On topic: It just keeps getting better and better...
Those of you who have followed the speed saga of my Ranger 200C
Sportfisher, it has now entered a new chapter.I got this idea to weigh the boat/motor/trailer fully rigged with
T-top, full fuel/oil/batteries and trolling motor on a certified
scale. It weighed: Wait for it.... Wait for it.... 5,000 lbs. Which is 500 lbs over the trailer rating which is 4500 lbs. Which means that the boat is about 1,000 to 1,200 lbs over weight all
by it's lonesome. Which goes a long way to explaining why I can't get past 50 even with
the new E-TEC. Now I need to find out why. And why I didn't think of that five years ago. :>) |
Shortwave
Aug 21
2006
|
| >Those damn E-tecs weigh alot more than their published weight. You with that were true... :>) |
Shortwave
Aug 22
|
| Oddly enough, yes, but we never thought to check weight as a issue |
Shortwave
Aug 22
|
| Yeah - if you could I'd appreciate it. |
Shortwave
Aug 22
|
| Buddy had an offshore race boat built a few years ago. Was 600# overweight.
Maybe your boat is just stronger. To stand to the cigar smoke? |
Calif
Aug 22
|
| When you with upon a thtar... |
NOYB
Aug 22
|
| "New" in the sense that it was a low hours demo boat when I bought it
in 2001. There was an intermediate "owner" in the sense that a local
guide used it for a while as his sponsored boat was being built. >can you get to the foam flotation? That's just it - no. But it acted like a water logged boat - in particular with the short
leg FICHT I had on it - no bow lift and top end was less that
spectacular for the past few years. Even with the new E-TEC, the top
end is about the same. Somebody mentioned weight as an issue to me a few days ago and I got
the idea to use a certified scale to see what the whole rig weighed,
then subtract the relevant pieces to see what the boat actually
weighed. Comes out to about 1,100 pounds plus/minus 100 lb fudge factor. |
Shortwave
Aug 22
|
| The boat is only rated for a 225 and it has a brand new E-TEC 200 HO
on it. >The other problems are only relevant if you get into a accident on the
>road while towing it. You got to be kidding me. Is that the way you guys operate in Alaksa? :>) |
Shortwave
Aug 22
|
| Is this the same boat you were bragging about it's gs |
DSK
Aug 22
|
| Common problem in my make of sailboat. Back when they were manufactured
1974-1992, the flotation foam used wasn't the 'closed cell' type.
Lot of guys cut access holes and pulled the old waterlogged stuff out.
They then stuffed closed cell replacement foam in as best they could. |
Don
Aug 22
|
| While it is possible, it is unlikely a manufacturer like Ranger uses
"open cell" foam. Sooner or later, Tom will discover I've been stashing plastic bags of
used kitty litter under his floorboards. |
Harry
Aug 22
|
| If you hadn't spilled the beans, he'd never have known.
His stinky cigars would easily mask any kitty cr*p odour. |
Don
Aug 22
|
| >Gee that turned into a rant, didn't it? Sorry. No problem - good points. With respect to the boats fuel mileage, I have no complaints at all -
it's pretty efficient engine. I can only wonder what it will be once
the weight is off. As to the tow vehicle, it's a diesel and I haven't noticed any change
in fuel mileage while towing - it's rated for 10K lbs anyway, so that
shouldn't be an issue. I have had issues with trailer braking which could be explained very
easily by the extra weight. Plus the top end and odd planning
behavior with the short leg FICHT. However, in this case, I've got to believe that something went screwy
somewhere because Ranger builds a hell of a boat. I've owned several
and know a ton of bass types who have never had a hull problem or
flotation problem. Ranger does use closed cell foam and the technique is very similar to
the way Boston Whaler does it - in fact, I believe it's the same foam
- I could be wrong on that. These saltwater hulls are built a little
differently than the regular Ranger hull in that once the tub and hull
are joined, it's foam filled. Be interesting to see what happens. |
Shortwave
Aug 22
|
| Pleasantly surprised! |
DSK
Aug 22
|
| Tom, the Scituate, MA harbormaster had a serious problem with a waterlogged
Whaler a few years ago.
From talking to a couple of the guys up there, the boat had been slowly
losing speed over a couple of years and was handling poorly, despite being
repowered. I don't know what year the boat was, but my guess is that it was
a early '90s model. It actually sat low in the water and when they hauled
it and put it on a trailer, sections of the hull stayed wet ... never dried
.... even when left high and dry for weeks. The last I heard about this was that Boston Whaler had refused to fix it and
the issue had become a pissing contest. I'll ask what happened the next
time I visit up there. Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 22
|
| Those damn E-tecs weigh alot more than their published weight. |
NOYB
Aug 22
|
| Does the trailer rating include the trailer? Figure about 1100# for a
tandem steel trailer. Remove some of those lead jig heads from the boat.
Maybe 900#? |
Calif
Aug 21
|
| How much fuel does it hold? A full tank and two good batteries will eat
up that 500 pound overage. |
Harry
Aug 21
|
| You should have jumped out of the truck and off the scale. That could
have made the difference. ;-) |
Don
Aug 21
|
| Yes. |
Shortwave
Aug 21
|
| Nope. The boat is rated for 1800 lbs max - that's gross weight, fuel,
top, batteries, peeples, engine, etc. I'm not at all sure about this and have a message into Ranger, but the
way I figure it, it's about 1,000 lbs - maybe as much as 1200 lbs -
over weight - that's the boat that's over weight. Which explains a lot actually. I've been through a couple of brake
calipers, the brakes seems to go very quickly. Plus, as you may
remember, the bow never had any lift on it, I changed six different
props on the FICHT - never could get more than 41 mph out of the boat.
My Contender is faster by a lot. When the E-TEC was installed, with the longer leg it regained some bow
lift, but the speed hasn't really improved at all. Be interesting as this goes on. |
Shortwave
Aug 21
|
| ROTFL!!! Wait a minute... HEY!!! |
Shortwave
Aug 21
|
| Something doesn't sound quite right at 1800 lbs max gross weight. The hull must be 1000+ lbs, engine about 500 lbs, 300 lbs (50 gal) of fuel. Now where do you put the fisherman, let alone gear and extras? |
ACP
Aug 21
|
| Here's a typical Ranger boat with a total persons, motor, gear rating of
1580 lbs. The hull weighs 1180 which is not included in the 1580 limit. http://www.rangerboats.com/pages/boats/191.cfm |
ACP
Aug 21
|
| I expressed it badly, but if you add everything together, add a fudge
factor, it's still 1,000 to 1,200 overweight anyway you slice it. I'm waiting for Ranger to get back to me on it. |
Shortwave
Aug 21
|
| water logged? did you buy it new? can you get to the foam flotation? del cecchi |
Del
Aug 21
|
| You primary problem is easily solved by hanging a 300HP Yamaha HDPI off
the stern. The other problems are only relevant if you get into a accident on the
road while towing it. |
Bert
Aug 21
|
| That was my thought. My buddy had a Rabalo that had about 500 lbs of
"foam" in it. The stuff splattered when he was tossing it out in the
driveway. |
gfretwell
Aug 22
|
