Which new engine for repower

[stevec195]

Custom feet! Beta hands down has the resources to make this seem less. You provide the data from your existing engine footprint and they provide a motor with custom feet. Saved tons of time on this conversion from an old Westerbeast to a Beta.


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[brantleychuck]

Bought a beta 50 less than a year ago. It's was prepped and ready for a velvet drive. Oil cooler, high pressure hoses, drive plate. Even the bolts. The price with a simple transmission included was not very much more. I went with the existing trans as I thought the install would be easier. I paid thousands less than your quote, contact joe with sound marine.
I tend to chuckle a bit about a plus for the beta being cheaper and easier to source parts, they are but you not going to need them, that's the BIG hidden value with a new engine , there going to run for A very long time trouble free. In my previous boat I installed a beta 37.5. Lots of travels over 8 years. Only parts I never needed were a couple of brackets I messed up adding a second alternator. Not counting filters etc. I vote for the beta, upgrade the alternator to a hundred amp which gets you a ribbed belt, trouble free. Stanley at Beta USA is a great resource as well. Do the exhaust right!!!



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[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by brantleychuck

Bought a beta 50 less than a year ago. It's was prepped and ready for a velvet drive. Oil cooler, high pressure hoses, drive plate. Even the bolts. The price with a simple transmission included was not very much more. I went with the existing trans as I thought the install would be easier. I paid thousands less than your quote, contact joe with sound marine.
I tend to chuckle a bit about a plus for the beta being cheaper and easier to source parts, they are but you not going to need them, that's the BIG hidden value with a new engine , there going to run for A very long time trouble free. In my previous boat I installed a beta 37.5. Lots of travels over 8 years. Only parts I never needed were a couple of brackets I messed up adding a second alternator. Not counting filters etc. I vote for the beta, upgrade the alternator to a hundred amp which gets you a ribbed belt, trouble free. Stanley at Beta USA is a great resource as well. Do the exhaust right!!!



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If you buy it Bob Tail..no tranny then the list price less 15% is $12,600

[nhschneider]

When we went to repower, we seriously considered Volvo, Yanmar and Beta. The Beta was the most expensive by a fair percentage, regardless, we chose it anyway. One of the main reasons is that the engine is designed for earth-moving equipment, which receives some of the roughest treatment of any diesel engine application and they have an excellent reputation for reliability in that area. The Yanmar and Volvo engines are designed for pleasure boats, which is an extremely light duty application. 99% of all sailboats put less than 50 hours per year on their engine - we average over 300 per year.

Our Beta 90 is extremely smooth running - due partly, I presume, by its internal balance shaft. I don't know if the other Kubota blocks have the same feature. Our engine is naturally-aspirated, which I prefer, and since it uses center direct injection, there are no glow plugs. After 2,800 hours of operation, the engine has performed flawlessly and pushing our 40,000-pound boat at 6 knots, it uses .9 gallons of diesel per hour. It has never used any oil between changes any the bilge diapers underneath it remain clean after hundreds of hours.

The service we've received from Beta Marine has been okay but not great. Part of that might be due to the fact that we're usually in remote areas. For example, the aluminum serpentine pulley that drives the second, 175-amp alternator (factory option) needed to be replaced and when it arrived, the mounting holes weren't drilled all the way through. We were in Malaysia at the time and it was a pain in the butt to find a machine shop to drill them out.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

Yes you are correct, I have priced in the the exhaust mod. The base engine price before discounts is Yanmar around 12000 dollars and Beta is 16000 and change. Beta offers a 15% discount which puts it at 13,800 dollars so quite a difference.

Wow, that's a significant change from a year ago, at least here in the States on the east coast. Last fall Betas in that range were about 10% cheaper than comparable Yanmars. Must be the exchange rate, as you say.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Suijin

The only fact is my own experience, which is newer Yammers run a bit smoother and are slightly more efficient. I've always assumed it was because of the electronic controls, but it may not be that, and my experience is hardly comprehensive and is ad hoc, but I have heard the same comments from a few other folks...and not as a ding against Beta. As an aside, I never considered turbo diesels to be normally aspirated, but you learn something new every day.

FYI my Universal is a normally aspirated Kubota block and it does not run as smooth as either a Yanmar or a Beta, so I don't think those two aspects guarantee comparable performance in and of themselves.

That said, I'd take the Beta for a variety of reasons.

If you are saying that I said that a turbo was normally aspirated... I didn't! Don't think that the subject of turbos has entered this discussion so far.

And if the Yanmars that you are mentioning are common rail EFI engines, then yes, perhaps they are both smoother and more efficient than the Kubotas, which are old school mechanical injection engines. I was not aware that Yanmar had gone to common rail for their small engines such as are being discussed here.

Jim

[a64pilot]

I love common rail Diesels and turbos for automotive use, they are quiet and energy effcient, but I don't want one on a boat unless it says close to civilization

[robert sailor]

The Yanmar is 4JH5E with 54 peak hp/ 48.3hp continuous and it is all mechanical, no electronics. Beta is 50hp continuous.

[UNCIVILIZED]

It's worth reading this Beware new yanmars - Cruisers & Sailing Forums thread. As it was definitely both news, & a sad enlightening to me (on Yanmars). But draw your own judgements.

[Valmika]

If it is between the two I would go with the Beta. I have a Kubota block Westerbeke and love it. I have gotten parts from a Kubota tractor dealer in Texas and have a distribution hub for the marine parts 40 miles from me. It has never taken more then 2 days to get parts to me (of course I am in LA)
I've heard of a few Yanmar installs where they could figure out problems. Zac Sunderland had a brand new one that kept overheating. A nice simple non turbo engine is what I think is best. I have 5400 hours on my Westerbeke.

[Ernest Skublics]

Absolutely no question: go for the Beta. Having motored through Europe with one, against punishing currents for hundreds of hours, I am absolutely convinced it is the best. Tough, powerful, reliable.
Ernest

[Keld Hummer]

I am the owner of a Moody 422
This year I change my Tornycroft 98 with a yanmar 55 hp, this was done in Croatia and the engine was bought second hand in the US.
To take the old out and install the new (old) took 5 hours all inclusive.
It was the best investment I have done in 2014.

[marlinmike]

Looks like some good information, some questionable but in the end I don't think the price difference is enough to be in the equation for me, I would look at both strictly which one is better and then service and support.

[Cheechako]

Another consideration is the HP rating at WHAT RPM. Is the Beta a lower RPM engine? If so I would go that way. Running Yanmars at their rated RPM sounds a bit like you are flying an airplane....
Another consideration is either engine non turbo? IF so, pick that one....

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Another consideration is the HP rating at WHAT RPM. Is the Beta a lower RPM engine? If so I would go that way. Running Yanmars at their rated RPM sounds a bit like you are flying an airplane....
Another consideration is either engine non turbo? IF so, pick that one....

Except my Yanmar is 3400 RPM at full continuos power, my old airplane 2400 RPM
Maybe a high strung airplane?