canoe with outboard questions

"John Kuthe" <yomama.DeleteThis@youwish.com> wrote...
>>
>> Canoes are designed to be paddled. Using an outboard for the short distance
>> from the houseboat to the beach will be more trouble than it's worth.
>
> True, but there are some square-stern canoes designed so to allow a small
> motor
> or engine to be mounted.

They may be available, but a motorized canoe just doesn't appear to make sense
for the OP's purpose.

Chopping off the stern will increase drag, so paddling will be slower and more
difficult. Putting a trolling motor and a battery in a 13' canoe will double
its weight, and even a small gas-powered outboard will weigh half what the canoe
does. Hooking it all up will take more time than any time saved in travel
to/from a beach.

Depending on how many people and how much gear he wants to carry, a good rowing
dinghy may make even more sense.
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

dh@. wrote:

> What size
>motor for about a 13' canoe?
>
>
No practical application other than a trolling motor - and they're
designed to be used under slow & gentle conditions. If you're going to
have such a small canoe, paddling should be enough.

Pete H

--
Freedom is participation in power.
Cicero
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

> >> Canoes are designed to be paddled. Using an outboard for the short
distance
> >> from the houseboat to the beach will be more trouble than it's worth.
> >
> > True, but there are some square-stern canoes designed so to allow a
small
> > motor
> > or engine to be mounted.
>
> They may be available, but a motorized canoe just doesn't appear to make
sense
> for the OP's purpose.
>

I have to disagree. I have a friend who uses exactly this kind of rig as a
runabout. He has an old aluminum canoe with a square-stem used for mounting
an outboard motor, and it works just fine. You can also buy manufactured
motor mounts for this purpose. Not to be flaming, but I for one am willing
to assume that the OP knows better what his purpose is than you or I.

> Chopping off the stern will increase drag, so paddling will be slower and
more
> difficult. Putting a trolling motor and a battery in a 13' canoe will
double
> its weight, and even a small gas-powered outboard will weigh half what the
canoe
> does. Hooking it all up will take more time than any time saved in travel
> to/from a beach.
>

If it's the kind of rig my friend uses, he probably wouldn't be paddling at
all, and he probably wouldn't be disassembling it every time he uses it.
You can also trailer a setup like this, so the weight is probably irrelevant
(at least in *this* scenario).

While I am also not a big fan of motorized canoes, they have their place in
the world, like it or not.
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

John Weiss wrote:

> "John Kuthe" <yomama.DeleteThis@youwish.com> wrote...
> >>
> >> Canoes are designed to be paddled. Using an outboard for the short distance
> >> from the houseboat to the beach will be more trouble than it's worth.
> >
> > True, but there are some square-stern canoes designed so to allow a small
> > motor
> > or engine to be mounted.
>
> They may be available, but a motorized canoe just doesn't appear to make sense
> for the OP's purpose.
>
> Chopping off the stern will increase drag, so paddling will be slower and more
> difficult. Putting a trolling motor and a battery in a 13' canoe will double
> its weight, and even a small gas-powered outboard will weigh half what the canoe
> does. Hooking it all up will take more time than any time saved in travel
> to/from a beach.
>
> Depending on how many people and how much gear he wants to carry, a good rowing
> dinghy may make even more sense.

Possibly. I did a Google search on "square stern canoes" and turned up a number of
different manufactureres though. Evidently it's something that may be a lot more
popular than the canoe purists may with to admit, yano?

John Kuthe...
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

pmhilton wrote:

> dh@. wrote:
>
> > What size
> >motor for about a 13' canoe?
> >
> >
> No practical application other than a trolling motor - and they're
> designed to be used under slow & gentle conditions. If you're going to
> have such a small canoe, paddling should be enough.

What about laziness or disability? Or extremely long distances, and a
combination of either of the aforementioned?

John Kuthe...
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

John Kuthe wrote:

>What about laziness or disability? Or extremely long distances, and a
>combination of either of the aforementioned?
>
In that case, a 13' canoe would be a travesty rather than a help.

Pete H

--
Freedom is participation in power.
Cicero
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

John Kuthe wrote:

>
> I did a Google search on "square stern canoes" and turned up a number of
> different manufactureres though. Evidently it's something that may be a lot more
> popular than the canoe purists may with to admit, yano?
>

My brother pulled a square-sterned Mad River off a neighbor's trash
pile. It's a heavy, wide fiberglass canoe, obviously designed for
fishing. The wood gunwales and seats had rotted, but he was able to
find and fit replacements. Now, he finds it a bit impractical. He
hasn't put it in the water once.





--
"This president has destroyed the country, the economy,
the relationship with the rest of the world.
He's a monster in the White House. He should resign."

- Hunter S. Thompson, speaking to an antiwar audience in 2003.
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

"John Kuthe" <yomama.TakeThisOut@youwish.com> wrote...
>
> What about laziness or disability? Or extremely long distances, and a
> combination of either of the aforementioned?

OP said use was to go from houseboat to beach. Doesn't sound like a long
distance involved...

In case of disability, a canoe should definitely NOT be considered before a more
stable dinghy, regardless of whether it will be rowed/paddled or powered.

Laziness? Could be, but IMO this NG is not here to promote it.
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

Check the want ads of the paper of your nearest large local city,
Atlanta perhaps. They usually have a "boat" listing and people are
always selling their stuff privately.

Or go to a "big box" store like Dunhams, or REI or Dicks Sports. They
usually have good, basic canoes for really low prices. Won't be
anything fancy, but sounds like it would meet your needs specificly.
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

pmhilton wrote:

> John Kuthe wrote:
>
> >What about laziness or disability? Or extremely long distances, and a
> >combination of either of the aforementioned?
> >
> In that case, a 13' canoe would be a travesty rather than a help.
>

Hey, if it's what the poster wants, who are we to deny him or her, yano?
Advise him or her that a non-motored canoe may be better, but ya can't
dissuade some people from what they want! (I know, I work in an outdoor
sports shop, sometimes.)

John Kuthe...
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions 

Powering a canoe with an outboard engine is perfectly alright. It has been
done for decades in some pretty tough environments. As a boy I remember a
number of Maine guides running fully loaded 17' canoes up local rivers using
an outboard for power.

Right now it seems that the best engine available on the market is the
Mercury 2.5 or 3.5 horsepower. You'd need to buy an extra long shaft model
and fit it with a shallow pitch propeller for power.

Here is a link for Mercury:

http://www.mercurymarine.com/engines/outboards/fourstrokes/enginesetfour_sp
ecs.php?ID=66

Honda also touts their 2 and 5 hp motors as being suitable for canoes. I
would look at those as well:
http://www.honda-marine.com/modeldetail.aspx?modelGroup=bf2

There are several 12' - 13' square stern canoes available today. The problem
with a short canoe is that it is typically pretty wide, in the 38" - 42"
range. This could create a space issue on your houseboat. Judging from your
comments, if I were you, I'd consider towing the canoe with a snug fitting
marine cover on it.

Here is a link for some canoes: http://www.directboats.com/sqstca.html

I hope this is of some help to you.

Whit
 >> Stay informed about: canoe with outboard questions