Any help locating build sheet information for this 15' canoe probably from the early to mid 80's would be greatly appreciated. Old Town says their archives for this serial number are closed and inaccessible.
Serial # 259619 15
- Thread starter Glenn MacGrady
- Start date
Welcome, it is my sad duty to report that the scanned Old Town records stop just over 250,000 in 1984 so no one here can provide more detailed information for this canoe. The chart at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/oldtown_chart.html indicates that it is probably from around 1984 or 1985. The last two digits of the hull identification number on the starboard stern can often provide a year. The information at http://www.usps.org/national/safety/HIN/HIN.pdf may help you interpret this number. I may be able to help identify the model if you post some pictures and dimensions. Good luck,
Benson
Benson
OP
OP
Benson, thank you for your prompt reply.
The seller, a non-canoeist, measures the length at 14.5' but I suspect it's 15'. Max beam outside-to-outside of outwales is 36". Two seats, one straight center thwart. Fiberglassed not canvas. The only decent picture so far is this:
Catalogs from the mid-80's only show a "Trapper" at this length. Earlier catalogs confusingly call 15' canoes "50 Pounders" or "Lightweights". However, reading through old catalogs and Island Falls literature about these 15' canoes seems to indicate that the weight varied over the years from the alleged 50 pounds, to more like 58 pounds, to about 70 pounds. Neither the seller nor I have any accurate way to weigh the canoe, but anything over 60 lbs. for a 15' canoe isn't going to interest me much at my age regardless of price.
If anyone has an educated guess as to the model and weight of this canoe, I'll take note.
The seller, a non-canoeist, measures the length at 14.5' but I suspect it's 15'. Max beam outside-to-outside of outwales is 36". Two seats, one straight center thwart. Fiberglassed not canvas. The only decent picture so far is this:
Catalogs from the mid-80's only show a "Trapper" at this length. Earlier catalogs confusingly call 15' canoes "50 Pounders" or "Lightweights". However, reading through old catalogs and Island Falls literature about these 15' canoes seems to indicate that the weight varied over the years from the alleged 50 pounds, to more like 58 pounds, to about 70 pounds. Neither the seller nor I have any accurate way to weigh the canoe, but anything over 60 lbs. for a 15' canoe isn't going to interest me much at my age regardless of price.
If anyone has an educated guess as to the model and weight of this canoe, I'll take note.
This is a trapper model. It was built on the same form as the fifty pound, lightweight, and featherweight models. The only significant differences were the exterior coverings and the eras when they were made. The mid-1980s catalogs listed the weight at 68 pounds. The usual solution to easily handling a heavy canoe as you get older is a nice trailer. Good luck with your decision,
Benson
Benson
Better late than never? I stopped by the factory yesterday and had a chance to look up some records. The Old Town with serial number 259619 is a 15 foot long Trapper model with a keel and two painter rings that weighed 72 pounds. It was built between September and December, 1984. The original fiberglass exterior was left clear to show the natural wood. It shipped on December 11th, 1984 to Connecticut. 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 donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/shop to donate or join.
It is 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.
Benson
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 donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/shop to donate or join.
It is 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.
Benson
OP
OP
Well, I didn't buy this essentially new-condition canoe 28 months ago, although I could have for a very low price. Someone snapped it up a few days later. Nice to know our speculations about it being a mid-80s Trapper were correct.
I took this advice.
OP
OP
By the way, Benson, how come the OT factory had the 1984 record but our digital scans don't? Does OT now have more 1984+ wood canoe records available to scan? If so, maybe that's a project the WCHA could consider.
The scanned Old Town records currently stop at serial number 253998 which shipped on November, 1983. The paper records stop around May, 1996 with serial number 533392. It doesn't seem proper to ask the WCHA to pay for scanning more than a quarter of a million additional build records when a tiny fraction of these show wooden canoes. I've pondered buying a high volume scanner and taking this on as a retirement project but haven't gotten very far down that path yet.
The good news is that the records are back in areas where they can be easily accessed again and the new factory is going well, although they are making plastic kayaks now instead of wooden canoes.
Benson
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OP
OP
Are the scanned records only wood canoe records? I mean, by 1983 OT had been making fiberglass and even Oltonar canoes for quite a while.
No, all of the Old Towns were simply numbered sequentially starting around 1900 (with a few small exceptions). Fiberglass canoes were introduced in the 1965 catalog and ABS/Oltonar ones arrived in 1972. All of these got serial numbers from the same series. The canoe production distribution in 1974 was about 59.1% fiberglass, 40.6% ABS, and 0.3% percent wood. The precentage of wood canoes continued to decline from then on. The link below has more details about the serial numbering systems used by Old Town and other manufacturers. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question or if you want more details.
Benson
Serial Number Madness
Many canoes and boats have serial numbers but this summary might help explain how confusing these can be. It appears that Morris, Old Town, and Carleton all started assigning serial numbers around 1900. Kennebec started in 1909, Joe Seliga in 1938, Shell Lake in 1940, White around 1946, the...
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