Well I finally had time to write a few thoughts on the new boat and trailer. Had a week off work and headed to the Big O for the checkout, motor run and to try out the new Ultrex, fishing too... Bad things first, my cover did not fit even after making the point of the tall trolling motor mount, they also forgot to install the cover Buckle attachments to the motor mount bolts. 10 weeks and still waiting on my trailer bow steps from Ranger, in now at the dealer. Had to break out the shop-vac, carpet was full of bits of aluminum. Aired up the tires to 50 lbs and started the 780 mile trip, uncovered.. The trailer tows easy and tracks well, very visible lighting. Checked torque on the lugs twice, made it there great. Filled the boat with 25 gallons of fuel which pegged the gauge, added Merc treatment additives, ready to go. Backed the boat in, loads and unloads shallow on the trailer. Motor fired instantly, quiet. Broke the motor in by the book, ran flawless 2 hours. Pulled the boat out and went to bed, worn out. Back out the next day just running the motor and looking for clear water on the North end of the lake. Boat jumps up on plane and does have some lift, 23 Tempest stainless prop, varying rpm still but seeing 53 on the speedo. Enough time to see what this boat will do, 5800 rpm, 64 on speedo, wow... now the ugly truth, GPS says 56.4 lol.. still good as it has some left in her. Boat is stable, thru all trim, no hopping at all. Hull is quiet, wind was howling the first 3 days so I had the boat out in better than 2 foot waves, no whitecaps tho, Impressed so far... Boat loads straight and easy on the trailer, bunks supported even and well. The trolling motor is the real deal, 80 lb thrust did great in the weeds and grass, boat drafts shallow, came in downwind of beds, turned into the wind and "spotlocked" boat held good with no abrupt movements. Used this a lot, rigging, pictures and landing fish, wind would move you a bunch without it. Impressed and worth the money to me, dealer installed I=Pilot but waiting on the Link model to swap out. Hydraulic steering is good also, hotfoot was nice on the 150, blinker trim was too. Regrets were no MercMonitor, front Helix mount over front of foot trey, lost use of the tool holder there. Livewell is fairly small, 27 inch bass was a load lol, kept long enough for a couple pics. Not much really, nice running and fishing boat. Front deck step takes up room in the cockpit but I really like it. Changed out the front bow roller, factory was ok though. Fuel gauge does not work. I was all over the boat fishing, stable and minimal rocking even on the corners, 230 lbs. Back home and off work, ready to go back now...lol Hope this info helps someone
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mine had tons of shavings all over the carpet. 
Originally Posted by Donnyboy
