Grumman sportboat/canoe guys....

BamaBill

BamaBill

Active member
Anyone have any experience with the 19/20 foot, square stern Grumman canoes? I'm pondering adding one to the arsenal, as more of a packer/transport/recreational rig for excursion, instead of true ducking. they just seem like the biggest canoes around that can be found for a reasonable $ and take a motor to save on some paddling. If anyone has one or has used them, how do they run with small motors, paddle with 3-4 folks and handle under load and under way. I guess it's still a canoe, but does the extra length and girth mean it'll handle bigger, rougher water for transits, etc. or not? I'd like to be able to cross open stretches to get to the smaller backwaters for camping, fishing, etc....w/o having to take a big boat and tow one. Thanks.
 
Bill,
I have a 17 ft. square stern Grumman. I love the canoe! It will haul a load and paddles very easily. I have up to a three horse on the stern and it did fine. Shawn
 
Bill I spent a lot of time in canoes years ago. That size down to seventeen foot is nice for camping. You can carry a reasonable amount of gear in them. When you say rougher water that depends on wave size and wind. Really a judgment call. I have been out in some bad stuff but I was younger and not as wise. As far as being bigger being able to handle rougher water than say a fifteen footer No.... The lightness of a canoe and size in wind can act as a sail and you have to be right on it, no mistakes. In rough weather forget about sitting in the seats. You want the center of gravity as low as possible. The direction you go, with the waves, across the waves,in to the waves determine how rough of water you can go. The worst is into the waves. I didn't say any thing about the size of the waves because that depends wheather or not they are big rolling waves or short choppy waves. Any thing wind topped I would stay out of with a canoe.
 
Thanks. I've got plenty of time in double-ender, 17' and shorter canoes, and I too have done some dumb things in my younger days. I was curious to see if the added length and hanging a motor off the back of a square stern made any appreciable difference with crossing <2' chop situations....generally, they are close together around here. I'm still planning on getting a sportboat, but I think a 19/20 square stern would have it's place also....so long as I keep a vehicle or trailer long enough to top/haul it. LOL
 
I have a 1968 grumman sport canoe which is the same as a sport boat without the flotation
I run a 1957 7.5 hp Johnson on it - it works great. I have used it waterfowling a few times but mostly on small lakes fishing in the boundary waters. It weighs about a 100 lbs- long up hill portages get you breathing heavy if you are solo but its stable and you can haul alot of gear in it. I saw one for sale at a pawn shop in Milacia Mn last spring for $700 it was super nice. I paid $900 for mine 5 years ago with a harbor freight trailer. There are some plans on the net to build a stitch and seam version - I believe its called a Maine guide boat
 
I used to have areal crazy bud who put a 15 hp merc on the back of his and opened her up in a narrow creek. Apparently (at least according to him) he hit several waterlogged logs and went airborne several times with the sportboat none the worse for wear. Wasn't long after that that I quit hunting with him. He was too hard on equipment and friends. I have another bud who still hunts real small bodies of water using his grumman square stern as transport to blind sites. Lots of deadfalls and jams where he hunts and he swears the little grumman is darn near indestructible. Never owned one myself but they surely do have a good rep.

As to waves or chop over 2' in height I would be real careful with anything with a canoe style bow. You could probably weight it to make the bow rise and help you some with head on seas. You would need to be real careful and probably have to stay in on some days you would prefer to be hunting.

Having said all of that, "you pay your money and take your chances".

Best,
Harry
 
LOL...When I know I'm going to deal with it, I'll be in a bigger boat....I just like to know if a little unexpected chop or boat wake is going to be the end of the ride (like it generally feels it could be when I'm in my four rivers), or if they'll handle the occasional stretch of roiled water. I generally expect they will, since I've done worse in less, even if it wasn't advise.LOL....I'll never forget sitting on the bottom of a FG canoe and watching the chop top out at about eye level while paddling to an island in KY Lake. Shouldn't have done that...but it got us there and back. LOL
 
I might get corrected here but 3 guys and camping gear in a 19' square stern with a motor is a little risky in all conditions situation. Two guys safe and if you need four get two canoes. Two kids and one adult maybe different, spent most of my youth in a 16' stable canoe with dad and my brother; the best years of my life, just don't tell the wife.

Just for fun look at this boat from Scott Canoe - again you probably will have to order it and they wont be found second hand probably
http://www.scottcanoe.com/1_canoes/9_duckboats.html

I have seen one at long point Ontario CAN and was impressed. Its a very unusual mix of canoe and motor boat ideal in shallow marshes and super stable.

Bruce
 
Bill,
The Gander Mountain store has the square stern canoes with the flotation deals on the side. I forgot the name brand but the are aluminum and look real nice. They are short maybe 14 ft. but the carrying capacity is pretty good if I remember right. For around $800 out the door it seems like a good buy. As to my canoe in chop, I have not been brave enough to try it. I use mine to get back into flooded timber over at Swan. I did not use it one time this past season though. They are great in the summer to knock around in. Shawn
 
Bruce,
The reason I'm looking at the 19/20' version over the 17' stuff is that the capacity goes to nearly 1500#, and the beam to 40# or more, vs 36" or so and around 800# for the smaller canoes. THose longer, freighter canoes can tote a lot. Those scott canoe duckboats are nice. I actually have found a couple of them second-hand, but they are still pricey. I'm pretty well settled that I'll never be a one-boat duckhunter, ever again. Nothing will do it all in everything, so I'm going to see how many different boats I can accumulate until I feel I've got it covered or my wife leaves.LOL
 
I too have always had smaller canoes, but I'd try one of these in a heart beat. It'd probably be a tub to paddle, but that's what the motor's for right. It'd be a hell of a lot easier to pull into the tules than a standard duck boat.
2 foot chop, maybe. Depending on how much weight, how realiable the motor is, how cold the water is, how experienced your partner is. I'd rather do that in a big freighter than the smaller sport canoes I've owned. Like other guys have mentioned, we all did stuff as younger men that we survived, but I was in a hell of a lot better shape then too. I remember crossing open water in my 15 footer as a teen that I had to paddle like hell to see any headway at all on Klamath Lake one afternoon. I finally got into some shallow water with grass growing in it. I could push through the grass, and it kept the wind from blowing me backward. It also killed the waves. You sound like you're smart enough not to get in trouble with it.
 
Hey Bill,

I hear yea about the multiple boats thing. Got a few and replaced my first aging brittle canoe a few years ago for lighter kevlar composites. Those older glass boats with a bit of fiber glass added getting up to 90lbs and got to be a bit heavy over head. Go 20 then, you never have enough space and the first day swells hit 2ft you will thank yourself if you have a load. As for the wife my only advice is someday when you have to sell a boat always negotiate it is to be replaced. You never want less just more.

Best Wishes

Bruce
 
As for the wife my only advice is someday when you have to sell a boat always negotiate it is to be replaced.
Click to expand...



The key to that is to buy the "replacement" boat first,,,, then sell the first one only if pressed.
 
As for the wife my only advice is someday when you have to sell a boat always negotiate it is to be replaced.
Click to expand...



The key to that is to buy the "replacement" boat first,,,, then sell the first one only if pressed.
Click to expand...


I try to do them like 'new' guns, and make sure they have some dust or something on them the first time the wife sees them....'had that one forever, honey'. LOL
 
What you guys need to do is buy some rental properties with garages. You keep the garages and rent out the houses. You can keep boats at a few different locations. Sometimes you might not even remember buying something till you go rediscover it.

I do like canoes and have had a few square backs 16-17' but never a 19-20'. The square backs were ok, but I like double enders with a side motor mount just fine. I sold the last square back in April. They sure are popular when you have one for sale. I could have sold 10 of them.
 
I own a 20 double ender and a 19 square and they are fantastic boats. I recently sold my 15 ft. Lund snipe. It was similar to the grumman sport boat . It jjust did not have the capacity I was looking for. I have had the 20 for 10-15 years and have had 3 people in it and duck gear and a dog ...no problem at all. Used a side mount 4hp on it and it did well. The side mount does pick up alot of weeds though. They only made the 20 for a short time . Mine was made in 1963. I paddled that canoe on Pikerel lake in Quetico Provincial Park in Canada in SERIOUS waves and outside of my posterior biting a hole in the boat seat, we came through without issues. The 20 was used as the gear hauler because it is rated for something like 1200 pounds. I looked around for the 19 square for a long time, I found mine on ebay, I think for 700 dollars. I added a lift for the transom and painted it. I dont have much time in it as the 20 but is is a good stable boat and a good gear hauler as well. The boat had a couple of minor repairs to do and Grumman/Marathon hade the parts. If you want to read more there is a thread on the Alaska Canoe Forum about the 19s. hope this helps, bob
 
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