Boat List

[adambakerlawrence]

I just purchased a used 2016 R25 SC that is equipped with a generator. While the boat sits at he dock, it lists very noticibly to the starboard side. I have to assume this is an issue on all generator-equipped Ranger boats, and I would like to know how other owners have leveled out the boat.

 

[Crewdog]

Hi Adam:
Welcome!
On our R27, I've stowed an extra anchor and chain in the starboard locker, added a couple cases of water to store under the galley stove, a rooftop cargo carrier on the stbd upper rails and this seems to balance out almost evenly.

Still have to use a little more trim tab while underway tho.

If you're in Alpharetta, we're just outside of Crabapple and I think we might be neigbors almost.

 

[dclagett]

Adam,

Welcome, good choice on a boat. Did you mean lists to port? My 2014 RT25SC had 4 batteries, generator and heat pump on the port side and had a considerable list to port. We do not travel with enough stuff to fill in the storage on the starboard side to level the boat and we did not want to use ballast which would affect boat performance. We decided to move the house batteries (2) to the starboard cockpit locker. Now the boat sits in the water level and we do not need to use the trim tabs to level the boat which provides us more trim control to lower the bow when needed.

Good luck in your approach, the boat performance is much better when balanced.

 

[Clementelife]

I just purchased a used 2016 R25 SC that is equipped with a generator. While the boat sits at he dock, it lists very noticibly to the starboard side. I have to assume this is an issue on all generator-equipped Ranger boats, and I would like to know how other owners have leveled out the boat.

I purchased a new 2017 R25SC and had the same problem. I contacted Ivan Guzman at Ranger Tugs and he had some suggestions. I decided to purchase 35 lb( 5) stainless steel shot bags and placed them in the lower cabinet next to the refrigerator. It does take away some storage space but I made a custom shelf that sits above the shot bags. Give Ivan at Ranger Tugs a call and get his ideas.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[TexasEye]

she list port, batteries, generator and the cave which is basically storage lay portside. yep, it's an issue and should have been fixed by design. but, I love our Tug...listfully...

 

[TexasEye]

To me the two most aggravating design issues are visibility aft starboard and no door on port helm...Butt, everything on boats, cars and airplanes are compromises...

 

[Rwnorton]

With the same problem, I have ordered, but not yet received:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NA ... UTF8&psc=1

Heavy duty potable water bag. I have ordered the 13 gal size which when full will be about 100 lbs. I’m buying them solely as ballast. I intend to put one beneath the stbd v berth and am going to remove the stove (4screws) to see if there is room for another outboard the stove/galley cupboards. Has anyone used the area behind the galley cupboards?

 

[captstu]

It took only an hour to move the two house batteries to the port side. That got rid of 75% of the port list. Two more hours to move the thruster battery forward, list gone and after putting the battery and installing a new inverter forward, list gone and trim improved.

Easy to move batteries, be sure to move pain and hold down also.


Stuart Bell
Ranger 25: Shearwater
(561) 352-1796

 

[Marnis]

I wil be taking delivery of a 2018 CB31 in April. I have been reading many posts regarding various models of tugs listing to port or starboard right out of the factory. Many owners talk of moving batteries around our adding additional weight to compensate for the listing problem, and seem to correct the issue. Knowing that the listing is correctible, why is it that the factory does not make the same changes to positioning of items below deck to have the boat sit evenly in the water at delivery? Is the listing problem an issue with certain models only? There is no doubt that Ranger manufactures a quality boat, but when I read of certain problems that owners have repeatedly voiced their concerns about, I wonder why Ranger does not take a cue and incorporate these changes into production.

 

[adambakerlawrence]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome to the "Tug Family", and for all of the great ideas. I'm going to have my local marina move a few batteries prior to taking delivery of the boat. It looks like I can make any "fine adjustments" with cargo and supplies.

If you are in the Atlanta area or in the southeast, I would love to connect. We need a meet-up out this way!

 

[dclagett]

Marnis,

First off the listing to port to my understanding is only in the R25 & R27 with a generator. Both of these boats are no longer in production. However the factory knew about the problem before the boats went out of production so I have the same question since it is an easy fix to move batteries. In my case the generator was installed by the dealer so the factory was not involved.

For those that are suggesting adding ballast, we have found our R25SC performance is sensitive to weight. My tug would have required over 200 lbs of ballast to level the boat. There are some places where one can put lead ingots that will not take up usable storage. One is around the water heater. However for our use of the boat I did not want to carry another 200+ lbs for our normal weekend trips which include running 10 to 12 hours at cruise. Coming from faster boats every knot is important to us.

 

[gsc3]

For compact ballast, www.leadwake.com offers canvas bags filled with lead shot, including 50 lb bags. I have used these for ballast in the chain locker of our Cutwater 24/OB to improve the fore/aft trim, bringing the Yamaha 300HP OB out of the water when in the "up" position, and improving the handling in rough water at low speeds. Also, moving lead shot bags from one side of the chain locker to the other can solve port/stbd trim problems.

 

[captstu]

Batteries make good ballast. Each pound you move forward counts to pounds

 

[TexasEye]

I am concerned about batteries forward in the cabin, batteries have a lot of bad habits some worse than Uncle Bob...I think Boat Batteries belong in the cockpit not inches away from where I sleep...

 

[ixlr8]

What I don't understand, Ranger on the new prototype 27OB, they had some batteries on the port side, some on the starboard side. On the production boats, all 4 batteries are on the port side and guess what, from what I have been told, the boat lists to port. So far I have not been able to get an answer out of Ranger on why they moved all the batteries to the port side.

 

[Andrew Custis]

All of our boats now float pretty darn close to level right out of the factory. Regardless, this still matters on how you equip the boats. I have a Ranger 23 that I personally own and I added a battery to the starboard side to compensate for the kicker motor I added. It is really hard to build a boat efficiently with different battery and wiring configurations whether or not you choose a kicker or heavy options that might change this around. The generators on most of our boats are now located in the center so listing isn't caused by this. Float your boat when it is brand new and verify where you need to focus keeping the weight. You wont be far off and if you want to change something, work with the ones you are buying from to help get it perfect for how you plan to use the boat.

All the best,

 

[S. Todd]

I agree with Andrew. We have a 2015 R25SC and it has always floated relatively level with normal loading. We opted not to purchase a generator in a 25 foot boat that we would seldom use. This boat with its diesel sitting low & near the center of the boat is the most stable and least sensitive to movement of passengers and waves as any boat in this size range we have had.

 

[stwendl]

Funny how this was never an issue on my sailboat with its 6000lbs keel or my catamaran sitting on two hulls 20ft apart 🙂