Volvo Penta tamd 61a 306hp

[Prento]

Hi all I have a trader 41 with twin above engines and are looking cruising down the french waterways from Calais to the Mediterranean next year and wondering if anyone has a rough idea of what the fuel consumption will be at 4-6 knots.

[DougR]

What are the engine RPMs at 6 Knots?

DougR

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by Prento

Hi all I have a trader 41 with twin above engines and are looking cruising down the french waterways from Calais to the Mediterranean next year and wondering if anyone has a rough idea of what the fuel consumption will be at 4-6 knots.

Hi Prento
It will be difficult for you to stay below or at the 6 knot speed even at low idle. I couldn't find the fuel curve for your TAMD61 300hp but the TAMD41 curve for 220hp shows 15 L/hr @ 1500rpm per engine ( similar model) and I'm guessing that this would put you at over 8 knots. Volvo don't show figures for below 1500 but you might get as low as 5 litres per hour at idle speed..... not terrific for the health of your engines but once you hit the Rhône you can blow out the cobwebs on the run down to the sea...... watch out for logs and debris.

[Prento]

Hi Pete many thanks for that information it’s very helpful,have you any idea of the best routes to take down to the Mediterranean from Calais?

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by Prento

Hi Pete many thanks for that information it’s very helpful,have you any idea of the best routes to take down to the Mediterranean from Calais?

Hi Prento.
Initially you have only 2 choices, either the Seine to Paris and then down to Lyon via the web of canals and the Saône and then a usually fast trip down the Rhône to Port St Louis du Rhône on the med coast.... a delightful way to spend a month or two....
OR via the canal du Midi, which is approached via the Garonne at Bordeaux then a long series of locks through to the Ètang de Thau and out into the Med at Sète or keep going to Port St Louis via Arles and the Rhône if you really enjoy the canals. Either way you will need to be very aware of your air-draft as well as your vessels draft, particularly for the canal du midi and you should carry these canal guides

[skipperpete]

I have no idea why my attached pics are always duplicated, my apologies ... again.

[Prento]

Hi Pete the canal du midi will be out of the question because of drafts, I’ve 1.2 below and 3.7 above,I can remove the fly screen that would bring it down to 3.5 I have the fluviacarte 21 they show 3.50 on a lot of canals I just wondered how strict that 3.5 is a the last thing I want is to get half way down and find a low 3.5 bridge.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Prento.

[skipperpete]

I was on the canals last June and met some folks on a British motor cruiser that came down from Paris which had a flybridge that was quite high and they never mentioned difficulties with air draft. If the fluviacarte says 3.5m I would take their word for it but I'm not sure about water height stability, in June the Rhône and Petit Rhône were quite high but the canals seem less affected by the rise and fall of floodwater. The marina at Port st Louis du Rhône also launches a fair number of large vessels that are roadfreighted from various parts of Europe as an alternative option, they seem to be very good at low loaders and lorries.

[DougR]

Hello Prento,

Attached is fuel consumption data for the Volvo Penta TAMD 63L engine @ 310 hp , which was a slightly later version of your TAMD 61 @ 306 h.p. I have attached the data for the 63 because it is in tabular format, and easier to read than the graph data for the 61, but the consumption numbers are virtually the same.

You will note that the data is "propeller load, exp. 2.5" which means that it reasonably accurate for a vessel with a planning hull. If your vessel has a semi- planning hull the consumption might differ slightly, as partial load fuel consumption is always dependent on the actual hull resistance of the vessel.

Hope this is helpful. Feel free to inquire if you have further questions.

DougR

[BruceS]

Almost a case of hanging a 25 Yammy on the stern?

[Ipapadi]

My question is addressed to Skipper Pete's answer - could he enlarge on why you couldn't do less than 6 knots?

[goboatingnow]

I had a Broom Monarch for a while with twin 61A engines. Very nice engines too

In the canal you could run on one engine to slow down if needed like you she built up to about 5 knots at just out of tick over , I typically ran her at 1100 rpm at around 8 knots. Max speed was 20 knots

Running lightly loaded doesn’t do much harm to those engines Once every week or so you “clean the turbos”

My fuel consumption at 11rpm was about 10 litres an hour often less. ( ie around 5 litres per hour per engine )

Mind your self with twins in the canal , it’s difficult to approach the bank , ie passing other craft