I am trying to find out more information about a canoe that someone has for sale. The seller does not know much about canoes, and said that it was given to him as payment, but he doesn’t canoe and is sellling it. If that’s true or not is a different matter.
Anyway, it is an Old Town but it has no name on the side. I was thinking that if I contacted Old Town with the serieal numbers from the tag on the canoe, they would be able to tell me about the boat? Does anyone know if they can or will do this?
Also, from a couple of pictures that I have seen of it, it is green, approx 17’ long (says the seller), and has aluminum gunwales. Does anyone know when they started using vinal rather than aluminum?
Thanks,
-Dustin
Good question, my 17’ OT Tripper
was Royalex with vinyl gunwales. Later they added an aluminum insert. I think aluminum gunwales were more likely to be on their fiberglass canoes. Somebody even older and/or smarter than me should remember.
Aluminum
I bought a used OT Penobscot(Royalex) that had aluminum gunwales. Don’t know what year.
Seems like your first task is to
find out whether that canoe is Royalex (best) or poly (tough but heavy and relatively unrepairable) or fiberglass.
When did OT stop making FG canoes? Their worksmanship was OK but their weights were more than needed for the intended use.
aluminum
– Last Updated: Aug-28-09 12:46 PM EST –
was standard on the factory built Penobscots (the kit boats to dealers usually had vinyl gunwales). I don't ever recall seeing a Tripper with aluminum, so that doesn't seem likely.
If it's fiberglass, chances are it's a Canadienne (possibly a Northern Light 17, but that wasn't a very common boat and was only in production for a couple season).
If you have the serial number Old Town can tell you the model, but easier would be to have the owner put a tape measure on it and tell you the material; 17, Royalex, and aluminum would indicate a Penob 17.
What to look for when buying used
Any tips on things to look for when buying a used canoe? Any tale-tale warnings of DO NOT BUY?
Royalex vs Polyethylene
– Last Updated: Aug-28-09 2:01 PM EST –
I "think" that molded-in seats are a good sign that the boat is poly. I "think" that traditional wood seats are all that Old Town puts on its Royalex boats. What I "think" is true, even if it is true, still doesn't tell you if a boat with wood-framed seats "might" be poly.
I've heard that the folks at Old Town are pretty helpful if you give them the serial number - so that's probably your best bet, for figuring out what boat it is and what it's made of.
Royalex Tripper has molded seats
The OT Tripper is an exception to the generalization that molded seats=poly. It is royalex and usually has molded seats.
Yeah, my Royalex Tripper had
molded seats.
I went and looked at it…
and it was fiberglass, and it was a Canadienne. Can you tell me more abou this model of canoe? What was it designed for? I cannot find any info on the OT website.
Get it…
One of the best canoe models Old Town had. It was a design that was tweaked and then made by Ralph Frese at Chicagoland Canoe Base, then licensed to Old Town. They stopped production of it about seven years ago and then the molds went to Bell Canoe. I do not think Bell is producing the Canadienne since new ownership. It is a symetrically rockered boat -about 2" I believe; beam about 35", slight recurve on the stems.
A classic…
today i sold a dicovery 158
– Last Updated: Aug-29-09 6:12 PM EST –
Last tuesday i bought a discovery 158 off craiglist for $250.Sold it today for $400 on craigslist. But when the buyer and his wife came she did not want to sit all day on the stock plastic molded seats. So i pulled out a set of nylon web old town seats and installed. It came with plastic molded seats and now has web seats that look like factory. A used canoe you never know whats been done until you get your hands on it. Took that money and bought an Old Town Appalachian that i wanted for $600 off craigslist. I'm taking out the web seats tonight to put in floor board and folding plastic bucket seat. Now its raining out!