Ranger 29 or 31 speeds

J

jconsani

Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2025
Messages
6
Fluid Motion Model
C-28
Vessel Name
Avalon
Looking at Ranger Tug 29 S and 31CB but am curious as to fastest cruising speed as well as WOT top speed for both.
Not sure I am a "tug guy" yet but ya never know,

Thanks.

Jeff
 
jconsani said:
Looking at Ranger Tug 29 S and 31CB but am curious as to fastest cruising speed as well as WOT top speed for both.
Not sure I am a "tug guy" yet but ya never know,

Thanks.

Jeff
Click to expand...
We had a 2021 R31CB for 4 years and put 800 hours on it. We fast cruised at 16-17 mph fuel economy was around 1.5-1.7 mpg. We slow cruised at 8 mph with economy around 3 and higher. If you did 6-7 mph economy would be even better. We found we cruised about 50/50 fast slow.
WOT 3550 rpm speed 20-21mph.
Now we cruise 34 mph on our Solara S310SB. Gets us to the fishing spots fast! Top speed is 50 mph
 
jconsani said:
Looking at Ranger Tug 29 S and 31CB but am curious as to fastest cruising speed as well as WOT top speed for both.
Not sure I am a "tug guy" yet but ya never know,

Thanks.

Jeff
Click to expand...

I have a 31S, so faster than the 31CB, but slower than the 29S.

My fast cruise is 16 knots, at about 1.3-1.5nmpg between 80-85% engine load (I look at load more than RPM). WOT is just over 21 knots.

Mine is a 2018 with the 300, the newer D4 with 320 might edge out an extra knot.
 
We have a 2021 R29S with the D4-320 in it. No bottom paint, fresh water use. Luxury model so it has the generator and two A/C units. 6 MPH gets 6 miles per gallon. We typically cruise at 2800 RPM which is 80% of the 3600 RPM engine recommended full RPM. Our boat at full throttle always gets to 3600 RPM and when there is limited water and 1/3 fuel on board it will get as high as 3700 RPM. These boats are very weight sensitive, so their speeds are impacted by the amount of fresh water in the tank and the amount of fuel on board. At 2800 RPM we typically get 1.6 mpg. With a full tank of fuel and water and a slight head wind it may only be 1.5 mpg and just under 14 MPH. After we burn through about 30 gallons of fuel we almost always see that 1.6 mpg and 14+ MPH. When fuel in the tank drops down to half and we drink a few of the beverages on board for a two week cruise the speed is typically 15 mph at that same 2800 RPM. On our last cruise we wanted to put her back on the trailer so the fuel tank was down to a third of a tank and the water tank was nearly empty and at 2800 RPM we were getting 1.7 MPG. Wide open we get 1.4 MPG and about 24 MPH. Once with a following sea and wind I saw just over 26 MPH but without perfect conditions, max speed is 23.5 to 24 MPH. We do not travel with a dingy on the back but have both a bike and a paddle board on the roof most of the time. I find the performance and fuel consumption chart on the Ranger Tug website to be very accurate.
 
I have been curious as to why folks ask this question. The big VP D4 and D6 diesels pretty much deliver speeds in the high teens or low twentys. Does a 3-5 MPH higher speed really make a difference? If fast is your primary concern there are a lot of much, much faster boats out there!
We typically cruise (D4-260) at 15-20 knots at 1.9 MPG if the seas are under 2 ft. Slowing down 12-14 knots in 2-3 ft seas. The only times our speed makes any practical difference to us is on our 90+ mile 4-5 hour days.
When we bought our boat, top cruising speed wasn’t even in the top 20 on our list of what was important about the boat.
 
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2015 R31 CB with the D4-300. We are always fully loaded with kids, gear, 4 paddle boards, fuel, and water. We cruise at 2900 all the time, but we are only getting 14 knots and 1.1-1.2 mpg with no current. Bottom is painted. Our temps jump above 185 if we go to 3000RPM, so we always keep it at 2900....been trying to figure that issue out for a while.
 
We just moved up from a 2012 R-25 which topped out at 16 mph but we mostly at cruised 7 - 8 mph. After looking at other brands such as the Beneteau, we decided to stay with Fluid Motion boats. We purchased a Cutwater C-32 C to get a 10 ft beam and extra space. It give us the ability to slow cruise at 7-9 mph or fast cruise in the upper 20s to low 30s. WOT is close to 50mph. The Cutwater give you the best of both world, slow or fast cruise. It all depends how you plan to use the boat.
 
I find that a difference of 1 or 2 miles an hour can make a difference in many circumstances. When you have a long day of cruising ahead it can shorten the trip by an hour. When you want to make a bridge opening that is eight miles ahead and you have limited time to get there before the appointed bridge opening time. When you want to get past a certain distance before the wind starts to blow whitecaps and/or change direction. I find the information that is the most helpful is the mpg figure. It helps me determine the correct position for my trim tabs and gives me comfort on long cruises knowing I have plenty of range in the tank with lots of reserve.
 
S. Todd said:
I find that a difference of 1 or 2 miles an hour can make a difference in many circumstances. When you have a long day of cruising ahead it can shorten the trip by an hour. When you want to make a bridge opening that is eight miles ahead and you have limited time to get there before the appointed bridge opening time. When you want to get past a certain distance before the wind starts to blow whitecaps and/or change direction. I find the information that is the most helpful is the mpg figure. It helps me determine the correct position for my trim tabs and gives me comfort on long cruises knowing I have plenty of range in the tank with lots of reserve.
Click to expand...
I guess you and I have very different cruising styles. When I have a 100 mile cruising day (perhaps that happens once or twice a year) the difference between 15 knots to 16.5 knots (17 MPH and 19 MPH) is less than 38 minutes. Even less of a time difference at higher speeds.
My critical timing points are slack tide times through rapids, not bridge opening times. I have never gone past a timed bridge in the PNW.
I time my departures and manage cruising speed to hit important slack times. I would never delay me departure in a way that would require max cruising speed to arrive at the slack time. On our current cruise of approx 425 miles in 20 days a difference of even 8 MPH in max cruising speed would make no difference whatever. And going any faster than we typically cruise at dramatically increases the chances of hitting semi-submerged logs. And there are lots of those logs!
 
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R29S with d4-300 (not the 320): 7 knots = 3 n/m per gallon. 8k = 2 n/m per gallon. then it goes down as you mush through. 13K and above = 1.25 n/m per gallon. so, we either go 7 or 15 for the most part. Top speed with no water, nothing in the holding tank, limited gear = approx 20 knots. Top speed set up for a two week cruise = 18 knots. again, d4-300, not the 320.
 
glider4 said:
I have been curious as to why folks ask this question. The big VP D4 and D6 diesels pretty much deliver speeds in the high teens or low twentys. Does a 3-5 MPH higher speed really make a difference? If fast is your primary concern there are a lot of much, much faster boats out there!
We typically cruise (D4-260) at 15-20 knots at 1.9 MPG if the seas are under 2 ft. Slowing down 12-14 knots in 2-3 ft seas. The only times our speed makes any practical difference to us is on our 90+ mile 4-5 hour days.
When we bought our boat, top cruising speed wasn’t even in the top 20 on our list of what was important about the boat.
Click to expand...
I want to have full knowledge of a boat's capabilities as part of my research on these boats. Glad to know you are so satisfied with your boat and it's performance for your needs.
 
Hi Jeff,

After ~2 years researching our "next boat", our top 3 was Cutwater C-30S, Ranger Tug 29S, Ranger Tug 31S. After comparing pros and cons, we ended up purchasing the Cutwater C-30. One of the "pros" was the beefy D6 435hp engine.

2500 rpm / 1.5nmpg / 13kts
2700 rpm / 1.3-1.4 nmpg / 16kts
3000 rpm / 1.2-1.3 nmpg / 19-20kts
3500 rpm (WOT) / dont recall the nmpg, < 1nmpg for sure / 24-25kts (I dont recall the exact numbers here, just approximate. I ran the boat at WOT one day in the lake washington right after purchasing it).

In all speeds above, water tank ~3/4, fuel tank above 1/2.

Alex
 
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