AK.xplorer
Recruit
- Joined
- May 5, 2009
- Messages
- 4
As titled.....Hello from Alaska. My family and I have been up there for about 8 yrs fishing, hunting and exploring. I own two freight canoes. They are Old-Town Discovery Sport 17.5ft freighters. I've been running a 2001 DT6 for about one season now, and I used to run and older tohatsu 5 hp. 2-stroke. One thing I've notice with this DT6 is that is has excellent torque and load hauling capacity, much better than my old single thumper. I recently shot a moose last season in on a very remote river that was 30 miles from the nearest road. The total amount of traveling was 67 miles (according to my GPS). I run two props: a 6.5 for heavy loads, and a 7.5 for top speed. With the 6.5 pitch prop I was running 18mph on the way out. Loaded down with a fully dressed and quartered moose I was doing 11mph on the way back. For 67 miles I only burnt 5 gallons of gas! The motor is so torquey that I'm thinking of just saving the 6.5 as a spare and just running the 7.5 pitch prop all season long. My questions are: what differences are there between the dt8 and the dt6? is it just a carb. or is it more complex such as a cdi box? What other things can I do to get more power?? the motor is quite large for a 6hp, I'd like to convert it if possible. We run adjustable motor lifts, tiller extensions, prop and skeg gaurds, hull coatings, and other mods to run the shallow rivers with a prop. Freighter canoeists do things with a canoe that the manufactures couldn't even imagine. Our advantages are a highly efficient load hauling craft cabable of wringing as many miles possible out of each gallon of gas. Disavantages: slow going......but Alaska sure does look great at 11-20 mph.! I'm in no hurry. I want to post pics of the moose hunt but it say's im not allowed to yet