Weight gain and towing

P

portlandtug25

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
89
Fluid Motion Model
C-26
Vessel Name
Regalo
Hello all,

My R25 SC, which the factory spec sheet describes as weighing 5700# dry, came in at 9200# when put in the sling today. With 70 gallons fuel , empty fresh water, empty holding and Inflatable Ranger dinghy and 2.5 outboard on the swim platform.This seems awfully high to me.

I had always figured towing weight to be maybe 7200 -7300 for the boat (w/fuel and some fresh water and various accessories ) The EZ-loader is said to weigh 1800# so I had estimated a total towing package of about 9000#. But if the marina's scale is correct ( they claim it is) it appears that I'm actually towing 11,000! That's quite a difference... Can anyone explain this extra ton? Is "dry weight" on the spec sheet meaning just a bare hull?

Thanks!
 
The weight was probably acccurate but seems a bit high to me. RT says empty weight for R25 SC at 6,250 lbs, not 5,700. The 70 gallons of fuel added another 525 pounds to your rig. Dinghy and motor probably another 150 pounds. Depends on accessories you have in the boat too - generator and a/c would add a lot. And of course the weight of all that personal stuff you have on board adds up as well.
I have been on four different truck scales with my rig (boat on trailer) and have seen weights of 9,550 pounds with almost no liquids at all to 9,850 with about 25 gallons of diesel fuel. Our target weight for towing is 9,650 pounds. We try to take almost all portable personal items out of the boat when towing except dishes, pots and such. And dinghy is in the truck bed of course to help keep the tongue weight at 600 pounds.
 
In order to know for sure weigh the rig at a certified truck scale. My 25SC with all factory options except inverter and solar panels weighed in at 9600lbs. That's including the trailer and the boat had a full tank of diesel, no water or waste.
 
You guys are quoting weights on the trailer. OP referenced weight in slings. Seems like the yard weight is a bit high. They charging by weight for the haul?
 
Sorry, my trailer, like his, weighs in at 1,800 pounds. That would make my typical boat only weight on trailer at about 7,850 pounds. The trailer is all aluminum tandem axle. I have a 2009 R 25 Classic with Yanmar 150 hp, but no generator or a/c. That means my optional equipment, tank fluids, diesel and personal gear left on boat when trailering total around 1,600 pounds - if you believe the RT R25 empty weight number of 6,250 pounds is accurate.

PS: I trailer with fresh water and black tanks always empty and try to have less than 20 gallons (150 pounds) of diesel in the fuel tank. Water heater holds 7 gallons so that adds 56 pounds too.
 
I had my R29 in a sling and it said 20,000 lbs , which I knew was off. I think with all the real heavy boats they lift they are not accurate for lighter weights... IMHO.
 
Dont forget to include the weight of the lifting frame, that holds the slings. At my place it weighs 1500 lbs... added to the 6300 lbs brings it to 7800 lbs.
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this!

The reason for my concern is that if this boat does actually weigh 9200 #, I've got a problem, since it came with a 9000# rated trailer. I was blissfully rolling along thinking that I was hauling about maybe 7500# of boat, which would be a comfortable margin.

I didn't think about the lifting gear being part of the weight in slings.. You would think that the boat yard would zero that out. I'll ask them about it. It is a good point about lifting lighter boats, giving less than accurate weights.
There just doesn't seem to be any way that I've got 3000 pounds of gear and equipment on board, even with some fuel--I don't even have the heavier options like AC and generator, and minimal

The 5700 # dry weight I quoted in my first post came from a flyer that I got when I bought the boat. That's obviously been revised to 6250, which seems more reasonable for a fiberglass rig.
 
I hope you get a chance to roll it over a certified weigh scale to get an real accurate weight. I hope to get a 25SC one day and had the same thoughts as yourself, meaning an all up weight around 7500 - 8000 lbs wouldn't be too stupid to haul around.

I'd like to think the "dry weight" published would include all of the "normal" gear and equipment that comes with the boat. From what I have seen, Ranger Tugs come very well equipped right from the factory. Obviously adding options like the Bimini, dingy, generator, air-conditioning, etc would increase the total, but I would hope that is all easily added to the final "dry" weight. Fuel and water and personal gear can add lots more.

If you do get clarity on the weight of your boat, please take a minute to post it here for the benefit of the ones that hope to own a Ranger Tug!

Safe Boating,
Glenn
 
I am not sure what hoist you used, but my Marine Travelift weight gauges are used to balance the load in each sling. The gauges are not very accurate for getting an true weight of a vessel.
 
Our 2016 R-29S with full fuel/water, still hitched to the pickup, weighed 14,400 sitting on the trailer on our local freight hauler's scales. At some point will need to take it over again, disconnect it from the truck, and re-weigh it.
 
My marina's sling lift is accurate. It has a max lifting weight of 10,000 lbs. It has an accurate weight display scale. They lift the boat a tad while it's in the water and if they see the boat is tipping the scale at or above the 10,000 lbs they insist the boat owner goto the travel lift for haul out. They will do same when lifting boat off a trailer. They will shift the two slings back and forth some to see if weight changes significantly if the scale displays close to the 10,000 lbs.

I have the new 2018 R-27 with the F300 and 9.9 kicker motor. When it was delivered to me Aug 16 this year at my marina it had some 60 gallons of gasoline fuel and some small amount in the fresh water tank and zero in the holding tank. No personal gear was onboard; just the safety gear that RT provides with a new boat. The boat did have 2 coats of new bottom paint.

The boat weighed in at 8,300 lbs.

I've since been using the boat since delivery and have loaded it up with my personal gear. It was hauled out the other day for the F300's 20 hr break-in service with 30 gallons of fuel, 24 gallons in holding tank and some 30 gallons in fresh water tank. It weighed in at 9,300 lbs.

If I had close to a full tank of fuel I would be very close to the sling's max allowable weight lifting capability.

In future I will attempt to have as little fuel on board for my annual F300 service to avoid having to use the marina's travel lift which is much more expensive to use.
 
baz,

Dumping the 50 gals fresh water and pumping out the holding tank (24 gals) could reduce the weight by about 600 lbs.
 
My freshwater tank was at 30 gallons and not 50 gallons (my typo). The freshwater tank's capacity is 40 gallons. 😉

So the 30 gallons plus the 24 gallons would be around 8.34 x 54 = 450 lbs.
 
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