Skin on Frame Identiy

[Andy Hutyera]

Just spent the last week at our local church camp teaching twelve campers how to paddle canoes. On the last day we do a river trip on the Tuscarawas river. We use a canoe livery for canoe rental and shuttle. Been doing this for a number of years and gotten to know the owners. They are usually in awe of the w/c canoe I bring for myself. This year the owner had rescued an unusual canoe from the burn pile. Someone wanted to get rid of it and was going to burn it so she spoke up for it. She asked if I could identify it. I had never seen anything quite like it so took some photos to post here. It's a skin on frame and seems to be quite well made and actually, other than dirt, is in pretty decent shape. I did not spot any damage to the wood. The canvas cover is rough and has a few repairable holes and rips. Here are the photos. Comments appreciated.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Andy,
It kinda reminds me of a Trailcraft canoe.
Popular as kit builds in the 50’s and 60’s.
It may be a different brand, but is along those lines as a kit canoe.

 

[Andy Hutyera]

Dave,
I believe you are correct. Found some info on the web and one that was sold almost identical except it had a transom. Whoever built this one did a very respectable job on the frame.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Greg Nolan]

Maybe a kit canoe in the OP, but definitely not a Trailcraft, which had one-piece frames (or ribs) sawn from plywood resulting in a rounded hull with a bit of tumblehome, with numerous stringers running the length of the sides and bottom of hull, and with no space between the inwales and outwales, which clamped the canvas between them. The boat in the OP is flat-bottomed, straight-sided, with very hard chines, with one or two stringers on the side of the hull and apparently only one on the bottom, and with an odd gunwale setup -- two rails apparently clamping the canvas, the another inwale widely separated from the others.

 

[Andy Hutyera]

Here is one very similar that showed up on the web: https://canoes-for-sale.com/not-spe...ft-wood-canvas-canoe-square-back-145-ft-46768

The hull shape is as Greg describes. The double gunwales are very similar.