Which Tug?

[The Bolton Wanderer]

Basic question is which tug? But the question also involves, "Which Truck"

At last, it appears our house may sell! So a Ranger may be close on the horizon.
First off, it will be a 29 or 31 (maybe a Cutwater 30 depending on availability, but not the first choice)
The 27 or CW 28 is out at this point.
I enjoy towing and have a CDL, but realize driving a 2500 when not towing is something to consider.

But for now, lets talk boats. The older 29 with the starboard door appeals, for that reason alone. But the newer 29 with its sleek looks also draws, especially if considering a CB.
The good old 31 is also a consideration, and has a day head for guests, and the newer Sedans have the full hard top, but is obviously more of a lump to tow.
We are leaning toward a sedan just because we want to take "Stuff" with us and will primarily be in the PNW. We will want to take a Hobie and 2 bikes at least, But if we could fit it all on this on a CB, then we might might go that route just for that extra place/space to "Be".
I realize this is all over the board, but want to benefit from the experiences of others that have gone before.
Does anyone have some good prospective on the differences between these boats and why one may be better than another, for our needs?
Many thanks.
Clive & Monica C.

 

[baz]

I'll talk R29 CB vs. R31.

The R31 is quite bit more expensive than the R29 CB.

R31 is obviously bigger that the R29 lengthwise and has a lot of room inside; it feels bigger inside vs. the R29 CB.

For me, the R31 makes me feel claustrophobic as the cabin floor is lower down and I have to stretch up a tad to see out and around. The R29 does not make me feel claustrophobic at all. This is something you have to experience by gong on both boat model for yourself.

The R29 CB is my favorite model as the Command Bridge is super useful for more passengers and the grandkids who love it. The extra space up top adds to the overall space on the boat and 'stuff' can be stowed up top easily, so long as it's not too heavy or awkward in size. The separate spaces are - fwd stateroom, cabin, cockpit, and Command Bridge CB). The CB is great for docking and provides a 360º view all around, and a good location for retrieving your drone 😉 .

The R29 quite likely has a better WOT speed than the R31.

Personally, I find the Helm door on the R31 is not a 'must-have' item for me. Some people love it, I don't. It adds at least $5,000 to the boats price. If you're big around the waist you might find it a tight fit getting through the sliding door.

The R29 will sleep 4 very comfortably, and can accommodate 6 people sleeping onboard for short term cruises.

I could go on..... but as you quite likely know by now, I favor the R29 CB. 😀

Good luck in your choice... just take your time before dropping the deposit. 😀

 

[BradOwens]

I have a classic 29 which is very similar in layout to the 31. My reasons for preferring the 31 over the new 29 are as follows:
The helm door is my favorite feature, especially when docking solo.
The dinnette opposite the helm means both dinnette seats can be used facing the table while the boat is underway. The new 29 has the helm seat as part of the dinnette so only one seat can face the table as the other has to face forward for the helmsman.
I prefer the classic look of the 31. The newer Ranger Tugs look more like Cutwaters. I've heard them called CutRangers.
I'm not sure, but I think the mid berth is roomier on the 31.

 

[Karll]

I have a 2014 R29 and i would add a +1 on the helm door. I go out it once and a while but for docking it’s great. I reach out to lower the fender, I look out when docking and I have the bowline there ready to toss to the dock. Plus it is nice on hot days to crack the door a bit.

 

[baz]

I have a 2014 R29 and i would add a +1 on the helm door. I go out it once and a while but for docking it’s great. I reach out to lower the fender, I look out when docking and I have the bowline there ready to toss to the dock. Plus it is nice on hot days to crack the door a bit.

Of course, as I've found, "lowering the fender", "looking out when docking", and "having bow line ready", are all doable for the R29 S/CB. R29 has plenty of overhead hatches and helm window for getting fresh air into the cabin.

It's possible to have the R29 S/CB's helm seat reversed to allow seating at the dinette table, and Captain can either stand or use a home made jump seat that attaches to rear of the reversed double helm seat. I manage my R29 CB mostly solo, so I can attest to what I've said here.

The R31 is certainly roomier inside the cabin, and yes it has the 'classic tug' look more so than the new modern looking R29.

If Captain has wonky legs, then stepping up to exit the helm sliding door can be problematic.

The only way to compare the R31 and the R29 is to get onboard them and go out for sea trial and practice some docking.

The R29 cabin is far more airy than is the R31. The side windows make a huge difference for me.

The R29 S/CB's helm console can accommodate two nice sized Chart Plotters, whereas the R31 has just one but is larger than either of the two on a R29. For me this is a 'killer' option for the R29.

The R29 is better suitable for fishing than is the R31. The R29 has the reversible 22" TV at rear starboard cabin position that mirrors (via HDMI integrated stock cable) the starboard side helm Chart plotter so that the Fish Finder display can be easily seen when in the cockpit. Of course this has other advantages.

Then there's the $40K difference in cost between the R31 S and R29 S to consider.

You spend 99% of your time on and inside the boat vs. looking at the boat from the outside

 

[Sweet Peas]

Sweet Pea is a 31CB. Another shout-out for the helm door - wouldn't be without. Additional benefit not noted above is easy access to the front deck - indispensable for anchoring or tying-off to a buoy.

 

[S. Todd]

Wife and I just went through the same decision process you are going through. We spent some time crawling both boats and comparing features. Mid cabin is definitely bigger on the 31. We liked the seating arrangement better on the 31 with the single helm seat and double for the wife and grandchild. Helm door was nice but not a deal breaker because the window option to reach the midships cleat is excellent. (We learned to deal with this with our R25SC.) The killer on the 31 for us was the flip out seats in the cockpit. The dockside seat is never usable and neither of them is usable when cruising, and they just don't work easily. The anchor locker access and bow storage on the newer 29 is much better (but the ladder and split rail at the bow is not very nautical looking and I am not sure how useful it will be - maybe for passing the power cord to the dock). The drawer under the master berth is a supper improvement in the 29 over the need to lift the mattress in the 31. I could do without all the skylights on the 29 and the heat they will generate, but the storage space under the helm seat is a huge plus given the lack of the glove box (used it often on our 25). Our curved driveway and gate made the thought of the extra two feet a toss up - great on the lake but when trailering it would make tight even tighter. We loved the look of our R25SC and same for the 31S. Visibility driving and sitting in the 29S was great. Our decision was to order the 29S. I hope we don't kick ourselves and order another "last boat" in another 5 years (The prior two were each "last" new boats we would be getting.)

 

[SKI3PO]

I just ordered an R29cb after wrestling with these same issues. I love the classic "tug" look of the R31, but in the end the superior ergonomics of the R29CB won out. It's just an incredibly well designed and innovative vessel that feels much bigger than it is. If you search these forums I think you will find that the consensus on the day head is that it doesn't get used much and the space could be put to better use. I also agree with Baz that the fold out seats are a problem on the R31. This is especially true if you think that you might want a full cockpit enclosure as is popular in the PNW. The seats are unusable with the enclosure in place. On our R29 we will cruising with 2 kayaks attached to the railings using Magma racks designed for this purpose. I also think it would be easy to transport bikes on the command bridge. My biggest complaint on the R29 is the double helm seat. I prefer to have more freedom of movement from the helm. It also means that the table can't be accessed by the front seat for lunch or conversation while underway, which we enjoyed doing occasionally on our old R27c. Good luck!

 

[baz]

As has been mentioned - the double person helm seat when facing fwd disallows full two sided seating at the dinette table. This can be dealt with in two ways; one is the fold the helm seat to provide the extra dinette seating and for the Captain to stand, and the second option is to have a flip down jump seat that can be attached to the backside of the stern facing helm seat. The jump seat is not provided by RT but can be designed and installed by any reasonably skilled DIY person, or have a boat fitting service do this. Maybe in the future RT can have this as an option.

The cockpit flip out seats on the R31 have questionable use as mentioned above, and worse is that they cannot be used when the boat is equipped with a full cockpit enclosure unless the enclosure is designed to allow this. For the R29 the flip down cockpit seats can be used in all situations, and can attest to this as I have a full cockpit enclosure for my R29 CB. BTW... I can remove the cockpit enclosure panels in 10 mins and reinstall them in not much more than the 10 mins. The trick is to number the panels so when reinstalling you make no mistake with order for sliding them back on.

The R29 cockpit can seat 6 people and either one adult or two children can sit on the reversible aft dinette seat with the cockpit flip out window/panel that secures to the underside of the Bimini hardtop. Ive had this passenger arrangement several times and it works out fine....and if this is not enough seating, then consider you could have another 4 people on the upper deck with the R29 CB model.

I manage my R29 CB mainly solo and quite honestly have a hard time filling all the storage spaces on the boat. The two side cockpit lockers are simply huge; can place my BBQ, Scotty down rigger and crab pot puller in the post side locked easily, and there's plenty of room for other stuff in the starboard side locker (just be careful not to have anything that can move about close the auto pilots brain box as it has wire connects that don't take kindly to being bumped. Then there's the extra storage space where the optional cockpit helm station gear installs (more so if there's no helm controls there).

If you do not have the genset on the R29, there's another latrge storage area that can be accessed by lifting the floor panel at the base of the transom flip seat.

If you have the R29 CB, it comes stock with the two mid cabin roof hatches blocked off, so in sunny climate locations this would help keep the cabin cool. On my R29 CB I actually have these two hatches in place (a factory mistake 😉 ) and I love them for extra air flow, and for handing stuff up to the folks on the upper deck. 😀

I'm not sure about on the R31, but the R29 has cockpit heating. The outlet vent is under the cockpit Refrigerator. It can keep the cockpit area, with its full enclosure installed, nice and cosy in cool weather situations

The Webasto diesel heater in the R29 is IMO oversized as it really can pump out the heat when turned up to 'high'... I like this for my PNW area. 😀

If there was one thing I would add to the R29 (and is something I should have thought of as the boat was being built) is to have a 110v outlet on the port side in the fwd stateroom near to the shelving and the 22" TV. This would make it easier for connecting up my Apple TV4 for movies etc.

IMO, the R29 is the sweetest RT model in the lineup, excluding the wonderful R41 go course.

 

[Robvic]

No bad choices here! We bought the 31' because:
-helm door. Use it all the time to anchor, hop down when docking (solo especially), pull up bumpers; very useful
-all the room to store toys on the roof. We've loaded 2 kayaks and 2 paddle boards up there, or 4 bikes or 2 bikes and rocket box. Mix and match and you still don't cover the solar panel
-we love the flip out cockpit seating. No we don't have a canvas enclosure. There is so much more room to move around even while seated with the table in place.We haven't encountered any docks where it interferes.
We are often 4 or 5 cruising (occasionally 6), so seating around the table was important under way as is the larger rear berth
Fishing- I mirror the Garmin display on an iPad, or mirror it on the TV which I can see from the rear station

Happy shopping!

 

[The Bolton Wanderer]

I'll talk R29 CB vs. R31. Thanks for the input Baz, how much towing have you done with your R29CB?

The R31 is quite bit more expensive than the R29 CB.

R31 is obviously bigger that the R29 lengthwise and has a lot of room inside; it feels bigger inside vs. the R29 CB.

For me, the R31 makes me feel claustrophobic as the cabin floor is lower down and I have to stretch up a tad to see out and around. The R29 does not make me feel claustrophobic at all. This is something you have to experience by gong on both boat model for yourself.

The R29 CB is my favorite model as the Command Bridge is super useful for more passengers and the grandkids who love it. The extra space up top adds to the overall space on the boat and 'stuff' can be stowed up top easily, so long as it's not too heavy or awkward in size. The separate spaces are - fwd stateroom, cabin, cockpit, and Command Bridge CB). The CB is great for docking and provides a 360º view all around, and a good location for retrieving your drone 😉 .

The R29 quite likely has a better WOT speed than the R31.

Personally, I find the Helm door on the R31 is not a 'must-have' item for me. Some people love it, I don't. It adds at least $5,000 to the boats price. If you're big around the waist you might find it a tight fit getting through the sliding door.

The R29 will sleep 4 very comfortably, and can accommodate 6 people sleeping onboard for short term cruises.

I could go on..... but as you quite likely know by now, I favor the R29 CB. 😀

Good luck in your choice... just take your time before dropping the deposit. 😀

 

[The Bolton Wanderer]

Wife and I just went through the same decision process you are going through. We spent some time crawling both boats and comparing features. Mid cabin is definitely bigger on the 31. We liked the seating arrangement better on the 31 with the single helm seat and double for the wife and grandchild. Helm door was nice but not a deal breaker because the window option to reach the midships cleat is excellent. (We learned to deal with this with our R25SC.) The killer on the 31 for us was the flip out seats in the cockpit. The dockside seat is never usable and neither of them is usable when cruising, and they just don't work easily. The anchor locker access and bow storage on the newer 29 is much better (but the ladder and split rail at the bow is not very nautical looking and I am not sure how useful it will be - maybe for passing the power cord to the dock). The drawer under the master berth is a supper improvement in the 29 over the need to lift the mattress in the 31. I could do without all the skylights on the 29 and the heat they will generate, but the storage space under the helm seat is a huge plus given the lack of the glove box (used it often on our 25). Our curved driveway and gate made the thought of the extra two feet a toss up - great on the lake but when trailering it would make tight even tighter. We loved the look of our R25SC and same for the 31S. Visibility driving and sitting in the 29S was great. Our decision was to order the 29S. I hope we don't kick ourselves and order another "last boat" in another 5 years (The prior two were each "last" new boats we would be getting.)

Thanks for all the help, how much long distance towing have you done with the R29?

 

[vertigo]

The newer Ranger Tugs look more like Cutwaters. I've heard them called CutRangers.

...or RangeWaters. 😉

 

[vertigo]

Thanks for all the help, how much long distance towing have you done with the R29?

Hi, Clive. I went through a similar analysis to yours a year ago, arriving at the conclusion that the R-29 Classic is the best value to be had in a trailerable trawler when comparing all possible features, trade-offs and price. At the time I was thinking that I'd be trailering the boat to distant waters (Prince Rupert, for example), so I also acquired the most robust trailer I could find (36,000 lb capacity axles, 12" aluminum I-beam frame, stainless steel brake system) and the beefiest truck I could think of (F-450 diesel 4x4). But, in the year that followed I found that I much preferred motoring along on the water to driving in traffic with my freight train, so I haven't trailered our R-29 more than 50 miles. Of course I do live at the edge of the Salish Sea on Whidbey Island with excellent cruising waters already at my doorstep, so perhaps my perspective isn't particularly useful for you.

One other comment that I would add is that this seems to be a record year for boat sales here in the Pacific Northwest, and so you may face considerable competition for the good used boats. I put our boat up for sale just a few weeks ago http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=16660 and I've already turned down several low offers and have two offers on the table this morning to consider. So don't expect the well-maintained and equipped Ranger Tugs to sit around waiting for long.

Happy hunting!

 

[S. Todd]

I have not yet towed the R29. We ordered it a little over a month ago and it is still being built by Fluid Motion. We have a F350 diesel dually so toing should not be a problem as long as the roads in construction zones are not too narrow. I have studied the roads we typically tow on here in the Midwest and I am not expecting it to be a problem 99% of the time.

 

[FreeSoup]

We didn't have the opportunity to check out every make/model (lookin forward to a rendezvous) and came across a good find of a 2013 R31CB. We use the command bridge most of the time (almost 100% if not raining), like the door at the helm, and although the fold-out cockpit seats might be a bit of a novelty and not usable with an enclosure make a big cockpit even bigger and give a great view more forward/aft of the boat for fishing, race committee, socializing. Good luck!

 

[Levitation]

On driving a 2500 - it is a state of mind. I have driven nothing (99% of the time) but a 2500HD for the past decade. And before that a half ton the previous two decades. My wife has a car so if I need one for some reason I swipe hers. Friends from Key West used a 2500HD to haul their R29 and said it handled perfectly. For an R31 probably a 3500 is the better choice for handling on mountain roads (though not the better ride when empty)

 

[vertigo]

On driving a 2500 - it is a state of mind. I have driven nothing (99% of the time) but a 2500HD for the past decade. And before that a half ton the previous two decades. My wife has a car so if I need one for some reason I swipe hers. Friends from Key West used a 2500HD to haul their R29 and said it handled perfectly. For an R31 probably a 3500 is the better choice for handling on mountain roads (though not the better ride when empty)

An R29 with any fuel and water onboard, along with the weight of the trailer has got to be well over the placarded tow rating of a 2500, no? I've towed lots of heavy equipment over many years, and I'd never consider doing that. Some are braver than me.

 

[bill46]

We first looked at a 29 classic. liked it a lot. Did not like new 29. Found a dealer with 3 used 31s. Bought a 2014 in 2016 with 70 hours. Love most everything about the 31CB. The helm door lets me single hand it. If I were buying new, I would get sedan without command bridge or cockpit helm. We do like the ice maker option, and in Florida generator and air conditioning.

 

[Wee Venture]

If we were going to trailer the boat, I would strongly consider the 29. And I remember when we took the tour of a brand new 29 sedan it felt very light and airy. But we strongly favored a command bridge and loved the classic looks of the 31. So in the end we opted for the 31CB and have never looked back.

Another vote for the helm door which is a huge plus for us. I use it all the time—for going quickly to the bow and back when anchoring, for stepping out onto the dock especially when single handing, for deploying and retrieving the fender which we keep in the well beside the door. And I frequently run with the door open which makes it feel like a much closer connection with the outdoors. More than once, through the open door, we have watched dolphins playing in the bow wake.

Regarding the fold-out cockpit seats, this is another feature we love and use frequently. We find them very easy to deploy once you get the technique down: lift straight up before pushing out. When folding them back, keep the seat back at a 90° angle till the seat is flush with the gunwale, then fold down while keeping an eye on the straps. They take me about 10 seconds apiece to fold out and maybe 20 to fold back in and lock. They make the cockpit much more roomy, especially with company. We do have the full enclosure for the cockpit and it was made with zippers immediately fore and aft of the seats. So it is a simple matter to roll the side panel up and fold out the seat.

And the command bridge we use not just for a second helm, but we love to go up when we are at scenic destinations and sit at the table for drinks or a meal. We have never been to a restaurant that matched some of the vistas we have seen from that table.

John