RANGER 31 FLYBRIDGE

[rs1721]

I am currently trying to decide if I want the Ranger 31 FB. I am a rookie boater.... stepping up from a ski boat.
My main concern about the Ranger is the fuel consumption 7 to 9 knots @ 3-4 MPG and 10-20- knots @ 2mpg.

Is this the norm.

Also I am concerned about resale for 27, 29 and 31" Rangers, doe's anyone have an opinion based on history that you would mind sharing.

Lastly build quality, doe's anyone know any history about problems with the hulls?

Thank you

 

[Captmike]

fuel is a minor concern with regard to these boats. Yes it cost money to maintain them, more them, and take care of them.
for me it's about being on the water in a vessel that I can depend upon and enjoy the benefits of being on the water immensely.hope you can enjoy one of these vessels. They are superior in my opinion.

 

[Levitation]

Use the archives to read through this site and 99% of your questions will answer themselves.

I suspect you never paid any attention to the fuel burn of your ski boat. It is way, way more than a tug will burn cruising.
The quality of the equipment on the boat and the material making up the boat hull exceeds any ski boat I ever saw.
Ski boats are flashy. They do not however instill confidence in one that they are ready to tackle rolling 6 footers for a 50 mile cruise.

Plus, they are two different worlds. Ski boats spend 98% of the time anchored out at the sand bar (or similar) and 2% skiing while bellowing and blowing fuel through the engine.
You don't have cocktails for 6 and dinner for 4 on a ski boat. You don't go for a quiet, rainy Sunday afternoon cruise in a ski boat.
Being cheap (that's thriiifffty, laddie) I cruise at 6 burning 1 gallon an hour. It is as fast as I want to go. I watch the herons stalking fish in the shallows, the eagles nesting on the channel markers. A 31 will come close to that fuel burn at that speed.

And a 31 is a whole lot of boat compared to a ski boat. There are more systems in just the cockpit on a 31 than are on an entire ski boat. Why not start out with a used 25 which is easier to tow and to store, and see how it fits your life style first.

GL . :mrgreen:

 

[Claire]

About 3 years ago we went from a competion ski boat to a 28 foot sport cruiser (twin engine) gas guzzler. Dec of 2012 we took delivery of "Claire" an R29 and haven't looked back. We use less fuel with our Ranger Tug and go more places in comfort than we did with the sport cruiser or ski boat. It's funny we get more of a rush going 5-8kts in our tug than we did going 34-36 behind our ski boat. Now we take it slow and enjoy the beauty of the Sound and all it has to offer.

These boats are well made, easy to handle in the toughest conditions and hold their resale value. They are the real deal. And they are made in our own back yard with top notch customer service just a phone call away.

Purchasing our R29 has been a life changing experience. We get to travel to beautiful places and meet a great network of people. Our family has grown and our life is richer because of it.


Mark and Beth

 

[Dschickli]

Hi RS,

We started out with a Ranger 29 and a year later switched to a 31 (first year 31 was out - I think we are hull 13) with fly bridge and have had great experience with both of them. Re your comment on fuel, from research we did prior to buying a Ranger Tug, the fuel consumption is more favorable than nearly all other boats that we reviewed - what I like is it gets great mileage if you are not in a hurry, and if you are in a hurry the consumption is not bad at 19 knots either which many other tugs can't compete. Great / good mileage is considering other motor boats and fuel consumption is a lot different vs a car.

Further, the boat with bow/stern thrusters is easy to handle and I could not have found a better boat for my wife and I to learn on - you will appreciate these especially with wind/current in tight spaces. We have gone on three long cruises and have not had any issues with out Tugs and get compliments wherever we go. We have not heard of any hull or other major issues - for those people that have had an issue with something, the Ranger Tug folks are quick to respond - having run a million member RV enthusiast club, I only wish our folks were as quick to respond to issues and as good on customer service!

I don't think you will find many Tugs for resale on the market and that will tell you they have relatively high resale value, what I like best is when you buy a Ranger Tug, you are buying into a great community. This is a great boat for the NW - the flybridge let's you enjoy the summer weather and cabin is great if you are out in weather.

Hope this helps!

 

[pugtug613]

I came from a 38' sailboat. I have the opposite situation. I went from a bunch of room and comfort burning a mere .6 GPH @ 6 knots to a 27' Ranger tug. I have a lot less room and I burn 5 - 7 GPH @ 10 - 12 knots. I would do it again in a heart beat. I probably should have gone with the R29, but I am happy with the R27. I use the boat way more then I did with the sailboat. A short trip of a few miles would mean at least 1 hour. We would not go out many times because it was a hassle with the sailboat. We like anchoring out for the weekend, but now we can go to a waterfront restaurant for lunch or dinner. We can just take a little cruise for an hour or two. The Ranger is made well and, so far, it's been very dependable. Just look thru the threads on this website. When you do have a problem, you can usually find help. If you like cruising and hanging out on the boat, it's a great boat.

 

[rs1721]

To all that replied so quickly to my post, THANK YOU. My reel concern was due to never tracking or caring about fuel usage on the ski boat. Also I was originally going to by a 32 Aspen Cat, high quality and low fuel burn. Its a great boat and dealing with the Graf family was fantastic. When my wife and I finally sat down to figure out exactly what our need and wants were
it came down to needing more space in the salon and 2cd birth with day head.

Thank you,

Rich, Shelley and Hayley

 

[jcarrdive]

Rick, Shelley and Hayley-
You will find on the R31 or any Ranger Tug that I have seen that the fuel info is very easy to determine via the engine displays. We track ours constantly and base many of our longer trips more on fuel consumption than on actual over the water speed. We have an R27 and can burn as little as .6 GPH and still get 5-7 knots. We are in Puget Sound, so planning your trip WITH the tide/current at your back is super helpful on speed and fuel consumption.
The R31 flybridge, well, (long pause) I can only dream of it. I love fly bridges and would glady suffer wind and rain just to be up on top of the boat driving. Alas, it will be a few more years before I can pull off an R31. If you want my 2 cents, get the flybridge.
If you are coming from a ski boat, you are gonna love taking it slow and easy and listening to the sound of the water instead the sound of the wind.
jeff and ela
Bobolink R27.
P.S. You are making the very best of decisions in getting a Ranger Tug. The build quality is superb. And customer service is 2nd to none.

 

[STELLA L]

rs, since you have had a boat before and live on an island (Bainbridge Is) you apparently know what it is like to be on and near the water. Now you are trying to decide what is your next step in the boating world. If you read this web site then you probably realize there is a ton of info here and more every day. That is a bonus.

With Ranger I truly believe quality is not an issue. In the last 2 years I have boated over 4200 miles (deep into Canada) and there was never a quality issue. However, any moving parts require maintenance and when I needed a repair the Ranger guys were there for me almost immediately to direct and help me. Since the factory is here in Seattle you can see first hand how the boats are built and what materials are used. Also, lots of RANGER boaters in this area so you can join them for functions with their boats and meet some great people. And get a lot of answers and assistance from active boaters. Boating here is a year round activity for many of us.

Assuming the quality issue has gone away what is left? Customer service! You will not find any company out there that can compare with the after-the-sale service. I have a friend who has a big company and owns a 31 RANGER and prides himself on service. However, he told me that RANGER puts anyone to shame when it comes to service. Trust me, you will be calling and contacting these guys for various reasons after you purchase that 31. They answer the phone even on weekends and that is unheard of in todays business climate. A direct line to Andrew is like talking to God :shock: if you get in trouble on the high seas. Okay, that might be a stretch but you get what I mean.

 

[Bruce Moore]

With no prior boating experience, and entering our 60's, we started with an R-25 (now "classic). In the past 7 years we've upgraded twice, to an R-29 and our current R-31. We have about 3,000 miles in our log books, from Olympia to the Octopus Islands. We've had more than one arduous Georgia Strait crossing, and pushed through a few poorly timed rapids. We've never had any reason to doubt the integrity of the hull or its ability to handle whatever these cruising grounds throw at us.

As for fuel burn, it is probably the least significant cost factor in our cruising. Cruising is the key word here. We go to amazing places. We spend time there, exploring, relaxing, and hanging with some of the nicest folks we've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Consider this perspective: wherever our tug takes us, we end up enjoying what are essentially $500+ waterfront accommodations, for which we're paying $1 to $2 per night (or nothing at all). As for the fuel, our only concern is having enough.

As everyone else has said, the factory support and the Ranger Tug and Cutwater Boat community are priceless. We probably would not have developed the competency and confidence we enjoy without them. Regardless of the problem, large or small, they get addressed. Whatever challenge a cruise has posed, we've benefited from the company and support of other boaters and, often, a factory team. And it's all just so much fun. I can't tell you how many times Vicki and I have looked around, then at each other, and said, "look where we are, and we got here on a boat!"

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[jroyle]

We downsized from a 41ft Meridian power boat and have never been happier with the R29. The size is perfect for us and the single Yanmar diesel is not only efficient but very reliable. We make numerous trips offshore to Catalina Island, a 28 mile one way journey in the open pacific ocean. The ocean can be very unforgiving at times such as last weekend where we ran into 7-9 foot swells. Luckily we had a semi following sea on the way home. The swell period was around 14secs which made for a really fun and fast ride home. The boat performed flawlessly. I put the bow up and ran her at 3500 RPM'S the whole way home and averaged 16KTS. I ran the autopilot all the way and only once or twice did the stern slightly wiggle on some very large waves. Its amazing how many people still come by in their dingies when we are moored and comment on how "neat" the boat is. It truly is a "neat" boat and we have never regretted purchasing it. I could go on for hours about the incredible factory support but that has been discussed many times in this forum. Bottom line is you can't go wrong with these boats.

 

[Dale777]

rs1721,

I grew up fishing and water skiing on small and large lakes in Oklahoma and Texas, using boats from a flat bottom aluminum fishing boat with a 10 hp outboard, a fiberglass 15 footer high horse power outboard ski/fishing boat, 17 foot outboard ski/fishing boat, 19 foot 300 hp inboard wooden hull ski boat to finally a 21 foot 260 hp fiberglass ski boat. I thought I was a skilled boater. However, I must admit coastal cruising is a different animal. So, I spent a lot of time deciding on which boat to choose and then preparing myself with the proper education and skills for those differences.

3-1/2 years ago, I decided I wanted a trawler for coastal cruising (and my wife really liked the cabin, berth and amenities on the Ranger Tugs). After looking at a C-Dory, Rosborough, and Ranger Tug, it was a no-brainer to buy an R27. I then traded it in 8 months ago for an R31. I've never regretted either choice of Ranger Tugs.

What everyone says about the dealer, owners (Tugnuts), and Ranger Tugs support is true. Andrew Custis, and his team, are always available and very helpful in answering questions and resolving problems. My dealer, Marc Grove in Eastpoint, FL, has always been there for me. And, yes, on both boats there were some "new boat issues", but with Marc and Andrew they were resolved without fingerpointing. I've had two different diesel pusher motorhomes and the Ranger Tugs type of support was not always there for them.

My transition to coastal cruising along the coasts of Florida with either R27 or R31 has happened with great comfort in having confidence in these boats for coastal cruising. Fuel burn is very simply a function of how fast you want to cruise. Cruise at hull speed if you want the best burn rate. Sometimes, I want to go faster than hull speed, so I speed up and pay the price for fuel. But, I would say the burn rate is always less than with a ski boat.

 

[Snowbird]

We have a Ranger 29 and are extremely happy with the boat and with Ranger Tug. The customer service is outstanding. Any time I call I always get a timely response. The boat handles great even in rough seas. We enjoy cruising at 7-9 knots, but always have the option 15+ knots. Everyone at Ranger Tug is great to work with. Wouldn't think of any other boat