T-17

I recently bought a used t17 michicraft and it was beat to hell by obviously many people "I'm assuming". I spent a few hours pounding with pieces of wood and sledgehammers to bring it back to great shape. The reason the canoe was still in existence was the dents were huge dents rather than holes, and by the way none of the support rails underneath broke and none of the rivets came loose or popped and I had to pound the hell out of it sometimes I had to hit it repeatedly with everything I had using an 8 pound sledge hammer and a piece of wood. I'll be more than happy to take your big beat up heavy canoe and Dash it back into shape rather than sink in a cheap light gauge aluminum canoe. I read the article from the individual that said he flipped the same canoe while testing it. I found it to be very irritating and untruthful. If it is the truth I can guarantee you they would probably flip a rowboat also. Anyone that flips a canoe and then blames the canoe probably should not be canoeing or even operating a vehicle of any kind!!! It is not the canoe it is the operator. I love my T 17 michicraft canoe. I have no problem submitting my name. Matthew Alden senior Athol Massachusetts

I remember as a kid my grandparents taking this same canoe on a 10 day trip down the Talapoosa in Alabama/Georgia and never once flipped. If it was safe enough for my 60 year old grandmother for a week and a half, it will serve my family well. How someone tipped it over in the middle of a lake is a great question? The canoe is very stable and floats in less than 6 inches of water. For the record, I am 6'1" and around 300lbs and I had no problems in 6" water.

I plan to make a fishing table for it and use it on the local river in the next few weeks. Would I purposely go out and buy one? Probably not. I would look at Old Town (my parents have a Tripper that I will get one day) because I like it better, but if you can find one like this for cheap, don't hesitate.

The design of these provides what you should expect: a large, slow, difficult to turn-on-a-dime behemoth of a canoe. You can load these with everything including the cast iron kitchen sink and they will still offer a very stable and safe platform to work from. There is also nearly no concern for protecting your valuable asset - just bounce off the rocks and enjoy the view!

I've actually taken this beast on longer trips with required portages (longest portage was 3.5 miles!) and, with a home-made padded yoke attached to the middle thwart, was able to carry this beast. Mind you, I normally wouldn't recommend carrying these much more than a few hundred yards but I was too cheap to spring for some fancy rental when I own a perfectly functional canoe.

The maneuverability of these canoes make them a challenge in small winding rivers or streams but, as your paddling skills improve you can anticipate the canoe's behavior and actually get it to behave in a fairly nimble fashion. It takes wind and waves better than most other larger canoe I've been in but it ultimately is a canoe that behaves more like a flat bottomed jon boat. Can hold all of your camping gear or your guns and decoys with room to spare and is just about bullet proof!

Indestructible, huge, roomy, safe, loud, heavy, inexpensive and still going!

We took a ride down the allegany river in this tank (45 miles) it was stable big,and slow, Paddling this boat was not easy (4-5hrs.per-day at best) I was looking for a beater to buy but this is not what I had in mind! I will be looking at old town's next and up-date here on Paddling net.