Looking for a 13' or 14' Old Town 50 Pounder...

Howie

Wooden Canoe Maniac
I hope I'm not breaking the rules here with a 'want ad'!, but I'd really really like to get my hands on a 13' or 14' Old Town 50 Pounder that's in restorable shape.

I restored an OT 13 footer around 10 years ago and just loved it. But then I got a 15' Rushton Indian which I also loved, and figuring I only really 'needed' one canoe for myself, I sold the 13 footer. But last year I was finding the Rushton a bit too much to lug around, so I sold it when I got my hands on a 13' Tremblay to restore figuring it would serve me well. But I was devistated when I took the Tremblay out for a spin the first time and nearly tipped over! Sorry... too many 'buts' in this paragraph. I have restored and paddled two 11 ft OTs, but find they're a bit too small for me (it's hard to not go in circles!). Anyway, now I'm on the lookout for another '13'. Or '14'.

So anybody know of one (somewhere near western NY)? I figure somebody here might remember they have one in the rafters or the back of the barn.
 
Good luck in your search!
If you don't locate a Fifty Pounder, there are other light boats out there. My 'glassed Huron is 15' and 50#, though may be similar in hull form to your Tremblay. My other 15' canoe is a Tom Hill Ultralight glued lapstrake, only 40#. It's also not very stable, but that's hull shape, not construction. There are also Skin On Frame canoes with very low weights.
 
Good luck in your search!
If you don't locate a Fifty Pounder, there are other light boats out there. My 'glassed Huron is 15' and 50#, though may be similar in hull form to your Tremblay. My other 15' canoe is a Tom Hill Ultralight glued lapstrake, only 40#. It's also not very stable, but that's hull shape, not construction. There are also Skin On Frame canoes with very low weights.
Yeah... but I love the wood. And I want to restore it.
 
So... you're saying they're rarely seen?
No, I'm saying there are never seen. Only 11', 13', and 15'. I've always like the lines of the 15' 50-pounder, but for my money the Peternut 15' pleasure canoe is my favorite (as is my 15' Indian Girl).
 
I really enjoy my 15 foot Indian, but I also love the 14 foot Fox.
The Fox is a tricky little thing that came to me after being paddled a grand total of about 5 times by the two previous owners. It dumped them each time they used it. It suffers from the classic Peternut rounded hull.
The Indian, well, say what you will about build quality, the lines of the 15 and 16 foot Indian/Girl make them a pleasure to paddle.
 
Dan, you are technically correct, except some years ago I restored a 14' Old Town "special order" lightweight. It was a customer's canoe and went somewhere in Northern MI. "If you got the money, we've got the time" has almost always been the motto of boat builders. Gil
 
Curious, Gil. I wonder if they stretched a13'er or shortened a 15'er. The former would probably be easier. I highly doubt they built a new form for it...
 
"If you got the money, we've got the time" has almost always been the motto of boat builders.

A number of custom sized canoes have shown up in the build records over the years. I suspect that they didn't build a new form as Dan mentioned. The build record below shows a custom 14 foot long HW that was made in 1915 and a Guide Special model from 1923.

Benson



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OTC-80193.gif
 
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Any ideas on how they would build it either longer or shorter than the form?
I could see building it longer, by assembling ribs and planks on the form for one end of the canoe, then sliding it a foot towards that end, and then assembling the other end.
Are there other ways?
 
It is interesting that in Canada 14' canoes were quite popular, but not so much in the US.
I could see building it longer, by assembling ribs and planks on the form for one end of the canoe, then sliding it a foot towards that end, and then assembling the other end.
Are there other ways?

Another way is to simply put longer stems on the mold, and let the planking run past the ends of the mold as it's built. This is how some of the torpedo models were probably built, and is how Rushton turned the Indian Girl into the American Beauty (stems were extended 5" either way to add ten inches to hull).
 
I was wrong again! It was a 12' old Town that I worked on. It was not even a lightweight. It actually appeared to be similar to a Chestnut 12'er.
 
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