Minimum and maximum horsepower for a 1976 Ranger Bass Boat

[kenflyer]

Hi,

Does anyone know what the minimum and maximum horsepower for a 1976 Ranger Fish and Play 18 ft boat is? Supposedly the boat weighs 995 lbs.

Posted the question over in the Ranger forum but got no replies...thought I would broaden my search by posting here.

thanks..

Ken

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: Minimum and maximum horsepower for a 1976 Ranger Bass Boat

I had a 16ft ranger 1978 it had a bored out 115 on it and did 64mph on a regular day.depends on the transom,if its strong try 200.and work your way down.rangers can handle big power.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Minimum and maximum horsepower for a 1976 Ranger Bass Boat

depends on the transom,if its strong try 200.and work your way down.rangers can handle big power.

I'm sorry jj but this is unsafe advice. A lot more goes into max horsepower ratings than transom strength and even so you certainly wouldn't try something huge and "work down". There is an approved USCG formula to calculate the max HP.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Minimum and maximum horsepower for a 1976 Ranger Bass Boat

As for minimum HP -- that would be a set of oars. However, the rule of thumb for determining minimum "acceptable" performance is to power the boat with any engine that is 70 - 75% of the maximum rated HP. To keep numbers simple, if the boat has a 100 HP maximum HP rating, the smallest engine that should be installed to provide reasonable, acceptable performance would be 70 or 75 HP. Anything less than that would likely result in a slug of a boat.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Minimum and maximum horsepower for a 1976 Ranger Bass Boat

Have you tried calling Ranger? Worth a shot.

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: Minimum and maximum horsepower for a 1976 Ranger Bass Boat

I'm sorry jj but this is unsafe advice. A lot more goes into max horsepower ratings than transom strength and even so you certainly wouldn't try something huge and "work down". There is an approved USCG formula to calculate the max HP.

true,everyone should know the capacity plate #s,I always start with the biggest,this way no regrets.

 

[Fed up]

Re: Minimum and maximum horsepower for a 1976 Ranger Bass Boat

you might try calling a ranger dealership, allot of times they have dedicated mechanics working for them who have seen the changes of the boats over the years, and can possibly rattle of the max rating for said boat.

Although I do not have a ranger, my merc dealer is a ranger dealer and they have the best guys in town. It doesnt matter if you just need to let off some steam from losing that big fish that would have won the tournament or are trying to trouble shoot a problem.

But I am sure my experiences with this dealer are few and far between, but at the least they can tell you that they dont know and to call someone else.