Do you run DRE oar stands, full height or taller?

[Bornwithatail]

I have the flip chair w/ tha highback mesh, & have not had problem w/ my old style towers (8 inchers) & 10 foot oars, but I haven't tried anything else, so I could be doing it wrong. When you're dropping the bucks, take your stuff & set up the same boat w/ frame for a mock-up in the store, maybe even in some water so you can dip the blades. I do know that the highback has kept me in the boat a few times, and is super comfy on multidayers. Your knees aren't bunched up in your face. As for getting whipped around, when going in I always lean forward into it & brace against my foot box anyway, so haven't noticed; always attributed any quick unitended moves on my part to the water. Nice pic for avatar, by the way.

[Chip]

Another aspect of the puzzle is the angle of your oarblades in the water. If they enter at a steep angle, the tips will go deeper (and hit more rocks at low water, etc.) A flatter angle gives you the same bite, but not as much trouble with catching crabs or sticking a blade between rocks.

I learned about this by using too-short oars on a run with a lot of squeaky rock-garden slots. Never again.

Sounds like you're having fun figuring things out—

Chip

[lhowemt]

You bring up a point that I have wondered about. Many people talk about our "smaller rivers" and say that shorter oars are preferred. Since I put the extenders on my oars (to 9.5 ft on a 13' boat), I realized exactly what you say, and feel like I can run lower water now. Sure, if it is tight, longer oars might make you scramble a bit more, so you don't hit things on your return stroke, and maybe hit more things below water, but it seems to me that is not worth the sacrifice of not being able to get the blades in the water.

Originally Posted by Chip

Another aspect of the puzzle is the angle of your oarblades in the water. If they enter at a steep angle, the tips will go deeper (and hit more rocks at low water, etc.) A flatter angle gives you the same bite, but not as much trouble with catching crabs or sticking a blade between rocks.

I learned about this by using too-short oars on a run with a lot of squeaky rock-garden slots. Never again.

Sounds like you're having fun figuring things out—

Chip

[grandyoso]

I have been havning much of the same delemas as you ihowemet. I bought some 9 foot oars becasue thats what the retailer recommended. I was reading an earlier post that said oar length needed to be roughly 1/3 in and 2/3 out of the tower.
I made my frame 64 wide so in hopes of it fitting on a bigger boat some day. With the dre towers can bump that dimension in or out. Could i go with 10 ft oars?

I am going to snag my uncles DRE seat and will probably purchase one so i will need to keep the oar towers tall. With taller oars towers I would assume the oars would need to be longer becuase they are futher from the water?

What is a good rule of thumb for the distance that you want your handles apart in the middle of your stroke?

I have rowed my uncles 14 ft a alot but wasn't payin attention to how it was setup.
Thanks

[lhowemt]

I confirmed this weekend that I don't like the 1/3 2/3 rule. I like more on the outside, a lot more power available, but takes more strength, which I have. After I got back from a grand trip, rowing an 18' boat, and I got in my 13' boat with 8 1/2' oars, I felt like I had chopsticks. Those were just about exactly 1/3 2/3. I got 1' extensions, so now I'm up to 9.5' and LOVE it. I have so much more power.

Yes, higher up the oars will need to be longer, but not by much, maybe 6" or so. There was a long discussion on oar length on the idaho yahoo group, and I even drew it up in AutoCAD and played around with how much the oars would need to extend for 6" more of height.

10' oars may be a bit long on your boat, but if you are up on the DRE that jives nicely with my 6" rule, as long as you like to have a lot of power and the strength to use it. If you like an easier stroke, 9.5 might be better.

I rowed a 14' boat just like the one I'm getting, and the 9.5' oars seemed just a tiny bit small. Add in the DRE height, and I'm not sure about my oars yet.

I like my handles about 4" apart when the oars are out of the water, but that is something you can play around with. Seems most people like them closer together vs further apart.

Originally Posted by grandyoso

I have been havning much of the same delemas as you ihowemet. I bought some 9 foot oars becasue thats what the retailer recommended. I was reading an earlier post that said oar length needed to be roughly 1/3 in and 2/3 out of the tower.
I made my frame 64 wide so in hopes of it fitting on a bigger boat some day. With the dre towers can bump that dimension in or out. Could i go with 10 ft oars?

I am going to snag my uncles DRE seat and will probably purchase one so i will need to keep the oar towers tall. With taller oars towers I would assume the oars would need to be longer becuase they are futher from the water?

What is a good rule of thumb for the distance that you want your handles apart in the middle of your stroke?

I have rowed my uncles 14 ft a alot but wasn't payin attention to how it was setup.
Thanks

[grandyoso]

Thanks for the knowledge. Anybody else.

[Dave Frank]

I've been playing with some of this oar and seat geometry, and while I don't think I'm done yet, I do know I want my seat to be as low as possible. just got rid of the tractor seat in favor of being right on the dry box. The higher you are, the harder to get the oars out of the water. Also hated flipping the seat to get at what's under it.

Be really careful cutting down your towers. a little change goes a long way. Very easy to cut too much.

I disagree with the idea if the boat on land with the paddle blades removed being indicative of much. I rarely put that much blade under water. Maybe leaving the blades on and dig a 4 inch hole for them to go into, might be more realistic.

[Chip]

One other quirk: I've got some old Carlisle oars I use for rock-bashing and low water. To make the blades better for low water (and nicer to my eye) I traced radius curves and sawed off the square corners, then sanded 'em smooth.

Your questions have got me messing around with my wee playcat frame— not happy with the geometry. It's got the small (6"?) NRS oarstands and 6.5 ft Sawyer oars. The seat seems just a little too high, so I might flip the seatboard over and mount it under the crossmembers.

Hmmm.

Anyhow, have fun with your tinkering—

Chip

[lhowemt]

I am so excited to get our new boat, so I can START tinkering! for now it is just play with the design in my head (and on paper & computer), hopefully soon I'll have the frame pieces pinned down and I can order them. I've ordered sheets of Polymax for the decking over the tubes and the front floor (dogs LOVE that front floor being stable and grippable). Next to get that 128 qt cooler, but no one in town seems to sell them. fun fun!

[Chip]

That's a big-ass cooler.

Is this for the Grand, or do you drink a lot of ice-cold beer, eat 24 oz. steaks, chip the block for G & T, etc?

Done August Deso trips with 70 qt. coolers and had ice left at the take-out.