Billfish1984

Jim, if you go to the Old Town website under FAQ's it indicates their canoes should not be stored upright, even for one night. Launching and loading is much easier when using a trailer that keeps the canoe upright. You can leave your gear in the canoe and just pull it onto the trailer from the water. Sail Boats To Go has great accessories to help with portage and stability. In my opinion aluminum canoes have some major advantages over the composite materials that are overlooked, and these especially factor in when used for fishing and the extra gears and motors that can be used.

If you put plywood sheets on top of an upright canoe, the tarp can hang off the sides and not touch the canoe. Not sure if poly canoes are good for upright storage and transport, especially if there is some weight in it. Some people do not like aluminum for various reasons, but I have no problem with it, and I love the durability. Old Town used to make a 17' square stern and I think still make a 20' double end. The Clipper Mac Sport 18 is very nice. Huge payload, and better freeboard. I think Osage also has a 17' aluminum square stern. I may end up with a Grumman 19' square stern. It might be a Clipper or 20' Old Town if not for the maintenance/storage/durability issues.

Another way if you have a 4x8' utility trailer is to build up a wooden frame on the outside and lay plywood on top of the frame, and over the canoe. This would help if the canoe is not stored upright. But then if it is not upright why not have an aluminum canoe? You could leave it outside for decades.

I lay two pieces of plywood on top of my canoe, as it sits upright on a trailer. Tarps over that. It is simple and works.

Thanks Crzy; it does have stabilizers and will not tip if they are on correctly.

The transom mount.

The trailer with photo attached this time. I am a work in progress today.

The trailer

Front view

Think I got it now

Here is the bow electric. The mount is bolted very securely through the bow. It is not going anywhere.

Made a wooden mount on the bow of an old Grumman 17 I bought cheap. I put a Minn Kota quick release mount on it and can slide my 24 volt 70 pound thrust Minn Kota Power Drive V2 into it. This has the Co-Pilot remote control. I also made a mount for the rear seat with a heavy beam extending out each side. Here I can mount my Minn Kota Endura 12 volt 55 pound thrust electric trolling motor, and a 4.5 HP Evinrude engine. This gives me two electrics and a gas engine, which can be valuable in rivers with stronger current or if I want to combine distance with quiet and easy maneuverability. With all of this weight (two batteries too) it would be a bear and time consuming to pull it all out each time so I leave it on, with a two bank on board charger. This requires a good trailer. I modified a cheap 4x8' utility trailer by replacing the tongue with a 11' one. The canoe extends off the back a little less than 36" from the rear lights, and maybe 7' forward of the front. I added a drop support plate about 8' forward of the trailer on the new tongue. Then I put two 16' 2x4's as middle bunks and two more 5' 2x4's as outer bunks. This supports essentially the full length of the flat bottom Grumman. I store it upright of course, with two sheets of plywood and tarps to keep the rain and snow out. While in use I have two side floats from Sail Boats To Go. These work very well. I like to sit on the bow with the front electric down. The canoe will not turn over. I also bought wheels that will plug into the center bracket from Sail Boats To Go to move it around. I prefer launching by backing the trailer to the water. I plan to put PVC on the bunks to make it slide more easily. I have photos but am not sure how to post them.