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Rigging the Ranger
Reply With QuoteTo feed the new TM, I knew I had to up my battery game. While I would have preferred to find this boat with a 9.9hp kicker, you don’t find many user Ranger 6-series boats in west KY so beggars can’t be choosers. The previous owner had recently had a local shop install two series 27 battery trays and they put in two cranking batteries for the trolling motor??? I can only wonder why...
These got pulled along with the trays and original factory Ranger DualPro three bank charger and the Ranger 50 amp switchable TM breaker. The larger Terrova requires a 60amp breaker, although I really like the Ranger style device. The Ranger charger is huge and took up more than 6” of the battery compartment. To fit larger batteries, the charger situation had to be modified. So down to the bare fiberglass we went and two Noco group 31 trays were screwed tot he floor with stainless hardware.
After exhaustive research and conversations with my local CDC trolling friends, I knew that I wanted the higher swerve capacity of golf cart batteries. There are several options out there that are adaptable for marine deep cycle use but Doug’s (mrdux) opinion of the Trojan T-1275 golf cart batteries sealed the deal for me. They’re not cheap, but since i am a troller at heart, this is where I knew I had to spend some money to get the performance that I wanted in a day of trolling crankbaits on KY. At 85lbs each, they’re a pain to maneuver and they will only fit through the battery compartment door in one orientation. Hint: they do not come with lifting straps on them so do yourself and your groin a favor and buy two of the rubber golf cart battery lifting straps from your dealer that you get batteries from. Your urologist will thank you later.
The two Trojans installed and strapped down in the rear port compartment.
The third battery has to fit in a battery compartment on the starboard side of the boat alongside the cranking battery. To make this work, jumper wires between the sides of the boat had to be installed. Concerned about the length that I had to run the jumper wires and not wanting any significant vintage drop to the Terrova, I went a little overboard with 2AWG size wire to make the 10’ snake from one compartment to the next since i found a great deal online. Battery layout is battery 1 and 3 on the part side with two 10’ jumpers +/- to battery 2 behind the drivers seat. This keeps the factory 6AWG harness on the port side of the boat. Cables should be here tomorrow.
To replace the factory switchable breaker, I went with a 60 amp breaker from Blue Sea Systems. The only issue is the breaker has 3/8” lugs and my factory harness has 1/4”. So I’ve got to figure out if I want to replace the two terminals or find a way to adapt them so I don’t have to cut and crimp this heavy wire this week.
Good stuff. I'm enjoying this read. Brings back memories of when my dad purchased his Ranger.
