# Ranger 621 With Airmar TM150M



## todddye (Apr 13, 2004)

Has anyone mounted an Airmar TM150M on a Ranger stepped hull?

If so, could you tell me where its installed or take a picture for me?

I have a 2018 621fs and don't see a great place to mount it.

Thanks in advance!

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## Ranger6 (Dec 27, 2015)

I’ll throw my $.02 in on your question. Knowing your electronics set up would help. There is not a good place to mount an on plane transducer on any Ranger. Under the step is the only real vertical space to mount anything to get an even flow of water off the bottom of hull. Unfortunately the drain plug and livewell intakes take up most of the space. I have seen various mounting versions of external transducers but I cannot speak for how they performed. Judging by how they were mounted I would say the performance was probably not great. I have done a few installs on Ranger boats and the best thing I’ve come up with is the following: 2d shoot thru transducer epoxied in the hull, any other transducer, total scan, lss2, airmar, mounted to the bottom of the step. You would need a system that is networked for this set up but it will allow you to mark fish while on plane with the shoot thru and switch over to the other transducer while trolling or not on plane. My previous 620 was set up like described above with Lowrance shoot thru transducer , a lss2 mounted externally and it marked fish extremely well on plane. My current 621 with Hummingbirds barely marks anything on plane since the transducer is mounted to the bottom of the step. Always setting it down to idle just to get a better look. That is changing this weekend!!!


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## todddye (Apr 13, 2004)

Yep, I forgot to say what electronics I have. 

I have 2 HDS 12 Gen 3s, and 1 HDS 9 Gen 3, with a PD-WBL shoot thru (barely works above 3mph) and a SS3D mounted under the step. The SS3D works fine, but I'm trying to find a 2d that will work while on plane - even if just barely on plane at 18-20. Spent way too long last weekend searching for fish.

I'm surprised that Ranger would use the PD-WBL transducer in the first place, and disappointed that they epoxied it above the step - so there's no chance it would ever work on plane. 

I'm considering sending the TM150M back and ordering the B150M, even if that means a 2" hole in the bottom of my new boat. My concern with this is whether there's a good place for it also, since I'm assuming Ranger mounted the current 2d transducer above the step for a reason other than laziness. 

There is one place where the TM150M might work, just to the right of the livewell intakes in line with the trailer bunk. Still debating whether to even try it or not. I'll upload a picture tomorrow. 

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## Ranger6 (Dec 27, 2015)

On my 620, I epoxied the thru hull in the bilge close to the bilge pumps and it worked great, could mark fish well up to 35mph. My upgrade this weekend I will be doing the same thing, even though it means moving the power steering pump out of the way so I can get down there, if I can reach down that far and get it sanded and epoxy pool in place. If your shoot thru is in the upper step I know exactly how you feel about it!!! I think they put it up there because that’s where they can reach it. It would be great if they epoxied it in the bottom of the hull before they put the top cap on. The shoot thru hull may work mounted in front of the livewell pumps, at the access in the floor in front of the livewell, but I’ve always had good luck mounting it as far back as possible. If I can’t get installed in the bilge I may try a temporary install by the livewell pumps. It’s very easy to reach there. I’m not sure you could talk me into a true thru hull transducer. I have a hard enough time drilling fiberglass for tracks and other things. A two inch hole in the bottom of my hull would need to drilled by my buddies. I bet when it’s installed it would work great.


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## Ranger6 (Dec 27, 2015)

UPDATE: After my wrestling match this weekend trying to get the shoot thru transducer located in the rear of the hull, in the bilge, it’s not humanly possible. I was able to get the power steering pump out of the way enough to get my arm in there but my arm wasn’t long enough to reach the bottom of the boat. So I moved to plan B after many choice words and two wasted hours of moving stuff out of the way. At the access panel in the floor, in front of the livewell, I was able to reach back a foot or so back behind the livewell pumps and sand a spot for the shoot thru to be epoxied in. I really thought trying get my transducer mounted would be the hard part but it took me the better part of the next day to get all the new wiring pulled since I was switching from Hummingbird to Lowrance. I won’t be able to give you my thoughts on the shoot thru until I get it on the water but I do expect it to be much better than my previous set up.
If you are considering installing a true thru hull transducer your going to need to use the access in the floor in front of the livewell. I do not see how you could tighten the fitting in the hull if it was mounted all the way to the rear. It may be possible if you remove the power steering pump totally but I think even then you would be heels over head into the rear access in front of the motor. Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll let you know how it works when I get it out.


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## todddye (Apr 13, 2004)

On Saturday I installed the Airmar TM150M just to the left of the drain plug, and the improvement over the shoot through Lowrance PD-WBL is absolutely night and day. The location I chose was far from ideal since its basically right in front of the motor, but I was able to mark fish running 25mph in 2-4' seas Sunday and the clarity and target separation was unbelievable. Best I could do with the factory shoot through was 5mph, which is pathetic. One thing I did notice is that I lost sensitivity with chirp, so I used 105khz. 

There is room for a decent sized shoot through right behind the pumps as you mentioned, but i figured that it would be subjected to the same turbulence from the motor as the transom mount is, and it wouldn't have to shoot through the hull and lose strength. 

I didnt like the airmar mount that came with it as I had to use 2 shims to get it parallel with my hull. 

I'm going to make some adjustments and see if I can improve things, but I'm satisfied with it now. Let me know how yours does.



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