ID this canoe?

I recently acquired this canoe and I plan on restoring it. I would like to find out what make it is as well as year manufactured. There are no markings on it other than a serial number plate (shown in the picture) The serial is 681601. Any of you guys help me out? Thanks!



http://debralott.com/canoe/canoe5.jpg

http://debralott.com/canoe/canoe4.jpg

http://debralott.com/canoe/canoe3.jpg

http://debralott.com/canoe/canoe2.jpg

http://debralott.com/canoe/canoe1.jpg

Never seen one like it.
As long as you are wondering about the boat in general, you might be interested in some pluses and minuses about the boat, though these are strictly my own opinion.



Plus: There are five ribs instead of the usual three of most aluminum canoes.



Minus: One of the ribs is obviously bent, and they are not easy to straighten.



Plus: The seats look nicer than the hard aluminum surface of most aluminum canoes, as long as the webbing is tight enough to keep the forward part of the seat frame from “digging in” too much (same would apply to replacement webbing). I never liked the hard, flat seats of most aluminum canoes.



Minus: The rivets are pretty widely spaced. For comparison, I’d guess that an Alumicraft would have about twice as many, and that a Grumman would have four or five times as many. If it doesn’t leak, great, but a minimal number of rivets doesn’t contribute as well to maintaining tight, waterproof joints as “lots and lots” of them.



In any case, congrats for bringing an obscure brand of boat back to life. It’s always good to see that when it happens.

ID this canoe
It looks kind of like an old Osagian or predecessor, made in Lebanon MO???

I suggest a conservative approach,
with an eye toward getting it back into service. It isn’t a “classic” and it doesn’t have thoroughbred lines, but it is in mostly sound condition and can serve you and others in most ways that any canoe serves.



Aluminum, once bent, can be forced back toward original form. The side bend I believe I saw in the bow might be pushed back toward original contour by stabilizing the entire boat in several place, and then applying local force at or near the bend. A similar approach might work on the bent rib and bottom, though if it is necessary to go beyond original contour so the bent rib bounces back to original form, be prepared for some popped rivets.



Bends can also be locally held straight by gluing or riveting on reinforcement strips or patches. West Epoxy has a procedure for etching aluminum so that their epoxies stick well. Their G-flex has especially good adhesion.



You might scout around for a car body or boat repair person who knows aluminum bending, riveting, welding, and reinforcement. There are still many aluminum canoes, aluminum jonboats, and smaller powerboats around, and there are people who know how to fix them.

Great info!
Thank you for the great info on the restoration. I didn’t think it was any type of classic, or really worth much… I just hate to see a boat not being used and thought i could put it back to it’s former glory… It will be a good project to learn things and enjoy.



It bear a lot of resemblance to a Aerocraft. However there are some differences which tell me it might not be.

My 2 cents…

– Last Updated: Sep-20-13 12:22 AM EST –

In my opinion,it is not an Osagian, Grumman, or Alumacraft. All of those canoes have much better construction than the canoe you have.

Seats would have to be redone, ribs need work, and it appears to me that both gunwales are bent. It also looks like the whole canoe is covered in corrosion.
Edges of decking may also be bent.

While I admire (to some degree) your goal of restoration; I am of the opinion that you could easily spend more than the canoe is worth in a restoration attempt. A lot of sweat equity may save you some money, but I'm sure you heard this before, "Time is money".

Don't know how much you spent for it, but a Grumman I owned for several years (it was in like new condition when I purchased it from the original owner) cost me $250.00.

The boat in question has the look of a canoe that got swept downstream on a river in flood stage.
It ended up under a massive, river bank brush pile after the river receded, and stayed there for a year or so. You may have bought it from the person who found & retrieved it?


It's your boat;if you want to restore it........go for it!
If it were mine; in words from an old Monty Python sketch, I'd "run away, run away"!

Good luck,
BOB

THanks!
Thank you for your honesty. You are probably right about it and I am sure I will find out soon. . I did not buy it, it was given to me by a neighbor… i probably would not spend a dime on it if i had to buy it looking like this. Good to know that there are places like this where you can get knowledgeable advice on such subjects. thank you.

Strange boat indeed
Zooming in on the photos reveals some strange construction. The seat frames are welded round tubing! But the ends are crimped flat, bent, and riveted thru the side just under the gunwales. The gunwales are a very light angled construction, with nothing on the inside of the hull skin. The end caps are a very heavy casting like those on a Michi-Craft rental hull! The thwarts are a simple aluminum tube crimped flat and bent at the ends. The rating plate is generic and just to each side of the plate are holes and a shadow line from where another larger plate was attached. Like the original manufacturers plate was removed and the generic plate attached in its place. This may have been a private label canoe from Sears, Montgomery Ward, Western Auto, etc. The construction is definitely price driven, not quality driven. There were decals on the hull, faint shadows of them are visible.

What the gunwales need is some reinforcement to help them hold a curve. They are so lightly made that they bent where the thwarts put a point load on them. Maybe adding a strip of flat aluminum stock inside the hull and riveting thru to bind the hull skin between the existing outwale and a new inwale. Would take drilling out the existing gunwale rivets, bending the gunwale back into shape and clamping the additional aluminum strip to the inside, then drilling thru at the exising holes from outside and re-riveting. You could add a bunch of new rivets for more strength. Big cost would be the aluminum flat stock and good pop rivets, a bunch of C-clamps, drill, rivet tool, hacksaw would be the tools required.

Chime in boys, did i cover it?

Bill

looks badly twisted …
… could just be the photos , but it looks twisted to me . If so , you won’t be fixin that !!

Gunwale bends
I think the one side just bent more at the thwart than the other. Its a pretty sharp bend at the thwart. If that is brought back to the original curve I think everything will look normal.

Bill