im looking to get a lil boat to go fishing way offroad with my buddys,either a 12 or 14ft john boat or a flat bottom canoe,i put a ad in the paper for one,and someone called me saying they have a 14 foot raddison canoe with a 3hp motor that needs a starter spring and a new impeller for 200 dollars,does this sound like a fair deal?he says everything is in perfect shape and includes a new set of oars

 

Buy it quick! Chop chop.

 

heh so im taking that as it a good deal

 

I'd say either one should be worth 3 bills alone.

 

If it floats it is a good deal

 

good deal, buy it fast.

 

I take that in a heart beat. A new canoe will cost alot more than that. Pricing out row boats is the same deal. Grab it!

 

I hope you were able to get that setup for that price. Just a word of caution: A 14' canoe is designed for two people, especially when fishing. With two people it is a dream, three is a nightmare.

 

Wait! Don't get crazy, don't buy something that will sit around and eventually have to be resold or trashed.
14 feet is a small canoe, Just because it has an engine doesn't mean you and two friends can go anywhere you want. Canoes are hard to manuever and are hard on the buttocks and back after sitting in one all day.
They are difficult to fish from, you are limited to fishing in front of you, and the front of you is wherever the bow is or where the wind and/or current pushes the bow. You can not anchor a canoe safely, a canoe will drift all over the place, and if a strong wind gets the canoe sideways against a current, you will capsize. Canoes are for warm water recreation only, it is unadvisable to use it in cold waters, unless you are an expert. You will always get wet( at least your feet will, when boarding/unboarding).
Canoes are really limited to doing one thing,which is, transporting one or two people and their gear from one point on the shore to another point on shore. If that is all you expect to do, then 200bucks is OK.

Why not wait? get a 14 Foot Aluminum John boat with say,.. a 9HP motor, that should keep you going while still allowing access to Horsepower-restricted fishing areas. A good John Boat is much more stable(you can stand-up at least), offers more space and payload capability, and can be safely moored when trying to chill-out or fish. A 14ft JB can still be carried in the bed of most pick-ups also.

Take a good long look at the condition of the canoe and engine, and ask yourself, what exactly can I do in this thing? Answer: not alot

 

I disagree. A canoe is the most versatile watercraft a man can own. It's a rare stiff wind that renders a canoe unsafe. Of course you can anchor one, perfectly I might add, with lightweight anchors both fore and aft. A three horse outboard will get him around nicely.

 

Mudder, I trust you know how to swim......correct ?

 

2 guys here on the Eastern shore of Md. just drowned on Mon. They were duck hunting and the wind blew them over. It was blowing 25 knots and they shouldn't have been out where they were, sad story though.

 

I have a 14' Old Town. I love it. I paid like 900 for it with all the goodies.

If you are a good canoeist, then they are a lot of fun and extremely versatile. I like mine because its quick and quiet, and I can spend a whole day out on the lake and get a good workout and not have to pay for gas or charge batteries or anything else.

 

Its not like im gonna be fishing in a giant lake,this is wayyyy back waters,no other boats,hell no other people on them what so ever,so HP isnt a issue,and its just me and my other friend Oh and im not trying to do alot,these are very small lakessss,id defenitly prefer a John boat,but i belive canoes are not as bad as you were making them out to be

 

I have a 13 foot Coleman. With two people its a snap, but rides a little lower in the water than a 15 foot. When using it alone, I spin it around and sit in the front end, facing the rear. I use Coleman seat backs and brace my feet with the center bar and have a set of paddles bolted together, similar to a Kayak paddle only no angles to deal with. With that set up I can do just about anything I want, paddle upstream, cross currents and zoom like you wouldn't believe. Floating the river during hunting season is a kick too ...shotgun hunting along the river and the many islands that bambi likes to sleep and feed on. Oh yeah!

While canoes aren't as convenient as a regular flat bottom boat, I think the more you use it, the more you'll appreciate it. Get it! That's a great price...even without a motor. If it's a fiberglass canoe, I'd check for major cracking etc ... fiberglass is known to weaken from sitting in the sun for long periods. I doubt it's that bad though...takes a mighty long time.