Barus Yanmar engines

[Sovereign Frank]

Hi, I am considering re-engining my Legend 29 (Van de Stadt) and started to look for a Yanmar (which I have had in a previous yacht). I notice that a company called Barus is advertising these at a substantially lower price although brand new.
Anyone know anything about Barus and these engines please?
Thanks
Frank

 

[vyv_cox]

EP Barrus is a big company, importers of a wide range of equipment in Marine and other sectors. Other than engines they import boats and dinghies, including Quicksilver. I bought my tender from them.

 

[Trident]

They are the Yanmar European (UK too) importer - basically official Yanmar

They often do good prices - my own pair of 3YM came in at £7K for the pair in 2020 - IIRC about £1.5k more than the official price for one but they had stock to shift

 

[V1701]

Lots of narrowboats have Barrus Yanmars fitted, they come in two flavours - Shanks & Shire depending on ancilliaries fitted...

 

[Sailing steve]

Make sure before you buy a new engine you're very, very aware of the truy astonishing prices for spare parts that come in a white and red box with Yanmar written on it.

Ask me how I know...

 

[vyv_cox]

Make sure before you buy a new engine you're very, very aware of the truy astonishing prices for spare parts that come in a white and red box with Yanmar written on it.

Ask me how I know...

Fortunately you won't need many. My 3GM30F is about 24 years old, has done about 2800 hours. I have needed one elbow, one water pump. Otherwise filters, one set of belts, impellers, not expensive.

 

[Stemar]

Make sure before you buy a new engine you're very, very aware of the truy astonishing prices for spare parts that come in a white and red box with Yanmar written on it.

Ask me how I know...

It isn't only boxes with Yanmar written on them. Volvo, Beta and others don't take prisoners either.

There are advantages to having a motor based on a standard land engine like Kubota. At least that way, it's only the ancillaries that attract the marine tax, though, of course, they tend to be the bits you need most often,

 

[Trident]

Before getting two new Yanmars I asked two very long established mechanics what they would choose for their own boat (neither being tied to a brand) and both said Yanmar without hesitation

 

[salar]

I have had a Yanmar for the last ten years and it's been very reliable. A lot of parts have aftermarket non-Yanmar alternatives although if you have to get a true Yanmar spare you will be rinsed as thoroughly as any other marine engine manufacturer. Thing is though, with Yanmar you won't be needing spares very often.

 

[fredrussell]

I’ve an ancient 3GM30 that looks like it’s been brought up from some wreck on the sea bed, but chugs away happily hour after hour. I’d love to hoik it out and repaint it and show it some love but I’m a strict adherent to ‘if it ain’t broke…’

 

[Koeketiene]

Before getting two new Yanmars I asked two very long established mechanics what they would choose for their own boat (neither being tied to a brand) and both said Yanmar without hesitation

My mechanic told me the same.
And he works for a Volvo dealer...

 

[Stemar]

I'm not sure there are any really bad marine diesels. The VP2000 series gets a lot of flak, but we had one for years. It was 16 years old when we fitted it and was still going strong when we sold the boat 15 years later.

Individual engines may have weaknesses - ignorance of the rather obscure cold start system is, I suspect, the reason for the hate on the VP2000s. The Yanmar 1GM10 is a good engine, but has a pretty poor design feature, IIRC. The water pump is situated where a leak from the seal will drip seawater onto a steel oil pipe, which rusts quietly out of sight until one day it empties your oil into the bilge.

 

[Sovereign Frank]

Just to say thanks everyone for your responses. I reckon if I have to change I will go for a Yanmar, though purchasing such an expensive item for a 1972 boat rather goes against the grain when it won't really add to its fairly pitiful value!

 

[Tranona]

Just to say thanks everyone for your responses. I reckon if I have to change I will go for a Yanmar, though purchasing such an expensive item for a 1972 boat rather goes against the grain when it won't really add to its fairly pitiful value!

Having done 3 re-engine projects on older boats my view is that the make of engine is les important than getting the installation right. There is really very little to choose between the main brands on cost, reliability performance and you will find individuals have preferences often based on their one experience of one brand. I have had 2 Volvos which performed perfectly - one for over 3500 hours, one Yanmar, one Nanni and now a Beta, al new engines the last 3 in old boats. The choice in re-engine was determined by what was most appropriate for the boat in terms of power, layout of service items and range of choice of things like gearboxes, alternators, switch panel, mounting points etc.

You don't say what you are replacing, but it is worth taking the opportunity to upgrade all the ancillaries such as fuel, electrics, shaft seal, exhaust and propeller (which will almost certainly need changing anyway). you have a good choice of suitable engines - Beta or Nanni 14, Yanmar 2YM Volvo D1 13 or Vetus/Sole 13. The big advantage of the first 2 for installation in older style boats like yours is the major service points (filters, water pump, oil extraction) are on the front face of the engine. They all have enough power to comfortably achieve hull speed.

Good luck with your project.