Looking to buy boat

I asked this question one or two days and did get one reply (thank's camp2canoe) who did answer some of my questions, which are. I am considering a light weight boat to carry on TV. I am considering either a canoe or a porta-bote although the the pota-bote is more expensive. For those of you who have tried one or the other or hopefully both, what is your choice? I am considering the 12 ft. for both. Or would you recommend the 14 ft. porta-bote? Also what size electric motor would you recommend? I appreciate all the info. I have received on these forums. Sorry for the repeat questions. Thank you.

John & Marion
2004 3023
1999 Merc. MT., AWD, V8, 5L

For me it is a canoe all the way, but I like to float our spring feed rivers here in Missouri. I do not mess with a motor, you have to license the boat and motor then. Of course the plan is to go downstream not upstream, so no motor is not an issue.

[YWORRYDOG]

We had a Porta Bote for about 6 years. We had a 28 lb elect motor and a 6 hp Evenrude. The elect would putts it around, and the gas could get the 12' up on plane with both of us and dogs, at about 12 mph.

When we got the TM we found no way to carry the Porta Bote. We sold it on e-bay and bought a new 9.5' Zodic with hard a hard floor. The Zodic does not take up much more room in the tv then the seats for the Porta Bote did. We got a bigger elect motor, and were going to sell the Evenrude as all it did was make the bow go up and stern go down. Then I found "Plaining Lifters" WOW! now we like the little boat. the 6 hp will get it up on plane with the 2 of us, and the 2 dogs. Top speed is 16 mph, that can get us down a river, or across a good sized lake without falling a sleep. (still use the elect for small no motor lakes.

The set up time for both bote, and Zodic are about the same, (20 minutes)

Thank you all for responding. Just the info. I need.

John & Marion

[tucsoncarol]

John, please let us know what you decide and why. Hubby and I have owned a canoe for about fifteen years. What you buy will depend a lot on how you will use it, but it's also a lot about what you like. Our Old Town Discovery 169 is a decent compromise between fast and maneuverable. We fish out of ours, and that was a major aspect of our decision. If there are two of you, a 12 or 14 foot canoe seems mighty small. Ours is 17 foot (16'9" actually) and with both of us and some fishing tackle it gets a might close. A Porta Bote seems to be much wider and might be roomier at those lengths. We live in Tucson, so no water of large size to try any of our choices, but we did a lot of research and spoke to the sales staff at REI several times. We drove to Phoenix and sat in every canoe they had and asked tons of questions to get one that suited us. Now my hubby wants a kayak. My sister and her spouse have at least three of them, and my brother just sold his to buy a small canoe, so you can see it is a decision that can be as complicated as you make it.

We owned a 17' xtra wide bottom Alumina Craft canoe years ago. We loved it and needed to sell it because of medical bills. If we were to get another boat it would be another 17' canoe. I liked it because we could haul it on the top of our 1967 Dodge Sportsman Van. It was very easy to handle in and out of the water. Plenty big for three large adults. Also small enough to store without a lot of room. It was also a square stern so that we had a small five horse gas motor for it too! I think a trolling motor would be great on it too!
So my vote would be for a 17' canoe John! Good luck!

Midwest Dave
Northwestern Illinois

John

I have a 14' portabote with a 10hp motor. We've fished with 3 adults and 2 kids no problem. I never had a canoe but would think you have to be careful with the tipover factor in the water and you're limited to motor size. Zodiac might be a good alternative unless you're in choppy water as they bounce a lot.The nice thing with the PB is that you can walk around and are not stuck in one spot. Downside is that it does take about 20 min to set up the boat and you need room to pack the transom, motor, and bench seats separately. I also made customized floor boards to fit in between each bench seat. This made a huge difference in stability and making the floor level(stock floor is rounded over. I just purchased a 3124kb and am now figuring out how to transport the 14ft boat. I have a solution but would like anyones input if it doesn't seem feasable. The boat folded up is 14 ft long, 4 " thick and about 18" wide. I noticed that there is 5 3/4" clearance underneath between the axle and the frame. My thought was to weld 1" steel brackets down the underside and then slide the boat in underneath. Anyone with thoughts?

Thanks
Ron
3124KB with prodigy, EU2000 gen
Dodge Ram 1500 with spring support

Originally Posted by ronparlee

John
I have a solution but would like anyones input if it doesn't seem feasable. The boat folded up is 14 ft long, 4 " thick and about 18" wide. I noticed that there is 5 3/4" clearance underneath between the axle and the frame. My thought was to weld 1" steel brackets down the underside and then slide the boat in underneath. Anyone with thoughts?

How much clearance is there between the axle and the frame when the suspension is compressed? If you hit a bump real hard, and fully compress the suspension, will the TM axle hit the boat?

Otherwise it sounds good to me.

There are a few TM owners that have added torage underneath for a blue tote.

One of the mods documented on TMO for a blue tote tray used some sort of clamps to the frame instead of welding. You might give that some consideration. At a minimum it might give you the opportunity to try out your idea without having to do any welding until after you have determined that it would work.

Let us all know how it all works out.

We got the 10ft. one. Have taken it to Raystown Lake ( nice place to camp) in Pa. We have a Mercury Mountaineer TV and it is fairley easy to get it on top. It rides very well on the SUV with just two straps. We have the small 30 lb. thrust electric motor that works but doesn't go very fast. Would recommend the 40 or 50 lb. one. The 8 ft. boat would be easier to handle but I think we will enjoy the 10 ft. one. The electeic motors don't give you enough time to explore large lakes before battery loses its charge.

John

After five trips with 10 ft. Porta-Bote (bought in Oct. 2006) we are satisfied with it. If I did it again I might go for the 8 ft. one - easier to handle and lift. Just two of us. Hull rides well on top of SUV with two straps ( would get straps from Wall-Mart $14 instead of $39 from manufacturer). Started with 30 lb. electric motor but quickly went to 50 lb. motor. Instead of $199 for Porta-Dollie get $99 Heavy-Duty Boat Cart from L.L. Bean (RT45555).

John & Marion