Comparing New Diesel Engines Under 35 hp

[sandy daugherty]

1. Forgive me for forgetting, but wasn't there a recent thread somewhere that included some comparisons between what is currently on the market in small shaft drive diesels?

2. What is a typical price for a very thorough overhaul of a Perkins 30 shaft drive?

3. Who would you recommend to do an overhaul of that engine in South East Florida?

[Hud3]

Sandy,

Can't help with specifics, but plug some key words into the custom search engine and see what you get: Cruisers & Sailing Forum

[sandy daugherty]

Thanks Hud, I've been using that since you suggested it to someone else a few months ago. I ordered a book from Amazon that popped up in a search on Google.

I have several Surveyor friends (because I'm not very careful about who I call a freind) and I've been picking their minds. They seem to recommend only Yanmar and Volvo for a number of practical reasons.

[David M]

I was about to suggest the same. Yanmar and Volvo because that's pretty much all there is in small marine diesels. They have the large service and distribution networks.

Price out things like injectors, belts, water pumps, heat exchangers, head gasket, fuel pumps, alternators and starter motors. See who has the least expensive parts and best availability of parts.

[Sunspot Baby]

Volkswagen has a diesel/saildrive. A fellow cruiser I know loves it because he can get Volkswagen parts anywhere. It is just a marinized version of their small automotive diesel.

George

[bosunj]

Yanmar and Volvo. Marketing gurus success. Parts for Volvo are outrageous as is the price of entry for what you get. Yanmar I have no personal experience with but have read that they are having lots of problems in the series you are looking at. Both turn too fast. The faster they turn the quicker they wear out.

Best you can buy is Sabb. Bullet proof slow turning engines sold complete with gear, shaft and CP propeller about 25k at current exchange from the factory plus another 1k for shipping. Iveco is a great engine. Lister and Bukh are excellent too.

As for parts you carry them with you stored in vacuum sealed bags. No electronics or exotic engineering to require a 'factory' tech.

Beta Marine has a 28 that turns 3600 based on a strong Kubota engine that is less than half the price of a Sabb. Main US dealers are in RI (I think) and NC.

Rebuilding your Perkins? Try Foley: Marine Diesel Engines & Engine Parts, Perkins Marine Engines & Parts, Westerbeke Marine Engi

I am not affiliated with Foley.

[jdoe71]

If not they should have. Lots of these engines around, parts are available from many sources. The Universals are Kubotas, our experience with them has been good and they are still being made. I may be biased because I have a Kubota tractor but they are a very good unit. Had an M3-20 3 cylinder in last boat and the current one has an M35 4 cylinder.

[3wtk]

Hello everybody, This is my first post. A good site for comparing diesel engines is boatdiesel.com. If you get a membership (about US$25) you can download .pdf files.

[clarity36]

Sandy
I'm going through the repowering process at the moment; researching around the 50 hp region, but the maths are probably transferrable to a smaller engine. In Oz at the moment, Yanmar and Volvo are around $19k, while the Kubota based engines (Nanni, Beta, WMDiesel...) are ca $14k. I have only heard positive reports about the robust Kubota industrial diesels, and you get to choose your transmission for that price. I will go with PRM - heard a couple of negative comments from builders re ZF, and I hear that Twin Disc are now made in Italy along with ZF. Love pizza, but... say no more. Cheers. Bill

[bewitched]

Marinised Hino (Chinese truck) and Isuzu (as found in Toyota Hiace and Hilux) engines are very popular around SE Asia. Virtually every town has a mechanic who works on these engines day after day and spares are as cheap as chips.

Provided the marinisation is done properly......

[shakey doug]

G'day Bill,
You are right, gear box makers have moved around the board in the last couple of years,Techno drive are now Twin disc, Hurth are with Zf. Prm is a good choice. Diecon Engineering based in your home town produce a good Kubota based product at the right price well worth a look.

Cheers, Doug.

[cat man do]

Lombardini do a nice little and light one as well so I have been told