I plan on trailering my 2010 Ranger boat to FL & use in both fresh water & saltwater for 6 weeks. Modern outboard engines & fiberglass / composite boats should do well in both fresh water & saltwater by just rinsing off boat & flushing out engine with fresh water IMO. The Ranger trailer is powder coated, sealed LED lights, surge brakes with sealed oil bath bearings & fiberglass fenders so also should do well for dual use. My boat in summer will see many Northern WI lakes & when not on the move it will be on a boat lift.There seems to be many opinions regarding saltwater damage in general to boats & trailers but seems to me many Ranger Rigs do both well in FL. What is you opinion & why?
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Saltwater/Fresh Water Ranger Boat & Trailer Use?
- Thread starter whitedust
- Start date
Worked on boats in Fresh water(MN,WI. IL) and Salt and brackish water in Houston Texas. As long as you run out the motor right away, wash everything down on boat/motor/trailer with soapy water, and spray painted parts down with a anticorrosion spray you will be 90% good. All of the tight areas are the other 10%. Here is my 10%:
Axle nuts and bolts
Lug nuts and studs
Box steel components on the trailer
live well pumps
live well gate valves
Everything under the dash that can corrode
all mechanical and electrical connections under the motor hood
These are the spots that you wouldn't touch unless you had an issue. By that time the little bit of salt corrosion has turned into a big problem. If you think ahead you will be fine. Just plan on going through everything before and after your trip. I tell most people to have the water pump replaced when they come back from saltwater. This insures that most all of the lower unit components have been taken apart,cleaned, and new installed. Have fun!!!
Axle nuts and bolts
Lug nuts and studs
Box steel components on the trailer
live well pumps
live well gate valves
Everything under the dash that can corrode
all mechanical and electrical connections under the motor hood
These are the spots that you wouldn't touch unless you had an issue. By that time the little bit of salt corrosion has turned into a big problem. If you think ahead you will be fine. Just plan on going through everything before and after your trip. I tell most people to have the water pump replaced when they come back from saltwater. This insures that most all of the lower unit components have been taken apart,cleaned, and new installed. Have fun!!!
I can take some pics of my trailer for you, 3 years since everything was replaced. My parts list for sat., 4 leaf springs and hardware, 4 rims, 2 tires, safety chains, new wiring, new hub seals. I bought it used and it had painted rims, they are rusted so bad I have a air leak thru the rust. All new parts will be galvanized or stainless steel, the springs will be the best I can get, not sure if painted is the only option. One spring is so bad 1/2 of 2 leaves are broken off, the main is cracked in the middle I was lucky it made it home. I washed every trip, sprayed the springs with oil every trip. The lights never get wet as they are up on pole guides. My motor is sprayed with cosmoline, still have gone thru every connection sanding/cleaning 2x in 3 years. Had to replace the the starting Batt. cable due to corrosion, the list goes on and on. Never did I have these issues in MI. All I can say is do not under estimate the power off salt water.
latebraker
New member
I can take some pics of my trailer for you, 3 years since everything was replaced. My parts list for sat., 4 leaf springs and hardware, 4 rims, 2 tires, safety chains, new wiring, new hub seals. I bought it used and it had painted rims, they are rusted so bad I have a air leak thru the rust. All new parts will be galvanized or stainless steel, the springs will be the best I can get, not sure if painted is the only option. One spring is so bad 1/2 of 2 leaves are broken off, the main is cracked in the middle I was lucky it made it home. I washed every trip, sprayed the springs with oil every trip. The lights never get wet as they are up on pole guides. My motor is sprayed with cosmoline, still have gone thru every connection sanding/cleaning 2x in 3 years. Had to replace the the starting Batt. cable due to corrosion, the list goes on and on. Never did I have these issues in MI. All I can say is do not under estimate the power off salt water.
I agree with you, I think you also have to factor in the long period of time your equipment is expsed to salt air. By the way I have a place in delray beach 906! To the op's question, I know alot of guys with boats your size take them directly to freshwater lakes and drop and run them for a few mins, maybe thats a option. We have a 32' center console with twin 250's with approx 400hrs. No problems, maybe check your impellers and and pumps when your back home. Alot of guys spray there engines with CRC 6-56 with is a petroleum based lubricant, do a google search. I would be worried most about the trailer specifically the brakes, some have freshwater washdowns on there trailers. Take good care rinsing that! They guys down in the islands and northeast rarely can hook the earmuffs to rinse them, no freshwater availbale or they are on a mooring off shore. Have fun what area are you going to? What are you running on that ranger merc 250 2 smoke? Another great source for good info is thehulltruth.com. Anything you need to know about boats can be found, they have a whole section dedicated to towing/trucks/trailers. I wish you calm seas and tight lines -Jonathan
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Delray is nice. My boat is older, so age has alot to do with it. Plus I am very an.l about maint. 10 miles out is no time to find a problem. I just could not buy a newer more expensive boat and watch it slowly rust up. Doo Dr hit it on the head in his post. When you hit fresh water let the trailer soak, wash the boat a few more times, spray with CRC. I use Salt-Away exterior wash on everthing, boat equipment, gear, ect. To flush the motor they sell a in line hose mixing unit. www.saltawayproducts.com Just follow the directions let the product do the work. It sounds like a really nice boat to me, not sure how long you plan to keep it, if you could avoid salt I would. JMHO But if I came from up north for 6 weeks to fish and dive, well thats different. Have fun. I have a trailer to rebuild today.LOL
To white dust
Sounds like the thing to do would be to leave your boat home and rent when down in Floridia. The money saved on gas to haul your boat down there and the potential cost of salt corrosion and the money spent to correct same. Unless you intend to get rid of boat when you return. It does not seem like a good idea.
Sounds like the thing to do would be to leave your boat home and rent when down in Floridia. The money saved on gas to haul your boat down there and the potential cost of salt corrosion and the money spent to correct same. Unless you intend to get rid of boat when you return. It does not seem like a good idea.
To white dust
Sounds like the thing to do would be to leave your boat home and rent when down in Floridia. The money saved on gas to haul your boat down there and the potential cost of salt corrosion and the money spent to correct same. Unless you intend to get rid of boat when you return. It does not seem like a good idea.
Not an option did that very limited junk rental boats & also have to be back at designated time & big hassle. 2 day rental far exceeds RT towing expense also plenty of fresh water in FL but focus is saltwaterfor me in FL. So far seems very doable just need to wash & rinse entire rig which I do in WI due to AIS lake to lake. I'm reading all posts as they come in but so far no game breakers. It would be interesting to hear from some boaters that do both saltwater & fresh water with same boat since a bunch of people boat WI in summer & winter in FL. I know I'm not the only person doing this on JD!
http://www.saltawayproducts.com/ seems like good stuff but not sure spray much different than Simple Green?
If simple green works, use it. Rental I used in at www.johnpennekamp.com 305-451-1202 are new and the fuul was included 158.00 4 hrs not much more for a day. Bought a boat, it is cheaper to rent, like sleds. Got the trailer done today, Keys on Friday. Hooyhah. Think snow LOL
Darn daylight savings. Up too early. A friend of mine has been here from Las Vegas for 2 years in may 2011. He now has a salt water PWC trailer. He runs fresh water 50% of the time up in Boca Raton and the Intercoastal/ocean the other 50%. His steel trailer has rust spots so thick he gave up grinding and is going to upgrade to alum. But after seing my rebuild project on my alum. trailer he went home to inspect his closer. He said his leaf springs are one big chunk of rust and most likely do not even work. The past 4 months he has only been in fresh water 1x per week, and lives 2-3 miles from the ocean. He washes down each trip. I want to add that my boat handles the salt much better than the trailer. Little to no effect on 90% of it. The other 10% is not huge. My live well pumps are fine, electronics from vhf, fish finder to gps are fine. Someone installed a cheap cig lighter that I will replace with a stainless one. Rental is fine for a day or 2, but yes it has its limitations. The cost of boating is higher in salt, but the smiles are bigger. So are the fish. Tuesday we are going out on a charter with 2 of our boys from MN hope to get some big ones.
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mike:Boat Rental out of St Augustine FL is about $350 half day gas extra & under powered junk. Not that the boats or engines were in bad condition but any under powered boat is junk to me & just can't get out of the way of its' self. lol Glad to hear you agree the boat is a small concern as I grew up on East Coast with boats from the 60s & all wood back then with outboards that weighed a half ton. Back in 60s & 70s we simply washed down at the slip & you were AOK moored in saltwater with antifouling paint on bottom. The way I went into this dual saltwater/fresh water use is buy a new fiberglass boat with zero wood & if the trailer is problematic replace it down the line. I'm 99.9% sure the boat will be fine with proper wash downs & the Ranger Trailer will also have a long life as very well built. Many people IMO hear Saltwater & panic & those that don't wash down will have problems. Wash down is now SOP in Northern WI in fresh water due to AIS prevention so we should be very good at boat & trailer wash downs. If saltwater use was a huge problem every bay & flats fishing boat with outboard engine would be junk & anybody in saltwater knows that is NOT the case & is the preferred boat for bay & Intracoastal use. I'm still following this thread & appreciate all the constructive views that people post to help me maintain my boat & trailer in dual use. An opinion that someone would not use a boat in saltwater is useless without support facts more of an "Urban Myth" approach when I'm looking for facts & constructive information although I knew we would get posts that were shooting from the hip. Keep the info coming as I appreciate the facts. Thanks, whitedust
latebraker
New member
"I appreciate the facts"
The facts are more boats are used in saltwater then in freshwater and as a matter of fact outboards are the prefered engine of choice these days. I used to be alittle afraid of the salt previously having boated primarily on freshwater. I for one say go down and use the heck out of it and take good care of it. I be willing to bet that there are just as many rangers used in salt/brackish water as there are used in fresh. The trailer is the least expensive of the three boat/motor/trailer to maintain. That being said i would rather buy a freshwater boat then a salwater boat, but the guys saying they would never put there ranger in the salt water are crazy in my opion. Theres a lot of water out there besides our inland lakes and most of it is salt. Go and have a good time and take some pics for us.
The facts are more boats are used in saltwater then in freshwater and as a matter of fact outboards are the prefered engine of choice these days. I used to be alittle afraid of the salt previously having boated primarily on freshwater. I for one say go down and use the heck out of it and take good care of it. I be willing to bet that there are just as many rangers used in salt/brackish water as there are used in fresh. The trailer is the least expensive of the three boat/motor/trailer to maintain. That being said i would rather buy a freshwater boat then a salwater boat, but the guys saying they would never put there ranger in the salt water are crazy in my opion. Theres a lot of water out there besides our inland lakes and most of it is salt. Go and have a good time and take some pics for us.
"I appreciate the facts"
The facts are more boats are used in saltwater then in freshwater and as a matter of fact outboards are the prefered engine of choice these days. I used to be alittle afraid of the salt previously having boated primarily on freshwater. I for one say go down and use the heck out of it and take good care of it. I be willing to bet that there are just as many rangers used in salt/brackish water as there are used in fresh. The trailer is the least expensive of the three boat/motor/trailer to maintain. That being said i would rather buy a freshwater boat then a salwater boat, but the guys saying they would never put there ranger in the salt water are crazy in my opion. Theres a lot of water out there besides our inland lakes and most of it is salt. Go and have a good time and take some pics for us.
The acid rain in Northern WI fresh water lakes & I'm thinking saltwater is light duty compared to that! My boat lift nuts & bolts in a Northern WI lake are stripped clean every fall then they rust when they hit the air then back in water in Spring & clean up again. Saltwater is no worse than that in my experince. Im talking 6 weeks use in Saltwater which boils down to 10 -14 days a year saltwater useage & the rest is freshwater & I'm betting everything will be AOK with proper wash downs. I welcome all advice from those that have experience with dual use.