How many miles will I get with Ranger R-25SC

[ctmedlin]

How many miles I will get on the Mississippi River, going upstream ( R-25SC )? ctmedlin

 

[knotflying]

This is a loaded question. There are several variables, wind, speed of the river where you are navigating and your engine rpm and how loaded your boat is. I have an R-27, so to give you and idea, at 2500 rpm I can go as slow as 6.5 knots or 8.5 knots and I burn 3 gallons per hour. So at an average of 7.5 knots with 90 gallons of useful fuel I can go 30 hours, which computes to 225 miles. The r-25 may do better on fuel burn, but holds less fuel. This will give you an idea though. I am sure an R-25 owner will chime in and give you more accurate information.

 

[walldog]

How many miles I will get on the Mississippi River, going upstream ( R-25SC )? ctmedlin

If you wanted to go 3 Knots against a 3 Knot current at New Orleans, you may get 300 miles. 6 Knots speed over ground will probably only get you 150 miles. Leaving some for reserve and you probably should fuel every 100 miles or so. That is just an off the cuff calculation, of course YourMileageMayVary.

 

[Crewdog]

In private pilot training, the mantra was to never trust a fuel gauge.

If possible, try an hour run against the current, starting w/full tank and measure fuel consumption for a given rpm when tank is filled up again.

Seems like at least 3 kts fwd gps speed needed for good minimum steerage, so refuel stops would vary with downstream currents and winds.

Sounds like a good exercise in planning; good luck.

Bill

 

[knotflying]

I never trust the fuel gauge, however, I have found that the Garmin 5212 fuel meter is very accurate. I have the fuel remaining window on my chart view at all times and always keep a mental note of it during my scan in case my chartplotter goes out. I also have a record of my fuel burn at particular RPM's so that in case I loose electronic information I can keep track of my burn the old fashion way. We have gotten a bit off track regarding the original question of, How far can I go", but some of this is interrelated. There is no straight answer to your question. There are only assumptions made based on specific facts at the time, being river flow, winds and your RPM's that you will be traveling at and fuel on board, which all leads to how far you can go. You need to determine where you can get fuel from where you are, do your estimated calculations and determine if you can get there with a reserve in case conditions change.

 

[JamesTXSD]

Easy answer: you will get lots of miles with a Ranger. 😉 If you are trying to determine how many miles on a tank of fuel, there are too many variables (fuel burn vs RPM, current, weight) to give you a specific number. I grew up on the Missouri River, and I've seen it run 6 knots at times (Sioux City area)... that being the case, you are going to burn more fuel just to make any upstream progress; the fact that the R-25SC can run in the upper teens at high cruise means you can make miles against the current - you will just use more fuel than running at displacement speed.