Sea Ranger 52 Cockpit

[seawitchone]

hi there,
I am new in this forum. Thank you that your administrator allowed me to join.
I am a Swiss Resident, and I am seriously considering to buy a Trawler as a Liveaboard. Would love to do the Great Loop with an adaquate boat. I just came across a beautiful (great layout) Sea Ranger built 1986 with Twin TAMD70E.
Question:
- can anyone out there tell me about his/her experience with this Brand?
- maybe someone owns one and can brief me?
- could anyone tell me whether the replacement of the engines is feasible and would it make sense?.
I do not need the boat to plane, so these two engines seem to me by far too big and uneconomical, burning between 12 and 19 gal/hr. I have seen Sea Rangers of 52 with Twin Lehmann 135hp.
thanks folks for your posts, Christoph

[sunchaser]

At 7.5 to 8 knots there would be little difference in fuel burn between the two brands of engines. A thorough hull and mechanical investigation prior to survey will yield the answers you're looking for regarding "how good is this boat?" A 30+ year old vessel is a crap shoot when on line viewing.

Brokers Mark Grace and Yacht Broker Guy on this site would be a good sources of information regarding boat brands, what is out there and condition prior to looking at something that could turn out to be unacceptable. In other words a buyer's broker may be worth eventually considering. Be careful who you choose though if you go this route.

[seawitchone]

and by the Way - I am also looking at a DF 44 :-)

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. As to repowering, you will never save enough on fuel costs to pay for the repowering costs. If the existing engines are in good shape, just run them at 8 knots or so and the difference in fuel costs compared to smaller engines will be negligible.

[greysailor]

Originally Posted by seawitchone

and by the Way - I am also looking at a DF 44 :-)

Welcome aboard!
And a great alternate choice!

[ddalme]

No problems with the reliability of a mechanical Volvo, especialy at low RPM. Parts availability and price are a concern. Having said that-I have a 1983 model TAMD40B and have not had a problem with parts-have not needed many. You are in the right place to obtain info from Volvo OH-Welcome

[koliver]

I have a C&L 44. Built in 1980. I have owned it since 1994. I have repaired leaking windows, otherwise the build was good. Mine had Volvo TMD40s. I upgraded to Volvo TAMD41s. Not because there was anything wrong with the original engines, I just got a smoking good deal on the newer ones.

The Sea Ranger is a C&L.
You need not have any concerns about the brand. Build quality is good.

[FF]

Offshore a larger boat may be more comfortable than a smaller boat.

The Loop is mostly a ride thru rivers and canals , so being handy , easy to lock and reliable is key.

Many nights are tired up to a free town wall so internal room and long term storage don't count for much.

How many will be in the party, and will you dispose of the boat when done with the loop?

[seawitchone]

Hey FF, I actually intended to do the LOOP after my retirement in five years time, together with my wife. The Idea is to see the US from a different view. Would have a chopper on board to be kind of mobile. However, once completed, we will bring the boat to the Caribbean and stay on board 4-5 months a year.

[Woodland Hills]

"Chopper"?

If it's a helicopter there is no room on a 52. If it's a Harley make sure that your davit system will lift it. And make sure that the gate to the dock is wide enough to fit through.

[seawitchone]

I ment a small Motorbike not heavier than a 12" RIB that I use as a tender

[skipperdiego]

Hi boys, I'm venetian ( italian for the moment), presently I am in Mount Shasta CA for few days. I have been offered a Sea Ranger 53 - I don't really understand what's the name of shipyard : King Yachts? C&L?... mistery) - a model marketed in France and Italy in the 80ties , anyway the line - streamlined - is the same of the 47 like this: http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s...47-a-4775.html , in my opinion is the same hull, they just changed the name from 47 to 53 for marketing reasons.
This is the boat: https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...ULr2XRwcEo7eRS

she has been neglected for some time and one of the GM-Detroit-6V92-550 hp is K.O.in need of desembarc for major overhaul, this is why they ask some $ 60.000 for the boat, an attractive price. The rest is the usual sequele of refitting work: teak deck with screws, leakage of windows and relevant wood panelry to revarnish, a mess in engine room...

the main theme is re-powering: they marketed a cheap trawler with planing capability at 19 knots in that period where almost only GM had engines in the 500 hp range at cheap price, and such engines are very big and bulky for the V structure of the block, if you see the pictures of the engine room there is no room between the engines. They are very heavy and the tanks of fuee they need, are very heavy and big, circa 3 tons of fuel.

to rebuild the GM is about $ 17,000 and I have no intention to go that way, I prefer discard the planing capability and go for a displacement speed of 8/9 knots and maybe keep a reserve of power for a semi-planing of 12 knots, for this I've seen a fantastic Fiat-Aifo engine used in every application in the 80ties, the CP3 or 8361M. The basic engine is a 8 liters straight 6 with 160 hp, with the turbo is 270 hp and this is what I found :

Motore fiat cp3 270 cv - Treviso Veneto Motori marini usati | annuncimacchinariusati.com

is very compact and reliable, find pieces everywhere. One feature is that you can discard the turbo, re-rate the injection pump and it goes as a naturally aspirated @ 160 hp.

What is your opinion or experience in this model of boat and my re-powering plan? Nota Bene: all the operation to change with the Aifos costs the same money to refit the GM.
Regards - Diego