Hello Everyone,
Though I am typically a purest, I was looking at getting a square stern as my 3rd canoe to leave at a cabin with the option of putting a motor on and found a late 1960’s Sears Roebuck 16ft square stern with a 4.5hp Ted Williams Outboard. See the pic at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=150082546881&rd=1&rd=1I don’t have the canoe in my hands yet but was looking for some information on it. I have seen people selling Sears/Grumman canoes of the same era and wondering if this might also be a Grumman-made canoe made for Sears. Information is proving difficult to find.
I would be interested in anything that anyone could tell me reagarding a Sears boat of this era. I am aware that this was a dept store boat and that some may call the quality into question. I know it is in good condition, but I’ll have to judge “quality” when I lay eyes on it.
I am especially interested to know if anyone has websites or other info regarding these old Sears canoes. I am unable to find anything anywhere. Info or opinions on the Ted Williams 4.5hp outboard would also be appreciated.
Thanks much,
Eric
???
alumicraft
michicraft
and there is another one with a birch bark paint job but I cant remember the name (my buddy has one)
They were all good quality canoes.
skin thickness is probably .050-.065 heavy but you wont kill it.
I dont think grumman made one for sears but I could be wrong
If tou can handle the price buy it you wont go wrong
Just sounds like a lot of motor for a canoe
Electric sounds better
your going to have a lot of weight out back
you’ll be doing a lot of wheelies
if you dump it with that gas motor running get out of the way befor it comes back to cut you up
Good luck
Sears Canoe
Yeah, it does sound like a lot of motor. My dad had a 9.9 on the back of a 14ft Alumacraft fishing boat that moved it along quite well, so I can only imagine what 4.5 would do for a canoe. The previous owner said that they could never open it up. Apparently this is the motor that came with it, though. I’ll be interested to see.
I’m getting the whole setup for $500 with the canoe apparently in almost perfect condition, so I don’t think I can go too wrong.
Eric
I can’t remember who made Sears…
… boats and canoes, but they were major brand names so I’m sure the quality is adequate. If that photo were better, I could tell if it’s a Grumman, but no detail is visible. As to the comment about that motor being too big, I say it’s probably fine if you want to cover some ground on a decent-sized lake. We used to run a five-horse motor on a 12-foot john boat who’s waterline width was barely, if any wider than that of this canoe, and it was fine. People got along for years with small boats which were slow and tended to ride bow-high with only person on board, and they just dealt with it because that’s what was available, and it did the job. Just don’t quickly accelerate from a standstill while the motor is cocked in a tight turn, and you’ll be fine. An electric motor is only a better choice if you don’t have far to go (you can go at least 10 times as far with a gas motor having much less overall weight as an electric motor and its battery, and you don’t have to wait half a day (or invest in a spare battery) before you can go out and do it again). My main concern would be working on that outboard. Parts can be hard to get for old motors like that. That outboard is probably an air-cooled Eska, and Eska motors were never very common.
Sears canoe
My sister had a Sears aluminum canoe. It wasn’t as old as 1960 though. Her’s wasn’t an Grumman. If any major brand made it, I’d guess it to be an Alumacraft. At any rate, it was a good quality canoe.
I would hesitate to recommend a Sears aluminum canoe to someone (the Sears chopper gun fiberglass is another story).
4.5 hp seems a bit large for the canoe but it’s probably OK.
sears canoe
I bought a canoe last year from someone selling it on the paddling.net classifieds. It was a 1988 grumman 17 footer that had never been registered and was only used two times in all them years and looked brand new. It also came with the original paper work, sears & roebuck was the seller when it was new. Yes sears did sell grumman canoes
vince
Sears
Almost all Hareware items at Sears will have a three digit number in front of the Model number
( 315.61001 ) The third digit number is the code for who Manufactured the item for Sears. Call Sears Service department in your area with the Three digit number and ask them to look up the “REAL” manufacture for you.
Don
Thank you!
I think this is the advice that I have been looking for! Where did you get this info? Do you know of any websites that have info about these canoes and such? I’ll have to check it out when I get it in my hands and see what the “real” manufacturer is. It will be interesting.
Thanks to everyone else who has responded thus far as well. It is fun to try to unravel the mystery behind these boats. I’ll make a post if I find out what it actually is.
summerpaddler
You might try…
contacting the folks at Grumman. Now called Marathon Boat.
http://www.marathonboat.com
Best of luck,
T
Sears fiberglass canoe
Hello. I’m looking at a 17" sears robuck fiberglass canoe. It is in really nice shape. It is obviously an older canoe. The old guy that is selling it said he paid a lot of money for it but is asking $300. Anything I need to know about these older sears fiberglass canoes? There are no holes, cracks, and very few scatches on the original paint job/ Thanks for any info at all.
Seems like a lot…
of money for it, but the last time I bought a used fiberglass canoe was 12 years ago. I think I paid $80, but they don’t come along everyday.
My only experience with a Sears fiberglass canoe (artificial birch bark finish) was to learn it’s not a good boat for white water. If you pin it on a rock, it’s a long walk back to the car.
T
I bought it
This thing is really nice and in such nice shape I bought it. I wish I could post a pic of it.
sears canoe
I built canoes for a company in Delhi La when going through college. Summer job. During that time in the 60's and 70's they had the Sears, JC Penny and K-mart contract for all there boats. I would suggest that this canoe was built at the Delcraft Boat Mfg. co in Delhi La. Hope this helps,
sears canoe
The canoe was most likely made in Delhi Louisiana. Delcraft Boat Mfg. co had the Sears boat contract during that time. They are now out of business. If it was built between 1966 and 1969, I could have built it. I worked there the first three summers while attending college.
They have another boat mfg. co in Delhi LA now but I don’t know the name. I do know that the forman at the other co. was also the same one at Delcraft. You can go to the Delhi La web site and get the name of the co. Hope this helps.
lacanoemaker
71 sears canoe
Don’t know if this is still an active page, I saw your article and am trying to find the mfg info for my canoe I bought a 71 sears 17ft aluminum canoe at a garage sale in 1994, it had two data plates the lower one had a serial # 710796, the one riveted over it just said Sears model 61047, but no mfg info. it has web seats, and was mfg with .024 t-0 material. It has no hull i.d. # engraved anywhere on the hull. If you pull up the Sears model # it says it is a 73, but the serial # indicates a 71. You say there was a boat co in Louisiana called Delcraft? from your experience there can you shed any light on this