Old Town Tripper

Steve P.

Curious about Wooden Canoes
Hey there, can anyone give me any info on this Tripper? XTC21352M78J?

Thanks much! Steve P.
 
The Old Town canoe with serial number 221352 and hull identification number XTC21352M78J is a 17 foot long Chipewyan Tripper model with aluminum inserts in the rails that weighed 73 pounds. It was built between April and May, 1978. The original exterior color was red. It shipped on May 5th, 1978 to Salem, Virginia. A scan showing this build record can be found below.

This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will contribute, join, or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. More detailed information about this canoe is available from http://www.wcha.org/store/complete-old-town-canoe-company-catalog-collection in the scanned catalogs. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson



221352.jpg
 
great, thanks so much, Benson. REALLY appreciate it! One more question, does this model and year hold up pretty well in your review? If it was taken good care of?
 
does this model and year hold up pretty well

The short answer is yes, this is a classic and proven design that has been exceptionally popular over many years. However, sunlight and other things can cause the plastic to break down over time, even with generally good care. Therefore the longer answer is, it depends. Good luck,

Benson
 
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As a dealer, we sold and rented a lot of Trippers over the years and prolonged sun exposure is probably the greatest danger to the vinyl outer skin and ABS layers, as Benson mentioned. If I owned one, I would periodically give it a good wipe-down with 303 Protectant (Amazon) which is one of the best UV resistant treatments available. Beside that, there is no substitute for good, sheltered storage when not in use. The most vulnerable in-use spots on a tripper are the lowest parts of the bow and stern stems. There is kind of a hump there which you can see if you turn the boat over. It tends to be a spot that gets concentrated abrasion. If you start to wear through the colored vinyl skin in those spots you will want to beef it back up with a Kevlar skid plate kit. You saturate a Kevlar felt piece (or a portion of one, as the full piece is seldom really needed) with epoxy resin and glue it down over the damaged area. That pretty much totally stops stem abrasion forever and isn't very difficult to apply. Whether or not you would ever need it just depends on how often you beach the boat on rocks or run ledges.

You can expect a fair amount of bottom bounce in use. While not something you really want in a hull shape for good glide and speed, the excessive flexibility does most likely reduce damage to the bottom from grounding out, hitting rocks, etc. When the Tripper first came out I told the folks at Old Town that I would really like to se a firmer bottom that held its designed shape. The answer I got was "Yes, well some folks do lay a sheet of plywood in the bottom to reduce the bounce." My answer was "One 73 lb. canoe and one 25 lb. sheet of plywood equals one 98 lb. canoe." and we left it at that. Anyway, it may not be the fastest canoe out there, but it's a big, tough and dry one that can certainly take you there and get you back.
 
Thanks a lot, Benson, Todd. Will keep a look out for sun damage, especially in those lowest spots. Agree there's a big difference between 73 and 98 pounds for sure. Hopefully if I weigh it down enough with camping gear, some of the bounce will get taken out with that. Cheers.
 
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