1987 Ranger 395V

[Soardo]

Looking at a project boat locally but not familiar with this model.

Anyone have experience with them? Looks like it's borderline on whether it has a wood transom. What else might I need to consider?

[omcforever]

87 had wood transom.

[Soardo]

I figured that would be the case. I had heard that some late year builds may have gotten composite. Can Ranger confirm by serial number? Can I tell by looking at any particular thing on the boat?

[MoBob]

I grew up fishing out of an 86 395V. It was a dual console fish n ski that had padded rod lockers the doubled as seats. The one we had was tough as nails and would run about 58 with the old 235 Evinrude it had. It was a super stable boat and one of the first 20 ft bass-boats on the market.

There was no setback on the transom on these. They were mostly wood transom and stringers and were fairly strong and reliable as the lack of setback limited the leverage of the motor. These boats were generally heavy and overbuilt so they are quite durable. The boats that sat in the water for long periods tended to have wood issues over the years and will show cracks on the transom somewhere. Ours sat on a lift and was fine after 20 yrs when I sold it. I would be cautious if I didn’t know the history and triple check everything. If it’s solid, it’s a great boat.

[Soardo]

Thanks. Sounds like sound advice. I'd love to get a 491 or 492 to refurb, but can't find one.

So are you suggesting no jack plate? I believe all the VS version of this boat was the V with a fixed plate rather than the classic VS setback.