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Old 02-20-2021, 08:50 AM   #1
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Swift 41 vs Ranger 41

Greetings and Happy Saturday -

We are shopping for a trawler, on-line for the most part, due to winter conditions and COVID.
We did recently did go see a Swift 47 in person. Interest was in the quality of the vessel. We do like the layout of the Swift 41 over the 47.
This past week spent some time reviewing the Ranger R41 CB.
Does anyone have experience with the Ranger Tugs.
Interested in thoughts about Ranger Tugs and vs the Swift Trawlers - overall quality of the build, material used, fit/finish, dependability.
Thanks!
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Old 02-20-2021, 09:59 AM   #2
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Kind of fanatical Ranger Tugs owners group at tugnuts.

Lots of interesting threads and good place to get specific Ranger Tug/Cutwater questions answered. I'm a fan of their smaller, trailerable boats.

Only caveat is that the tugnut forum is company run. Pro is that the company will give helpful input when possible. Con is that I have seen posters (not me) get banned for extremely critical posts.

Jim
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Old 02-21-2021, 08:54 AM   #3
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Thanks Jim
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Old 02-21-2021, 09:01 AM   #4
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Forgetting for a moment the "trawler" question - the RT 41 has Volvo IPS drives. That one issue opens up a litany of questions for serious cruising.
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Old 02-21-2021, 09:21 AM   #5
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Swift vs Ranger

Quote:
Originally Posted by sunchaser View Post
Forgetting for a moment the "trawler" question - the RT 41 has Volvo IPS drives. That one issue opens up a litany of questions for serious cruising.
Are you referring to dependability of the IPS drives or something else
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Old 02-21-2021, 10:26 AM   #6
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Sounds like you should first resolve the size issue. There is no economic trailering of a 41 foot boat.
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Old 02-21-2021, 11:30 AM   #7
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You can do the analysis on layout of the two, so I'll ignore that. Big differences.

Both have Volvos, but the RT is pod drive double Volvos vs straight shafts in the double Volvos in the Swift. A big consideration in your preferences.

If you spend time in the Tugnuts site given above you will begin to see some themes on the Rangers in general.

Until the 41 came out recently, the whole point of the line of boats was to trailer. So think light weight, and the key design elements built to fit within trailerable max measurements. All the while, stuffing as many sales "features" into the size limitations as they can squeeze. All of which makes good business sense in that trailerable mission.

So in squeezing in all of that stuff, you can't get to anything for maintenance without disassembling something else first to reach it. Its a consequence of packing in features.

There are a couple of knocks on the smaller Rangers, but I have seen little written on the 41. Wiring. The wiring runs seem almost random from boat to boat even within a model size and year vintage. Go to repair and replace something, and where it "should" be is only a starting point. Yours is likely to differ. Wire sizes are the minimum they can get away with. Power to the electronics Garmin grid is not done to spec and is insufficient, causing gremlins of various kinds. Fuses are scattered into various odd and sometimes inaccessible places. The main breaker panels are in odd places, and sometimes scattered instead of centralized. So again go back to the fact they pack all bells and whistles and gadgets in, but then they implement it poorly. I really don't know if that carries into the 41, but its just a topic for you to look into.

The second knock is the engine compartment on the smaller boats. I have not seen even any pics of that on the 41. Another topic to look into. The engine compartments of the smaller boats are in a lazarette in the cockpit. They are poorly ventilated, causing insufficient air flow to feed the engines (barely acceptable, but barely) but also excessively high air temp for the air feeding the diesels. Owners have sometimes made a project of trying to address this in way that help but not fully solved it. Again, something to look into for the 41.

Ranger owners report nagging water infiltration issues that are hard to trace, but once found tend to be either hull / deck seams, or from around insufficient bedding of ports and deck hardware.

I have not seen any pics or descriptions for the Swift. Both are volume production boats designed to be light weight for speed, so its possible both have some of these issues. I have noticed before that the Swifts don't show and don't mention the engine room, so it must not be something they are proud of. Both boats feature lounging with a glass of wine more than construction and maintenance issues.

I guess the general advice is to get below the skin level on both to see what's what.

For smaller trailerable boats, the Rangers fit a mission for many people. But I didn't understand what they were doing with the 41 when it came out. They moved out of the niche they have a commanding share of. At the 41 price point there are many more options for buyers to consider, whereas in smaller / trailerable there are fewer good options. $850,000 plus some options costs for a Ranger 41 opens lots of other choices.
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Old 02-21-2021, 12:24 PM   #8
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Old 02-21-2021, 01:07 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HeadedToTexas View Post
Sounds like you should first resolve the size issue. There is no economic trailering of a 41 foot boat.
Well the 2 vessels we are looking at at the Swift 41 and Ranger 41 so not planning to trailer.
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Old 02-21-2021, 02:22 PM   #10
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You perked up my interest so I looked up specs on the Swift T 41.

Balsa cores on both the hull and deck. Look it up and do the research and I think you will find that eventually water gets in there and rots the balsa. I have not seen that discussed on the Swifts, so maybe its not the red flag it might be in theory.

You did not say what you were really looking for. Both are more sleek and fast, and more speedboat than trawler on the spectrum.

But here's a few comparisons on build and value.

Helmsman 43. Fitted out it will be equal in cost to the Swift. But built like a tank. Half the speed but range measured in thousands of miles. True engine room. Cummins QSB engines have a service interval of 200 or 250 hours compared to 100 hours on those Volvos.

https://www.helmsmantrawlers.com/hel...43-pilothouse/

The American Tug (Nordic's too) can get you more speed. Cummins too. Real engine room.

https://www.americantugs.com/models/395/specifications/

Probably not the styling you may be looking for. The point is just the price / quality / value comparison. Hope this helps just a little.
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