My
mechanic has just informed me that due to the paucity of
parts, rebuilding my 22 year old
Westerbeke W-52
diesel could cost nearly as much as a new one. I told him I'd send him some
rebuild kit links from
Australia at a tenth of the
price of Westerbeke's, but this has me thinking of the upside of repowering with a new, warranted
diesel.
So I will throw it out there to the esteemed readers: If you were to
purchase a new diesel in the 50-60 HP range to
power a
steel 41 foot pilothouse
motorsailer (the sailing qualities are strong enough that we will sail more than motor), what would you
purchase and why?
Some particular considerations:
1) This hypothetical
repower would be going into a long-distance cruiser. We are looking to circumnavigate.
2) This will be turning a 19 x 15 VariProp four-blade feathering prop on a 1.25-inch shaft.
3) The
engine will be on soft mounts and attached to an Aquadrive universal coupler/thrust bearing
installation.
4) The
engine would rarely be used to make
power without pushing the
boat. Extensive
solar and
wind generation are the primary amp-makers, not an
alternator. The engine, however, once on, would be run at load until fully warmed up...like a "poop pump" run every four or five days a few miles out of an anchorage. At that time, I would be happy to make amps from a 90-100 amp
alternator.
5) The engine would probably be run 800-1000 hours per year. Ease of
maintenance, ease of acquiring spares and sheer robustness are prime considerations. Weight is not, nor are complications like intercoolers, turbos, etc. If I need to
service the thing, I want to have it as simple as possible.
I am leaning toward Beta Marine's Kubota-based engine, but I would love to hear contending opinions. I am cross-posting this to Anything-Sailing.com and Sailnet to gather as wide a response as possible.
Thanks!