Re-powering with Beta/Kubota or Yanmar?

[robert sailor]

As I said before Beta is not the cheap seats, it's probably the most expensive based on the initial purchase price.

[cpa]

We installed a Beta B60 in 2013. I think it was around $14k. Absolutely love the motor. No issues so far. I considered Beta, Yanmar, and Volvo. Went with Beta. Very glad I did.

[Island Time O25]

A friend who is maintenance manager/diesel mechanic for a large sailing club (80+ boats) is not very happy with the latest generation of Yanmars. Main reasons - light built, too much reliance on electronics (w/o adequate protection from the elements) and ridiculously expensive replacement parts.

According to him Kubota based brands are more reliable and have better parts pricing. He does love the very old heavy Yanmars and swears by them and if given a choice of going with a new Yanmar or rebuilding the old one would chose the rebuild except for that pesky parts pricing and availability issue. His take on it is that Yanmar realized at some point that its old engines were so reliable and long lived that the only way for them to sell new ones was to make parts for the old ones too pricey and too unavailable.

[donradcliffe]

I installed a new Beta 50 and put 1200 hours on it before I sold the boat. Loved the engine, never needed any parts.