Old Town Tripper Repair

[Ianb]

Hi everyone!

I recently purchased an Old Town Tripper canoe for dirt cheap. I grew up paddling these kind of boats and so I know they're extremely resilient and great for tripping and white water, and I'm hoping to get this boat up to tripping level again. The downside of this cheap purchase was the state of the canoe which, although not terrible, is certainly quite beat up. I know from the previous owner is has been wrapped around many rocks in its day, and has had vinyl poured over it a few times over its life, hence the ugly peeling layers you see there. I've attached some pictures of the major bits of damage and was hoping to get some insight from you all on how I should go about repairing this.
First off, none of these holes go through the hull and seem to be just on the outside (I gave it a short float test and check on the inside and couldn't see and leaks) - nevertheless I'd like them to be filled in and strengthen so I can take this out on longer trips without worrying about them. I was thinking of just using g-flex with maybe some plain weave fiberglass strips to strengthen it up. What I'm most worried about are the old Kevlar strips on the bow and stern, they're pretty beat up and I'm not sure what to do about them. For the small holes on them I could just fill with epoxy as well and maybe some fiberglass, but the large chunk missing near the bow seems needing of a more substantial repair. What do you all think? I'm hoping to take this canoe on some longer (20-30 day) trips next summer, so while not in a rush I want to make sure this thing is as battle ready as I can get a decades-old canoe. Any tips/info is helpful, I've never repaired a Royalex canoe before!

 

[Gamma1214]

Hi & welcome to the forum. You say that someone poured vinyl over it in the past? From the pictures, it looks like it may have been fiberglassed as well.

I think I'd start by trying to peel off some of the previous repair layers so that you can see what you've got and start fresh.

I don't think I'd worry too much about the skid plates as those are wear items that just need replaced after awhile but a few of those holes appear to go all the way to the foam core (at least, I think Royalex has a foam core). Does the material surrounding those holes seem to be crumbly or is it solid & seem to be attached securely to the underlying layers?

Please keep up updated on whatever route you go. I'm interested to see where this one leads.

 

[Chip]

Welcome to the site.

A man can fix almost anything, but why? It’s going to be a lot of effort. And when it’s finished you’ll have an old Tripper. I love the Tripper, but it’s not hard to find Trippers for sale in the mid hundreds dollar range. For example, I have one, a year 2000 build, that I am reluctantly putting on the market. It’s never been wrapped, the factory-installed skid plates are intact, the royalex has a ton of scratches but only about two square inches of exposed ABS and the wood work is all in good shape. I don’t expect my Tripper to net more than a few hundred dollars because there aren’t a lot of paddlers buying 17’ canoes, and fewer still that realize what a great boat the Tripper is. Fixing your boat is going to take a lot of your time, effort, and some expense. If you work at minimum wage, which around here is $15, it will take 33 hours to reach $500, which should be enough to buy a Tripper in far better condition. It would take me way more than 33 hours to get the pictured boat into paddling shape. I think if you put a dollar value on your time and make an estimate of the hours of effort to get your boat in good shape,… Just saying, fixing that boat might not make sense.

Interesting—after writing the above paragraph, I did a search for used Trippers. They are not as cheaply available as I thought. Saw prices as high as $1200, certainly more than the original owner paid for it, new. That’s crazy. Especially for the ones with the white gunwales, which degraded with time and UV exposure. So maybe it is worth your time, but still, do the math. I’d be tempted to take a sawzall to the pictured boat and not stop until I had pieces that fit in the trash can.

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

I agree with Chip. I applaud your determination to get this back on the water, but this would require dozens of hours and still may not be suitable for an extended trip. I’m guessing some of the foam core and original RX layers may be compromised. You would be adding quite a bit of weight with sturdy repairs also.

Fix it up and paddle it local if your looking fire a project and a challenge, but I’d wait and find an alternative canoe for tripping. Obviously just my opinion.

Good luck.

Bob

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Yeah, I'm going to agree with the last two. But I'll also note that the price of a good used OT Tripper or equivalent is going to vary by location and season. For instance, right now there are several 16'-17' royalex tandems for sale in reasonable range for me going for less than $500. And there are also some good fiberglass boats (Tuff Weave, actually) that would work just as well in that price range.

Earlier in the year, prices were higher. As we progress into winter, prices will be lower but canoes will be fewer. If the usual pattern is followed, that cycle will start over in early spring.

If you want to get your money's worth out of that Tripper, I would just do minimal patching wherever foam core is exposed, and use it to practice poling on the nearby bony river.

 

[MrPoling]

The Tripper is hey big heavy boat before you make those repairs. After the repairs, it will be heavier than any alternative, like an aluminum canoe or a discovery. Most of which you could buy cheaply.

The beauty of Royalex is it is tough and can take abuse and still get you down the river. I'm skeptical there's anything you can do to restore the durability.

The only thing a canoe like that is good for is cutting deck caps or other small pieces, four other boats.

 

[Ianb]

Hi & welcome to the forum. You say that someone poured vinyl over it in the past? From the pictures, it looks like it may have been fiberglassed as well.

I think I'd start by trying to peel off some of the previous repair layers so that you can see what you've got and start fresh.

I don't think I'd worry too much about the skid plates as those are wear items that just need replaced after awhile but a few of those holes appear to go all the way to the foam core (at least, I think Royalex has a foam core). Does the material surrounding those holes seem to be crumbly or is it solid & seem to be attached securely to the underlying layers?

Please keep up updated on whatever route you go. I'm interested to see where this one leads.

Hi, and thanks for your feedback! The material surrounding the holes is definitely crumbly and not supported, but only for about half an inch or so below it. I stuck an alan wrench in there and could feel that there is material supporting all around the inside of the hole so the crack itself doesn't actually extend very far laterally into the boat. My hope is that I can just stuff it full with epoxy and then lay some thin fiberglass layers over that mixed with epoxy to seal it off. It obviously won't have the same structural integrity it once had, but it should be enough to last a good while. The real question I have now before I put epoxy down is what kind of fiber glass to use. I bought some thin cloth-like stuff from amazon and I'm doubtful of how well even multiple layers of it would actually help. Any advice on that front would be great!

This boat has some history to it from the folks I bought it from (a summer camp) and as a boy I took this very one out on some of my first ever canoe trips up to the Androscoggin, so I have a bit of a personal motive for getting it back up to decent shape. For folks saying I should scrap it/it is more trouble than it's worth, I'd tend to agree if I didn't have this personal stake in it. I think the repairs really won't take that much of my time though, and the only expense I have left other than maybe a new Kevlar strip in the near future is some half-decent fiberglass to slap on the holes. I want to reiterate that as it stands now, the boat floats and has no leaks, and I've taken it out on the water with those holes and its been fine. I just want them covered to give a bit of the integrity back and to make sure water isn't filling up between the ABS an vinyl layering of the boat (after paddling it I let it dry out so there's no/little water left in those holes). Thanks again though to everyone who's chipping in, it's awesome to read all your comments and brainstorm more about how to go about it!

For anyone who's interested, I'll try to start getting repairs going next week and give an update on how things go!

 

[Alan Gage]

The real question I have now before I put epoxy down is what kind of fiber glass to use. I bought some thin cloth-like stuff from amazon and I'm doubtful of how well even multiple layers of it would actually help.

6 ounce e-glass would be the standard that's used.

Alan

 

[Ianb]

6 ounce e-glass would be the standard that's used.

Alan

Good to know, this is what I am ordering - the g-flex epoxy I have also recommended 4-6oz e-glass in its instruction packet