2008 R-25

[Tehama]

I am considering buying a 2008 model that has a 110 Yanmar engine. But I am concerned that the engine maybe a little too small for this size of boat. I would be interested in any commets regarding cruising speeds and if you are able to get the boat up on plane, and at what rpm.
JRPOUNDBK

 

[Gratitude]

I have a 2008 with the 110 and I am very satisfied with the performance and fuel economy. If you are comfortable at the 8-10 knot cruising speed you will be satisfied. It has plenty of power to push through difficult seas. If you want additional speed then you will want to go with the bigger diesel. There is always some trade off in fuel economy. One thought to consider is diesels like to run at 3/4 or higher. A lot of folks last year slowed down to 6 knots because of the price of diesel. The 110 is still going to be happy at 6 knots. I am not sure about the bigger engine. Bigger is not always better.

 

[Auklet]

We also have an R25 with a 110 Yanmar and are very happy with it. This engine is in no way too small. I believe this is the size engine boat was designed around. Any more power is bonus. Nothing wrong with that. As "gratitude" said, this is a boat that is very comfortable at 8-10 knots, which is faster than most trawler type boats. We normally travel at about 2,600 rpm, which gives us the 8-10 knot range.
We have had only one experience with intentional extended WOT. One afternoon we went out looking for the Oracle on her last test run. Pat spotted her just south of James Island. When we were close enough, we swung in behnd her. The Oracle was heading home on a beam reach with about a five knot southerly. I pushed the stick all the way forward. We were doing 14 knots (16.1 mph) and the Oracle was pulling away. Ran this way for about 20 minutes. I felt that was enough excitement for the little Yanmar (and me).
The R25 is a displacement hull with enough modifications to allow it to override the theoretorical (sq root of LWL times ???) allowing the hull to go up rather than sink. The more power it has the more "up" it goes. But in her heart she is happiest as a superior little tug boat.

 

[j&lgray]

The Laurie Ann is a 2008 model with the 110 Yanmar. We have 400 hours on the engine and about 2,400 boating miles under the hull. We had a 25-35 knot Bayliner before the Ranger and had sailboats in the marina for 10 years before going into power. Like the previous owners mentioned, we are satisfied with the 8 to 10 knot speed. However, it was an adjustment from the Bayliner and I was first hoping to cruise at 12 knots when we got the Ranger. For the first year of having the Laurie Ann, we cruised at 2,800 RPM doing 10-11 knots. Then, we did a 90-day, 1,600 miles of the Tennessee River Valley during the height of the fuel prices and we grew to love cruising at 1800 to 2100 RPM and doing 7 knots. On the rivers everything is measured in statute miles, so we did 8 MPH and enjoyed 5 miles to the gallon. When you look at the performance graphs for the Yanmar 110, it reaches max torque at about 2200 RPM and is wide open throttle at 3,200 RPM. In other words, a very strong package at a great cruising speed.

This past weekend, we took the Laurie Ann out from Everett, WA in Puget Sound during small craft warnings to go to Winslow on Bainbridge Island. The wind was 25 to 30 with oncoming seas of 3 to 5 feet high. By the way, NOAA uses wave height averaging in their forecasts and that means when it is 3-5 feet, you are going to have a waves that are higher. We motored along at 8 knots in the head wind and waves hitting the bow while running at 2,600 RPM. We pitched and dropped over the waves taking a lot of spray but never a wave over the bow. The boat was great but when the cat lost her cookies on the floor, the admiral ordered that we turn around.

Our boating friends have a 24 foot Rosborough with twin outboard engines that likes to cruise at 14 knots. They could not go any faster in the wind and waves but did power out faster when we turned around. They use a lot more fuel than we do and have more maintenance issues with the outboards. My point being, is that everything in boating is a compromise. I really like the Yanmar 110 because I do the routine maintenance and there is enough room in the engine space to work in. The Cummins is a great product also but it is a bigger engine in that space.

It is really your choice. If the factory offered to swap out the Yanmar for the bigger Cummins engine for free-I would take the offer. How is that for mixed messages?

John

 

[Jeff Messmer]

We originally designed the Ranger R25 using the Yanmar 75HP engine as standard power. At displacement speeds the 75 HP provides plenty of torque to push the boat through heavy seas. In 2007 and for the first half of 2008 most of the R25's that we built upgraded to the 110 HP Yanmar. This engine met the new Tier 2 emission standards and provided some extra HP for those that wanted to be able to cruise at 10-12 knots. It was not until later in 2008 and now for 2009 that we started to offer the larger Cummins engines in the R25. We continue to have a great relationship with Yanmar and currently use the 30 HP Yanmar in our R21EC and the 260 HP Yanmar in the R29. A couple things to remember. 110 HP may not seem like much compared to your current boat but diesel engines develop a lot more torque than gas engines. Our boat is also a semi planing hull. Meaning that it does not have the bow rise and hump to get over to get up on plane. It ends up pushing more water which gives it the nice smooth stable ride in rough water. You are just doing it at a slower pace. Hope this helps.

Jeff