Picked up an OT Yankee

[ChetPunisher]

I came across a long unused 1948 Old Town Yankee Canoe. Previous owner recovered but left it out in the snow. Not much wood damage but I'll need to replace the canvas. I've never done this before so any advice or reference materials would be great.

Attached are some pics of when I got her home.

 

[ChetPunisher]

Here are some more pics

 

[ChetPunisher]

I got most of the canvas off. How do I handle the keel? The metal part on the bow and stern are coming loose. How do I remove the wood part? Are there screws? How many? I took some pics. So far I think the wood looks good. Let me know if you need any other angles.

 

[Benson Gray]

How do I handle the keel? The metal part on the bow and stern are coming loose. How do I remove the wood part? Are there screws? How many?

The metal stem band is screwed on from the outside and the keel is screwed on from the inside with one screw in every other rib. There doesn't appear to be any orange on that canvas so it may not be original. Good luck,

Benson

 

[mccloud]

As I responded before, get the stem band off - remove the #4 slot head screws that hold it on - saing the screws and the stem band if it is in good shape. These can be cleaned and re-used. Old Towns typically have a slot head brass screw thru every other rib, thru a cup washer, and into the keel. Unscrew them and save. Examine the keel and determine whether the wood is in good enough condition to be reused. You should see a line of slot head screws from the outside of the outwales going thru rib tips and into the inwale. Unscrew and save them. Inspect the outwales and determine whether the wood is in good enough shape for re-use. If so, you will repair the tips. With all this stuff off the hull, you can now determine what has to be done to it. First get rid of the canvas. You will find a line of either tacks or staples along the gunwale line at the top, and most likely also on both stems. Remove those if it can be done without causing damage to the wood. How badly damaged are the stems? Your previous photos looked like you need to scarf on several inches oak onto the stem tips. Maybe also work epoxy into the holes & cracks in the stem itself.
Look for cracked ribs and damaged planking. Now is the time to take care of those problems.
With outwales off you should see the screws holding the decks in place. It may be possible to unscrew those to do deck repair and scarf in new inwale tips. Sometimes those screws are obstinate: I've hacksawed some in between the deck and inwale. Tom McCloud

 

[ChetPunisher]

Thanks Tom, sorry if I didn't see your response before. I'll get started with your suggestions.. Excited.

 

[ChetPunisher]

Got one of the metal Bands off. Under it was white canvas with brass or copper tacks. Strong smell of varnish pulling the canvas off. They had large push tack towards the top. I'll get the other metal band off tomorrow and then flip the canoe over and unscrew the keel. More pics tomorrow.

 

[ChetPunisher]

Got the keel off. The previous owner siliconed over the screws. They also used some sort of glue/epoxy on the top ends of the canvas. I'll get the outside gunwales off tonight or tomorrow. Here are some more pics.

 

[ChetPunisher]

Here are a couple more...

 

[Feathers]

The condition of your canoe doesn't look all that different than the 1934 HW that was my first restoration project a couple years ago. I took photos of the whole process as it was my first attempt to restore an old canoe. You may find them helpful or at least interesting:
1934 Restoration

 

[ChetPunisher]

Wow. Nice job. Just cleaning it up right now. Trying to decide how much time and work I want to put into it. Once I get all the tacks out, I'll wait to get the book I ordered and go from there. Outside gunwales need to be replaced. Maybe the decks, that's just the start.

 

[mccloud]

Well, now, that's an interesting chunk of firewood in the bows. I've never seen a stem + inwales + deck repair done quite that way! Get it out of there, build a long splice for the stem to bring it up to its original length, and do inwale splices on both sides. In the meantime, cut out the old cane, clean and varnish the seat frames and re-cane the seats. These repairs are not so unusual for an old canoe. Tom McCloud

 

[ChetPunisher]

Mccloud, I still need to learn the terms you just used along with how to do the items you listed. I'm so novice it hurts. I'm pulling all the old tacks tonight.

I see how the decks are attached. How are the inwales attached? Nails?

 

[ChetPunisher]

Pulling brass tacks. Cheap chisel works fantastic.

 

[mccloud]

Rib tips generally are attached to the spruce inwales with steel nails, and are frequently badly rusted. If the nails come out easily, that's fine, but if not, you'll do too much damage to the wood while trying to get them out. Leave them alone. When necessary, I've occasionally cut off a steel nail by running a hacksaw blade between rib and inwale. You don't want to take out the inwales. Way too much trouble. If there is minor cracking/damage to rib tips, a few drops of epoxy will take care of that, but if there is more severe rot or damage to the tips, scarf on a new rib tip of 2 or 3 inches. When re-attaching rib tips to inwales, bronze ring nails are often used. If only 3 or 4 inches of new stem tip is required to make repairs, just scarf it on, but if much more of the stem is rotten then a 'beefier' repair as is shown in Stelmok & Thurlow page 166 would be better.
Tom McCloud

 

[ChetPunisher]

Found a hole. I cleaned out the inside. It was very, very dirty.

 

[mccloud]

If I was doing this repair - assuming the wood is OK on both sides of the hole and not badly cracked, it appears there is a joint 2 ribs inboard from the hole. I would remove the planking from that joint extending to one rib past the hole on the other side. Then take a piece of red cedar of the correct thickness, and cut it to fit in the space. Tack it in with brass tacks. An easy job. Tom McCloud

 

[ChetPunisher]

Thanks. That's my plan.

 

[ChetPunisher]

What tool should I use to pull the tacks?

 

[Benson Gray]

What tool should I use to pull the tacks?

I use a tack puller. See http://www.woodencanoes.com/material.htm#tools if you don't have one.

Benson