302 
FOREST AND STREAM 
JULY , 1917 
16 -o* 
AVERAG-E LENGTH 
A Home nraocli® iMiotCoir Canoe 
Written and illustrated byPPAvtRY^ Desi^nedand built by the Author 
PADDLEVVHULJ 
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CCVCie. IN POJITIOIM. 
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H EAVY paddling up stream has dis¬ 
couraged more than one outdoors- 
man who started out with every in¬ 
tention of becoming an enthusiastic canoe¬ 
ist. With his favorite cove located up¬ 
river from the boathouse, and himself get¬ 
ting to be the main reliance for muscle 
power to get the four-party there of a Sat¬ 
urday afternoon, he has begun to consider 
his canoe perhaps as much a burden as a 
delight. So a practical means for apply¬ 
ing power to the canoe, economically and 
without materially increasing its weight or 
commodiousness, will fill the need of a 
great many lovers of the streams and 
islands. 
With only a little facility with ordinary 
tools and a slight knowledge of mechanics, 
the average canoeist can convert his craft 
into an efficient little light-draft power¬ 
boat, capable of making ten knots per hour 
and with no propeller to get tangled in the 
seaweed or water lilies. The simple pad¬ 
dle wheels (shown in Figure 3) are of 
light and strong construction: the total 
weight of the motor and rigging complete 
will not exceed 35 pounds. The wheels 
do not affect the depth of water through 
which the canoe would navigate, loaded to 
35 pounds, as their draft is less than that 
of the canoe itself. 
A small piece of waterproofed canvas is 
all the protection the engine needs from 
the rain or at night. And if you run out 
of gasoline or she balks, you can slip the 
belt off the engine pulley and paddle home 
almost as easily as in an ordinary canoe. 
A canoe in which such an engine is to 
be installed should be not less than 16 feet 
long, and of firm and strong construction 
with a good solid keel to brace it length¬ 
wise. A 2^-horsepower air-cooled bicycle 
engine—which you can buy very moderate¬ 
ly second hand—is the most convenient 
type to install. Mount it on two oak 
blocks with iron angle clamps (see Figure 
1) which can be fastened securely with 
crank-case nuts on long bolts run directly 
through the canoe’s floor and ribs. One- 
inch leather washers on the outside, heav¬ 
ily varnished over, will make the bolt holes 
watertight. The bolts should be about )4 
by 5 inches. 
Use a V-pulley on the motor (also 
shown in Figure 1) and fit a 12-inch baby- 
carriage wheel, with the rubber tire re¬ 
moved, as a pulley on the paddle axle. 
If desired a V-shaped pulley-rim of slight¬ 
ly smaller diameter than the wheel may be 
clamped to it to carry the belt, as shown 
in Figure 2. A small twisted rawhide belt 
J/2 inch in diameter should be used to con¬ 
nect the pulleys, and by means of an old 
motorcycle idler-pulley and lever, the belt 
may be tightened or slacked to start or 
coast the paddle wheels. 
Use 12-inch baby carriage wheels with 
the tires removed to make the paddle 
wheels, and clamp to each spoke an oak 
paddle. The latter are made of 'J 4 -inch 
clear oak wood, shaped as shown in Fig¬ 
ure 3 and fashioned to fit snugly against 
the U-shaped rim of the baby-carriage 
wheel, which prevents them from twisting 
on the spoke or working loose. A paddle 
should be fitted to each spoke, with strong 
clamps held with stove-bolts. 
The three baby-carriage wheels can be 
made fast to one of their original axles 
by drilling a 3/16-inch hole through wheel 
and axle (indicated in Figure 3: these may 
be bored at any angle, so an ordinary hand 
drill can be used) and inserting 3/16-inch 
bolts with double lock-washers on each 
end. 
E RECT the idler pulley (shown in sec¬ 
tional diagram, to right of engine base) 
on a 2 x 3-inch oak block, braced 
with two iron brackets made of % x 1^- 
inch band iron. You can fit the idler- 
pulley lever with a ratchet catch of % x 
i-inch band iron, bent to the radius of the 
lever action and with one edge filed to deep 
saw-teeth. With a beveled edge on that 
part of the lever which engages this sector 
tooth-catch or ratchet, you can release the 
lever simply by pulling it away from the 
engine, and swing it forward or back to 
the proper notch. A stout spring near the 
pivot will hold it in any ratchet notch and 
thus keep the belt taut or slack, as desired. 
The paddle - wheel axle should run 
through both sides of the canoe at the 
point indicated on the plan. The bearings 
for the axle can be made of gas-pipe 
flanges bolted to the canoe sides, or of the 
ordinary type resting on wooden blocks set 
level and squared to the axle. The blocks 
(Figures 4 and 5) must be slightly wedge- 
shaped to correct the horizontal and ver¬ 
tical curves of the gunwale. The flanges 
can be made secure with two inch bolts, 
and lock washers. Pack the bearings with 
grease and wind heavy cord around the 
axle on each side of them; this acts as an 
efficient grease retainer and bearing lubri¬ 
cator. 
An old motorcycle gasoline tank, about 
4 inches in diameter by 15 inches long, 
can be picked up in a repair shop or junk 
yard for a few cents, and the crank-case 
oil tank can be made of any ;.-2-pint tin 
can of stout construction. The gasoline 
tank is secured to the starboard gunwale 
with two tin clamps. The oil tank is fixed 
to two ribs with similar clamps. Provide 
small brass shut-off cocks on gasoline and 
oil feed-pipes, and on copper pipes to car¬ 
buretor and crank-case respectively. These 
should be joined by brass union connec¬ 
tions, packed with small cotton cord. 
With two bent brass thumb-levers and 
small steel-wire runners along the gun¬ 
wale you can locate the gasoline throttle 
and spark control near the steering wheel, 
for one-man control of the canoe. If ig¬ 
nition is by magneto, provide a short-cir¬ 
cuit or cut-out switch near the steering 
wheel; if by battery, use an auxiliary 
switch near the motor, so the latter can 
be stopped quickly in case of back firing 
caused by too advanced spark. You can 
locate the batteries well up in the bow, to 
get them out of the way. Keep them cov¬ 
ered with a water-proofed canvas case. 
Provide a compression or release cock 
on the engine cylinder head, so you can 
prime it by squirting in a little gasoline 
