Ranger RT178 Boats For Sale

The Ranger RT178 is an aluminum fishing boat built for crappie, bass and white bass anglers who want to reach shallow, tight water that fiberglass hulls avoid. It runs well on both small backwater creeks and main-river channels, and owners fish two people plus gear comfortably all day. The hull holds up to scraping bridges, stumps and shallow flats, and the all-welded aluminum construction is the reason buyers choose it over fiberglass when poking into dirty, skinny spots. New from the dealer, the RT178 sits in roughly the $25,000 to $30,000 range, with the RT188 and RT198 as larger models in the same family.

Engine options span a wide range to match where you fish. Owners run a 75 hp four-stroke Mercury, a 75 hp E-TEC, and a 60 hp Mercury; the boat also accepts a small 20 or 25 hp outboard for horsepower-restricted lakes. With a 60 hp Mercury, two people, a cooler and a full load of gear, the RT178 runs about 32 mph. One owner went a different route and fitted a Yamaha four-stroke jet drive with a T-H Marine Atlas hydraulic jack plate to get even further back behind obstructions while keeping enough power to push two or three people. Fuel capacity is 21 gallons, which gives long days on the water from a small tank.

The helm console comes with factory switches and gauges and mounts a large electronics unit; it shipped with a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI or Hook 2 5x, and many owners upgrade to Garmin or larger Lowrance screens for side scan and mapping. A six-foot-one angler has plenty of legroom at the console. The boat is wired for serious electronics use, typically with three batteries supplying a 24-volt trolling motor plus a separate battery for graphs and accessories, all fed by an onboard charger from the Ranger dealer. An 8-foot power pole with a remote is a common rigging addition.

Up front, a recessed trolling motor keeps the deck clear and saves your back, mounting either a Minn Kota Ultrex 80-pound or Fortrex 80-pound 24-volt unit, both of which give spot-lock for holding position in current. The rod locker swallows 8 to 10 rods from flipping sticks down to spinning rods. The aft deck carries a deep live well of roughly 30 gallons with a separator and LED lighting for night use, flanked by anchor lockers, tackle trays and under-seat storage. Beneath the all-weather carpet is foam flotation that deadens sound, adds upright stability and keeps the boat afloat.

The RT178 is offered in a carpeted version or a non-carpet (crappie) version; the carpet looks cleaner but drains slower because the adhesive seals the weld gaps that otherwise let water run out. Storage is generous for the boat's size, though none of the compartments are truly dry in rain, so owners keep gear in sealed Plano boxes. The single-axle trailer comes with integrated boat-buckle tie-downs and a transom saver. Worth checking when shopping an RT178 for sale: current boats no longer include a fuel-water separator, and the fuel fill can be slow to take gas even after the vent-cap recall fix. For a tournament-capable aluminum boat that fits in a standard garage and stays under a big-boat price, the build quality runs high for the money.