Wood gunwales decisions?

I'm about to replace the wood gunwales on my Old Town Tripper. I've been unable to find a local source of ash, and the only thing I can get in the proper length would be southern yellow pine or fir. Or I could get red oak in shorter length and splice it. So the question is which should I do, SYP one piece or oak with splice?

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I'm not a builder or restorer, but I do know that pine would be lighter, softer and weaker than oak. I have canoes with both pine and oak gunwales. So, that issue sort of depends on what characteristics are more important to you, what kind of paddling you do, and how well you are likely to maintain your wood gunwales. I'll defer to those with experience on the issue of splicing.

I would agree with Glenn that either will work depending on how how much weight you would like to add to the canoe and how bulletproof you'd like the gunwales to be. Splicing shouldn't be a problem IMO; done well, it'll be pretty hard to see and anyone looking that closely should be told to leave.

I'm unsure of where you live and hate to muddy the waters for you but Yellow Poplar (Tulip Poplar) might be a nice middle ground between Oak & Pine, it is pretty widely dispersed in North America and grows arrow-straight in the woods. Finding long, straight lumber shouldn't be terribly difficult.

PS: Welcome. Posting repair threads is a great way to get advice if you run into problems and helps others in the future who may be able to learn from your efforts and adversities.

I had built a very lightweight 17 foot tandem stripper back in 1984. In the interest of a light build, I used SYP for the gunwales. I ultimately ignored those gunwales for 25 years, and yes, they did suffer. But, had I treated them with respect, they may have survived another 25 years! Sure, the were kinda soft and took a beating, but they did survive.

Thank ya'll for the replies. I'll be sure to let ya'll know what direction i end up going.

I have found 8 to 10’ ash and 16’ spruce on Craigslist and FB Marketplace in Connecticut and here in Maine. I used the hardwood for the inwales and spruce for the gunnels, all with 8”” splices. They have held up well.

Scarf joint is your friend.

I have had to splice gunnels for nearly all my strippers.
It's really a good option, but you need a scarf ratio, of at least a 9 to 1ratio. I cut mine 10 to 1.
Search for Ash, locally..
Ash has long been the wood of choice for canoe manufacturers, for good reason. It's flexible, and resists abrasion.

I was lucky to pick up several planks, of Ash, from a local sawmill, a few years ago.
18.5'x 15"x1". Pretty straight grain.
Sure could have used these 30 years ago.

I would consider aluminum gunnels. Once done, you'll never need to do again.

Jim

thanks to Jim Dodd.
I went through this exercise on my OT Guide 18. New gunwales for longer boats are really hard to ship. They need at least one scarf joint, maybe 2. The best bet is locally sourced hardwoods like white ash, black cherry, mahogany or black walnut. The difficulty is in getting the gunwale milled at the right angles. A cabinet shop or a woodworking friend that is a good with a table saw.

Red oak would not be a good choice, does not handle water well. As others have said, scarf joints are your friend.
canoerepairshop.com sells what they call a "smart lock" shippable gunnel set.

Sapele is another good choice. Looks like mahogany, works like mahogany, but far cheaper than many domestic woods, and not endangered.

I purchased one of these ash kits a couple of years ago when I restored my 1989 Mad River Malecite. They worked very well and the price was reasonable.

aablodgett said:

I purchased one of these ash kits a couple of years ago when I restored my 1989 Mad River Malecite. They worked very well and the price was reasonable.

GUNWALE WOOD - KNOCKDOWN KIT

This kit started as a full set of four finest quality clear ash roundover gunwales (two in-wales and two out-wales). Same Mad River profile as our full length ash gunwales. Each stick was then milled into three marked pieces, containing two 6-inch modified shiplap joints. Assemble the marked...

northwestcanoe.com

Click to expand...

I was just on the Ed's Canoe site and I noticed a similar length set of four gunwales may be less expensive from Ed's depending on their shipping charge: