Old Town SN 104790 16' Yankee or HW possibly

[Old_Paddler]

Could also be 164790

The seller says that after the SN it says 9E, that sounds strange to me.

Can you provide build sheet.

Canoe is on Craigslist locally.

thanks,
Russ

 

[Greg Nolan]

Russ --

104790 is a 16' square stern:

164790 is a 17' Otca with sponsons:


??????????????????

Greg

 

[Old_Paddler]

I have asked him to check the SN again.

Canoe needs a lot of work and he's asking way too much.

 

[Greg Nolan]

Canoe needs a lot of work and he's asking way too much.

A familiar story

 

[Benson Gray]

See if you can get some pictures of the numbers from each end to share here. My guess is that you may be looking at the Old Town canoe with serial number 47909. This is a 16 foot long Livery model in CS (Common Sense or the middle) grade with red western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, and a keel. It was built between January, 1917 and January, 1918. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It was shipped on March 20th, 1918 to Lansing, Michigan. A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image 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/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to join.

It is also possible that they could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The Livery model was renamed the Yankee model in the 1920 catalog. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[Old_Paddler]

I have requested pictures of the SN
These are the only images so far:






If it is a Livery model, there are probably not many left with that name, though it continued to be produced under new names.
It became the Yankee from 1920-1956 when it became the 16' OTCA.

Will let you know if I hear more.

I am NOT interested in another project...so if someone else is, have at it. The canoe is listed on Hudson Valley Craigslist.

 

[Old_Paddler]

I'm seeing 131790 or 134790 (revised Tues AM)

 

[Andre Cloutier]

I am NOT interested in another project...

Just as well, with the saltwater blooms and fiberglass this one looks like a tough go to restore!

 

[Kathryn Klos]

134790 is a square stern canoe. Old Town 131790 is a 16 foot CS (common sense or middle) grade Yankee model canoe finished February-April 1941. It has open spruce gunwales; decks, thwarts and seat frames are ash. It has a keel and was originally dark green.

A scan of this record is attached below.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Image of the scan of this record is attached below-- click on it to get a larger image.

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

More information on the Old Town Company can be found in Sue Audette's book, Old Town, Our First Hundred Years, which is available through the WCHA store and most booksellers, eBay, Amazon, and public libraries.

Kathy

 

[Old_Paddler]

That sounds like the boat.
Sadly, this boat has little going for it.
I wasn't interested in another project, but enjoy researching and learning.
With this one I learned about salt damage.

As one of my good friends emailed me:
Run away from this one. Halos around tacks suggest salt water use. Too much work.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Old_Paddler]

No one had contacted the seller, so she offered it to me for free and I picked it up today, the alternate option was landfill.
canoe has been out in the weather for 12 years at least.

Will salvage bolts, stem bands, screws, keel cups, thwarts and seats and dismantle the rest.
Wood is "pithy" - even the inwales are shot.

You can't save them all.

 

[Dave Osborn]

I've used, what Andre calls "weenie roast" canoes to harvest planking from, as well as salvage seats, bolts, etc...even stems.
Old planks blend in sooo much better than new ones when the occasion calls for it. Generally you can avoid playing "the stain game", trying to match new to old.

 

[Old_Paddler]

Dave,

Fingernails penetrate the wood. Even the seats and thwarts are suspect.
I think that the only thing holding the canoe together are old habits and the fiberglass shell.

As noted by one poster it looks like the boat had been used in a slat water environment - which may be accurate. It "lived" by the shore in southern Connecticut before it went to the lower Hudson Valley.

I pulled the stem bands and started on the seats.
The bolts were so corroded that they snapped as soon as I put any pressure on the nuts.
When I tapped the seat with a rubber mallet, it left a dent.
It doesn't look like it has the cups under the keel screws.

I hauled it to the curb and posted it on for free on Craigslist for someone who wants something to hang in a cabin.

If no one takes it I will take a saw to her. I wouldn't trust the thwarts.

Russ

 

[Kathryn Klos]

The fiberglass is a likely culprit in the wood degradation, in addition to general lack of care over the years. Fiberglass doesn't permit the wood to expand and contract and will hold moisture against the wood (and the salt water against those metal parts). Are the decks gone too?

 

[Old_Paddler]

Decks are "pithy,"
The ONLY use for this canoe is to hose it off, lightly sand the hull, paint it and hang it up in a cabin.
I'd rather see that than cut it up.

I've salvaged parts from 2 other canoes.
Parts from a 37 Carelton are in my 1951 Yankee, the rest is in Jim Clearwater's barn.
Floor rack from a 49 "50 lb" will go in my 43 "50 lb" and outwales in Greg Nolan's "50 lb" other parts will end up in Jim's barn too.

If no one takes the boat I will harvest the thwarts before I cut it up. They are the only parts that may be of use.

 

[Kathryn Klos]

I like that old canoes can live on in other old canoes!

 

[Old_Paddler]

I was hoping more would be salvageable from this one, but you don't know what you are getting until you start working on it.
All this cost me was my time and travel - one hour each way.
They also gave me a Klepper paddle which also is "display only," so I will clean it up and hang it...eventually.

I prefer to paddle the canoes than restore them. Thankfully Jim, Greg and the others I have met in WCHA have been a huge help to me.

 

[Kathryn Klos]

And this has been a good discussion-- perhaps helpful to some folks now, or in the future.