Good evening ladies and gents,

I have a chance tomorrow to trade my 06 PT 175 TXW for a 1997 Ranger R70 with a merc 125. The Ranger is in amazing condition as I saw today ( new gelcoat and carpet ) and the motor checks out compression wise, I have the option of returning in a week if any issues arise on the water.. The only downside is that I would need to get new electronics on the ranger as it only has a small garmin color screeen on the bow, the dash sounder was removed..

What would you do in my shoes, any and all advice would be appreciated.

You want to trade a 6 year old boat you are familiar with for a 16 year old boat you know nothing about?

I would be more apt to do it if the boats involved were in the opposite circumstances meaning older for newer.

A-Jay

Sounds like you already have a solid rig that you know inside & out. I would be careful trading, looks can be deceiving, you don't want to end up inheriting someone else's headache. What are you're reasons for wanting to trade for an older boat?

i agree that trading newer for older seems to be odd. I would also wonder why is there a new gel coat and carpet on there? Did the previous owner not take care of the finish and maybe other maintenance as well? I know a ranger is a great boat but unless you know everything about it i would say keep your existing boat.

The other piece is why is he wanting to trade his boat?

I would want more info on the " new " gelcoat.

New gelocat is very expensive to have done, and in the case of a 16 year old hull, just not worth the $$$$$.

Like mentined in an earlier post about the boat not being taken care of.....it sounds like someone may have bought a resto project and just wet sanded / Compounded, put new carpeting in and now trying to sell fo a profit ?.............looks can be deceiving.

I'm with the others on the new gel coat. It is very expensive, and never looks like the original that was sprayed into a mold. Gel coat sprayed after the fact has worse than an orange peel texture. It's more like the finish of sprayed on bed liners. It also has to contain wax, or the gel coat will take forever to cure. It then takes considerable sanding, followed by buffing to get a decent finish. Way too much expense to put in a sixteen year old boat.

Gel coat has some interesting properties, one of which is that when sprayed into a mold, the material against the mold will cure more quickly. The side exposed to the air, to which the laminates will be applied is formulated to slow much slower. This allows for a chemical, not an adhesive bond between the laminates and the gel coat. If I were to refinish a boat with a poor gel coat, I'd use something like Awl Grip. It is very smooth and durable.

Personally, I'd never trade to a boat that much older than mine.

Does the Ranger have wood in the transom, the stringers and other hull components, such as the decking? If it does, I'd avoid it like the plague. Too many unknowns.

In this situation, the grass does not seem to be greener. What's the upside? You get to your favorite spot 1 minute faster? It isn't even "fish ready" in terms that you still need to add the electronics you want. If I were you, no thanks.

I have an 06 Tracker, and the only thng I would trade for is NEWER, no sense in going backwards just to go faster. Just MHO. Now if you can just buy the Ranger, thats another story. You can never have too many boats LOL.