# Oar length



## Rogue Warrior (Jul 10, 2009)

I just bought a new 13' Tributary. I have an opportunity to get a great deal on a set of 9.5' Cataract oars. Is 9.5' too long for a 13' boat. Any input would be greatly appreciated.


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## trailcreek (Dec 7, 2012)

*better than too short*

they are not hard to cut down


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## Avatard (Apr 29, 2011)

Hey Warrior. 


Search cutting cataracts a post i made

Depending on your frame width, 9.5 may be long, but as mentioned, too long is better than too short.. My buddy runs 9' on his 60" frame on his 13' sb

I run 9.5's on my 66" cat frame. I run 11's on a 72" frame with much bigger tubes.

I'd try them out a few runs before even thinking about chopping. 

How much was the trib? How much for the oars? Need any other gear?


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## Rogue Warrior (Jul 10, 2009)

Thanks for the advise Avatard. I've never heard of cutting them down. I just bought the boat brand new for $2000 and I already bought the oar shafts new for $99 each. Probably would have bought 9' but 9.5 was all they had left. I'm having a frame and dry how built right now by Recretec Mfg. here in Corvallis so I have most of the big stuff but will still need random gear such as yeti cooler (I can get a 125 qt. @ 10% off) a perimeter line, throw lines, gear hammock, river table, etc.


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

First the most important question......where did you buy a new Trib 13 for $2000, and Cataract oars for $99????? Pass that info along river brother 

Your oar length will be influenced a little by your rowing geometry. Are you rowing from a dry box or seat? Is it a tall box or seat that will have you sitting a little bit high? If you're higher up, you might need longer oars. I have suffered with "too short oar syndrome" in the past, and it sucks to have to buy new oars. I'd try them out first to see how they feel, and go from there.
FWIW - I had 9 ft. oars on a 14X24 cat with a 66 inch wide frame, rowing from a dry boat with a flip seat bracket. They were fine with the NRS seat bar, but too short after I raised my rowing position. I changed to taller towers & 9.5 ft. oars. Much better. I'm in the process of buying and setting up a small raft (11-12 ft) with probably a 54 inch frame. The NRS fit guide says 7.5 ft. oars, but I'm thinking that 8 ft. is better. Input from others with small rafts backs this up. I sure don't want them too short again. Have fun with your new boat. Are you getting the Recretec frame with the lock-in dry boxes? My buddy has those and they are sweet.
KJ


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## Avatard (Apr 29, 2011)

Rogue Warrior said:


> Thanks for the advise Avatard. I've never heard of cutting them down. I just bought the boat brand new for $2000 and I already bought the oar shafts new for $99 each. Probably would have bought 9' but 9.5 was all they had left. I'm having a frame and dry how built right now by Recretec Mfg. here in Corvallis so I have most of the big stuff but will still need random gear such as yeti cooler (I can get a 125 qt. @ 10% off) a perimeter line, throw lines, gear hammock, river table, etc.


Will the 125 qt fit in the 13' boat?


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

Rogue Warrior said:


> Thanks for the advise Avatard. I've never heard of cutting them down. I just bought the boat brand new for $2000 and I already bought the oar shafts new for $99 each. Probably would have bought 9' but 9.5 was all they had left. I'm having a frame and dry how built right now by Recretec Mfg. here in Corvallis so I have most of the big stuff but will still need random gear such as yeti cooler (I can get a 125 qt. @ 10% off) a perimeter line, throw lines, gear hammock, river table, etc.


Check out these coolers....I saw them at the Denver Sportsman Show.....No I don't work for them.
ICEHOLE® High-Performance Coolers - Icehole


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## Avatard (Apr 29, 2011)

caverdan said:


> Check out these coolers....I saw them at the Denver Sportsman Show.....No I don't work for them.
> ICEHOLE® High-Performance Coolers - Icehole


Go with the Fargin Icehole!!!


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## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)

I have an aire Super Duper Puma. The spec width of my model year was 5'11" I use 8.5' oars on tight and technical water. On big water or long flatwater I use a 1' extension = 9.5'

the 13' trib has a 6'8" spec, so I suspect the 9.5' oars should work just fine for you. 
the tubes are 19", so the minimum frame width you want is where the side frame rail runs right down the center of the tube which = 61" (6'8"-9.5"-9.5"). But most folks like the side rails out side a little farther so a 64 to 66" width frame would probably be optimal. 

Bottom line the 9.5' oars shouldn't feel way to long, they will work fine. If they seam a little long after several uses, Probably better to keep the 9.5' oars and look around for some 9' ers, 8.5' will be too short for sure.

The spec drawing for the 13' trib is here to help with dimension planning.
http://www.aire.com/aire/images/products/pdfs/T - 13.0 SB.pdf

I have cut down carslisle oars (from the handle side) and it is fairly easy to do with a chop saw with carbide tooth blade to make the square cuttoff at desired length, angle grinder with cutting disk to remove the left over oar shaft that is still on the handle shank, screw driver to pry off the oar shaft excess after you score a cut length wise down the excess on the handle, and epoxy to re-attach the handle to the cut down shaft.

However if you are going from 9.5' to 9' you are only cutting off 6". I don't know how long the handle shank extends into the shaft on the cataract oars. On the carslilses the shank is about 5 or 6". So you don't have much room for error when wanting to cutt off only 6"


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## Avatard (Apr 29, 2011)

Its just a little over 6" of shaft. You wont lose anything structural in the handle. There will be a sliver of handle and some epoxy remaining in the shaft that needs some cleanout, but easy enough to pry this out

The problem with cutting down carlisles is the longer ones have an inner aluminum sleeve. This interferes with reinserting the handles. You need a lathe to turn down the handles so they fit but it can be done


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## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)

Avatard said:


> Its just a little over 6" of shaft. You wont lose anything structural in the handle. There will be a sliver of handle and some epoxy remaining in the shaft that needs some cleanout, but easy enough to pry this out
> 
> The problem with cutting down carlisles is the longer ones have an inner aluminum sleeve. This interferes with reinserting the handles. You need a lathe to turn down the handles so they fit but it can be done


Oops I forgot about that part, it was several years ago. On the 3 carslisles I cut down, I had to put a heavy sand paper grinder disk on my angle grinder and it took about 5 minutes per oar handle to grind down the plastic handle shank so it could be re-inserted and epoxied into the oar shaft due to this inner aluminum tube. A lathe is defenitely not needed. The epoxy compensates for the handle shank not being totally smooth and round after grinding. You could also use an expandable water proof glue/epoxy too to fill in any void. I just used regular 2 part epoxy that costs 5 bucks and used 1 tube per handle glue job.


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## Rogue Warrior (Jul 10, 2009)

thanks again for all the help. I got my Trib at backcountry.com on clearance but i think I got the last one. I got my oars at the same place. They only had a couple lengths and colors left as of a couple weeks ago when I ordered mine. Also they have free shipping on anything over $50 including oversized items. Pretty sweet when ordering a big heavy boat and long oars. I'll give these a try. I have the Sawyer Vpro Ash blades on them.


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

Rogue Warrior said:


> thanks again for all the help. I got my Trib at backcountry.com on clearance but i think I got the last one. I got my oars at the same place. They only had a couple lengths and colors left as of a couple weeks ago when I ordered mine. Also they have free shipping on anything over $50 including oversized items. Pretty sweet when ordering a big heavy boat and long oars. I'll give these a try. I have the Sawyer Vpro Ash blades on them.


Thanks so much for the info. I just scored some oars with free shipping.
KJ


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## John_in_Loveland (Jun 9, 2011)

Gary at Raftframe.com has some good info on determining proper oar length


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