ianc1200
Well-Known Member
Many thanks
Birchwood 33. Pros and cons please
- Thread starter captaincobby
- Start date
Many thanks
oldgit
Well-Known Member
harvey38
Well-Known Member
I'll be getting my 1000hr Sabre lumps overhauled then.........
Flynnbarr
Well-Known Member
Nice try but null points.
For so many reasons…..
In one fell swoop you have spent a load of money,an invasive amount of time and effort to basically de value your boat and make it unattractive to the next potential buyer……anyone who knows anything about boats (and those that buy say an Aquastar or Broom usually know these things) would walk on by and wait for a correctly matched boat and engine……if we are still discussing heavy old s/d boats ?
There’s a reason your club member you mentioned earlier put 2x 200hp engines in his Broom Crown.
Didn’t you sell your Trans Ocean 37 as it was a snail and you kept getting left behind on club cruises ?
Flynnbarr
Well-Known Member
Not even run in yet
billskip
Well-Known Member
Back to the OP Birchwood 33, there was another thread a short while ago, The old 33's were mainly sold in kit form with different stages of build, so many will have different engines and quality of build/finish
oldgit
Well-Known Member
.......and it rolled like a pig in anything over F2. Moulded by Aquafibre in the 1970s , fitted with a pair of 50 hour M130 HP engines , probably the most reliable and easy to service trouble free engines have ever owned. Both boat and engines perfectly suited to non tidal and estuary work with the occasional trip to local coastal ports if not in any hurry , construction and build quality of the hull was second to none.
The crunch came on a trip to Dunkerque when we struggled (along with a even worse boat, a Birchwood 33 ) to keep up with the support fleet.
It prompted a change to a Princess 35, still at home on the upper Thames and Medway but a relevation regards the advances in hull design that had taken place comparing Olesinski vs Bennet.
Would suggest that nobody is going to buy a venerable Broom/ Birchwood and then spend a small fortune repowering with the aim of being able to achieve long distances at WOT speeds.
However if you already have much loved and treasured example of the above then extending its life with a pair of small economical power units mostly for use above the lock would make economic sense.
......and would suggest these installed would make any early Broom a lot quicker to sell later to people who know .
Nanni for sale UK, Nanni boats for sale, Nanni used boat sales, Nanni Engines For Sale NANNI 4.115 - Apollo Duck
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Moonbeam
Well-Known Member
Looked into the idea of re-engining a Broom Crown with a pair of Nannis when it was a boat we were interested in back in 2022.
Got a ball park quote from AR Peachment who had already carried out this work on other Broom Crowns/37s. This quote was in 2022 so I imagine prices will have gone up considerably since then...
Dear Sir
Thank you for your enquiry
Please find attached information for the Nanni N4.205
The current cost of the T4.205 with a TTM 40 A gearbox
And C5 instruments £16,466.00 + vat
Based on the previous boats we have done you need to budget
Around £8,000.00 + vat parts and labour to do the installation
So a budget price of around £50,000.00 Inc vat
Got a ball park quote from AR Peachment who had already carried out this work on other Broom Crowns/37s. This quote was in 2022 so I imagine prices will have gone up considerably since then...
Dear Sir
Thank you for your enquiry
Please find attached information for the Nanni N4.205
The current cost of the T4.205 with a TTM 40 A gearbox
And C5 instruments £16,466.00 + vat
Based on the previous boats we have done you need to budget
Around £8,000.00 + vat parts and labour to do the installation
So a budget price of around £50,000.00 Inc vat
Flynnbarr
Well-Known Member
A lot more money than OG suggested in Post 14.
oldgit
Well-Known Member
Arggh Ouch .
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Parabordi
Well-Known Member
I had this done with peachments in 2015, installation cost was £2k ex vat then. Engines were 12k ex vat
captaincobby
Member
Thank you for your very comprehensive reply, I may look at other makes before rushing in …. As I don’t want to be a fool.
Some thoughts.
Boat typical of the period , your main concern should be, as for any boat of that age, how has it been looked after by the present seller and previous owners.
The first owners will have probably thrown money at it like no tomorrow but after that its usually down hill all the way.
Its called deferred mantainence, vital regular and expensive servicing is either scimped or not done at all leaving latent problems for the next unwary buyer.
Simple lack of use is probably the biggest threat to any boat and Covid has compounded this. Many boats did not move during Covid and many have not moved since, these boats are now appearing on the market, some still sporting some very very optimistic Covid pricing.
Personal opinion, anything for sale in a non tidal freshwater location requires more care than in a boat for sale in tidal coastal location.
The fact that you will not be drifting to a river bank but calling the Lifeboat can concentrate minds wonderfully when it comes to changing fuel/oil filters etc.
The Birchwood is more than capable of fullfilling your requirements but you need find a goodun . Within this class of boat the Broom is considered a very well built boat, prices reflect this and the Princess or Fairline of the period is alleged to have better seakeeping.
What engines.
Need to ensure that the engines are not only 100% working but can you still get spares, not talking about sundries but things like heat exchangers ?
Get somebody to look at your prospective purchase who knows what they are looking at.
Some old hands might suggest that the use of the nose on opening the cabin door will speak volumes, a reek of damp or diesel should ring alarm bells.
Diesel should be in a tank not marianated in the upholstery or stored in the bilges.
Err think thats about it , good luck.
captaincobby
Member
Thanks I had thought a broom 35 european but you’ve now made me very wary
Can you expand on the comment about older brooms please.
I’m finding all this advice very helpful
captaincobby
Member
How is a broom 35 european ?
captaincobby
Member
Thanks I saw that post so am trying to only look at factory finished ones, easier said than done
Flynnbarr
Well-Known Member
Nice boats….just don’t buy one with HT 6354’s and you’ll be fine.
Most of them come with Ford six cylinder 120hp anyway
Flynnbarr
Well-Known Member
I know …..it seems 9 years is a very long time where boat expenses are concerned….you were a very wise man to do it when you did !
I remember you saying it transformed the boat…..I wonder how transformed your boat would have been if you’d put in low hp or second hand engines your fellow club member OG has posted up.
DavidJ
Well-Known Member
Why is that? Perkins made a million of these engines over 30 years
I know nothing about them but they surely can’t be too bad or is it just the marine application.
Flynnbarr
Well-Known Member
HT in front of the 6354 means the engines are basically…in layman’s terms-laid over on their sides to fit in certain boats……a lot of the parts for this engine are unique……hard to get or unobtainable.
Perkins 6354 (non HT ) are different and spares are available.
oldgit
Well-Known Member
Or the rarer SEDAN.
Both built like brick wotsits and from memory considerably better access to the engines and gearboxes than the other vessel you were considering.
We have examples of both on our moorings which seem to have with stood the passing of the years pretty well.
Always a few on the market and not silly prices either, need to buy on condition.
Only caveat(Finnbarr might know) some/all were 24 volts ? with some converted to 12V ?
Do remember a skipper having in his garage a complete HT engine just in case, when he went to the great marina in the sky, the garage was "tidied up".
The engine went round to the local scrapyard .
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