposes.

A 15-foot canoe is generally considered small as tandems go, and their load capacities are less than that of longer boats, but for a pair of paddlers who are not especially heavy and who are not trying to cover a lot of miles and are not carrying a big load of gear, that length can be fine.

The six inch freeboard standard is
so bad, so misleading, it’s industry irresponsibility. I would never offer anything less than an 8 inch freeboard value. Even presenting the six inch value will be taken by some as a basis for trying it out.

Weight Limits Suwanee

– Last Updated: Feb-26-14 1:00 PM EST –

I like that old Dagger catalog, I saved it myself. Personally, I wouldn't load more than two kids and a few days gear or two adults and a kid and overnight gear. For 3 adults? Only if they are small to average size. With this particular boat, it has very little rocker and those stems really "Dig in" when loaded. It doesn't like to turn with a big load. That's one of the reasons I sold mine. Loaded down on the river it was a "Bear" to turn. You load it with 3 adults and gear and it will NOT be a fun boat to paddle. IMHO, as a former owner of a Suwanee, I'd say 400-450lbs would be maximum weight I'd want to paddle, and 350lbs or so probably optimum??

Mad river Tahoe 16’
Great Advice on the weight issues. Thank you…



Well, now I’ve come across a Mad River Tahoe 16’ Royalex for about the same price.



Comparisons to the Dagger? I can’t find any specs on the Tahoe yet… but am sure there is some anecdotal evidence either way. Thank you.

Never Paddled, ALMOST Bought One
But, looked at one the same year Wenonah first started making royalex boats back in the '90’s. There was a place called “Wyoming River Raiders” that had a catalog (pre-internet days)and sold canoes and outdoors gear. I was looking at buying either the Royalex Wenonah Adirondack (I had the Tuffweave version already) or the Tahoe 16. The guy at WRR that I discussed the purchase with said that the Tahoe, with the wide, flattish hull, was slow and oilcanned quite badly. He recommended the Mad River Explorer 16, with the shallow-V hull. He had never paddled the Wenonah, but felt it wouldn’t oilcan as badly as the Tahoe? Well, MY Wenonah’s royalex oilcanned big time and I only kept it a couple years. Wished I’d gone with the more expensive Explorer.



So, I never paddled it, but that’s what was told to me.

WW

Tahoe Review:

– Last Updated: Feb-26-14 3:06 PM EST –

Of course, Tahoe 14 reviews are mixed in with the Tahoe 16. Here you go:
http://www.paddling.net/Reviews/showReviews.html?prod=595