Jet motor on a Ranger RT198P

[tcesni]

Let me know if you have any questions on the CT1865, which is a RT188 modified for an outboard jet from Cowtown. I received mine last year in July and have a pretty good amount of time on it now. I would not put a 115 on this boat. I went with the 150HO and it has plenty of power but once you have two guys, full of gear, full gas tank, and full livewell it gets a little sluggish. You need a really quick hole shot especially if you are jumping on plane quick from small hole to small hole. You need at least two feet of water to get on plane. I run from hole to hole on the river I fish. I have to run some areas that are less than 1' deep to get to my next fishable stretch so you have to stay on it. Also an outboard jet does not drive like a prop boat so there is some learning curve as well. So far I have really enjoyed the boat. Gets me to places on the river that nobody can go unless you are in a float boat drifting, which leaves you at the mercy of the river.

Are you running your boat in Iowa or out of state?

[brnzbck7]

Are you running your boat in Iowa or out of state?

Mostly in Iowa, however I fish all over the place. I fish in Minnesota some and vacationed at Mille Lacs over the summer for a week. I get over to the Mississippi river near Lansing Iowa because I have a cabin over there. I normally get up to Ontario Canada each year for an annual fishing trip every year but ended up in Mille Lacs this year. I know some people on the Pipestone chain of lakes south of Nestor falls and north of Emo and usually fish that every year. I live on a small river here in Iowa which has smallies and spend a lot of time on it every year, however this year has been really wet and our river has been swollen and high almost all year. I am fishing a tourney on it this Saturday.

[tobyfrommo]

The boat is exactly like a RT188 with the transom redone. They order the boat from Ranger and they send the boat I believe to Alweld and they redo the entire transom and bottom of the boat. They cutout a portion of the center strike right in front of the motor and make that section flat and reinforce it. It actually performs better than my LegendSS 1860V that I traded in. What I mean by that is it steers way better. As you know a jet outboard does not steer like a prop boat. I think the hull being more of a V and the reverse chine on the boat really helps with that aspect. Also the ranger hands rough water way better. I actually fished for a week on Mille Lacs this year with rough water and was really worried that the motor would cavitate and not get on plane. Never had an issue the entire week and I was fishing in 2-3' waves a lot of time. It think it drafts water about the same as my LegendSS maybe better but not much different. I think my legend SS would actually run shallower water though. I have ran 7-8" water with it so far but am leary about going any shallower than that. I just don't want to beat my new boat up too bad. As for the Evinrude Etec I am really happy with that. I got in on the 10 year free factory warranty promotion they were having last year so that really means a lot for me. I live in Iowa and we have cold winters so we have to winterize our motors each year. However the Etec has its own winterization mode so I can do it myself really easy and if we get a warm up in late Oct or early November I can get the boat out and fish. Just takes 2-3 minutes to winterize it again. I have had zero issues with the Etec. I also had an Etec 175 on my LegendSS and had no problems at all. PM me if you have any questions or PM me your cell number and I would be willing to call you with any questions you have.

How much inquiry/discussion did you have concerning the remanufactured transom and bottom? Meaning, how did they explain warrantee related issues would be handled with the hull and/or the transom? Can you see exactly how they reworked the transom and where additional reinforcements might have been added? I like the 10 degree V of the Ranger when it comes to rough water and steering. I really lean towards the Ranger but I'm a little leery of the transom and its a bit more cost than the Legend SS/WeldCraft. The Legend SS/WeldCraft I'm looking at is a 1960 center rod locker layout...essentially the same as the Ranger.

[tcesni]

Mostly in Iowa, however I fish all over the place. I fish in Minnesota some and vacationed at Mille Lacs over the summer for a week. I get over to the Mississippi river near Lansing Iowa because I have a cabin over there. I normally get up to Ontario Canada each year for an annual fishing trip every year but ended up in Mille Lacs this year. I know some people on the Pipestone chain of lakes south of Nestor falls and north of Emo and usually fish that every year. I live on a small river here in Iowa which has smallies and spend a lot of time on it every year, however this year has been really wet and our river has been swollen and high almost all year. I am fishing a tourney on it this Saturday.

I grew up on south central Iowa and running a boat on our local Skunk River would have never entered my mind but I know that the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers can have some attractive fishing as does the Cedar and Upper Iowa rivers. The only time I was ever on the Upper Iowa river was on a high school canoe trip and we capsized into some very chilly water. I was miserable.

[st041986]

How much inquiry/discussion did you have concerning the remanufactured transom and bottom? Meaning, how did they explain warrantee related issues would be handled with the hull and/or the transom? Can you see exactly how they reworked the transom and where additional reinforcements might have been added? I like the 10 degree V of the Ranger when it comes to rough water and steering. I really lean towards the Ranger but I'm a little leery of the transom and its a bit more cost than the Legend SS/WeldCraft. The Legend SS/WeldCraft I'm looking at is a 1960 center rod locker layout...essentially the same as the Ranger.

You buy something before long. We only have a bit under four months before it's time for trout tournaments!

[brnzbck7]

Cowtown has worked with Ranger and got their approval for the mods. Cowtown agreed to a life time warranty on the hull and transom and said they would warranty any issues. They also gave the approval for the 2 power poles as well. So this gave me assurance that I would be covered if anything would go wrong. Cowtown knows jet boats probably better than anybody. They know LegendSS and what is needed to support the transoms. You can see the mods really easy by looking at the bottom of the boat and the transom and inside the back transom compartment. Cowtown actually quoted me a less price on the CT1865 because I was looking at he LegendSS 1960v center rod box layout as well and the Ranger was less expensive last year anyway.

How much inquiry/discussion did you have concerning the remanufactured transom and bottom? Meaning, how did they explain warrantee related issues would be handled with the hull and/or the transom? Can you see exactly how they reworked the transom and where additional reinforcements might have been added? I like the 10 degree V of the Ranger when it comes to rough water and steering. I really lean towards the Ranger but I'm a little leery of the transom and its a bit more cost than the Legend SS/WeldCraft. The Legend SS/WeldCraft I'm looking at is a 1960 center rod locker layout...essentially the same as the Ranger.

[brnzbck7]

I have never fished the Skunk or the Racoon but I have heard good things about them. I fish the Cedar all the time because my house is right on the river so it is easy to get on it quick. I have also fished the Upper Iowa river as well. Too small of the river for a jet boat but I have floated it several times with my 12' jon boat. There are a lot of nice smallies in that river. The state record actually came from that river until some body caught a bigger one from Okoboji Lake. Nice seeing an Iowan on this forum.

I grew up on south central Iowa and running a boat on our local Skunk River would have never entered my mind but I know that the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers can have some attractive fishing as does the Cedar and Upper Iowa rivers. The only time I was ever on the Upper Iowa river was on a high school canoe trip and we capsized into some very chilly water. I was miserable.