Diesel vs Petrol 2011!

[oldgit]

Simple innit.
Most folks start out with a weedy petrol boat of some description and then spend hours on here justifing the purchase (probably mainly to themselves).Somewhere down the line,circumstance and boat changes and for one reason or another a diesel engine or two appears under their feet.
The conversion on the road to Damascus is sudden and dramatic.
How many people go back to petrol once having had a diesel boat,yea I know somebody out there has flogged his Targa and bought a rib but that is not the same.

 

[lovezoo]

Simple innit.

Most folks start out with a beefy petrol boat of some description and enjoy themselves blasting around at enormous speeds, water skiiing, ringoing, annoying raggies and generally having a fantastic time and enjoying a superb grin versus cost factor. Somewhere down the line,circumstance and boat changes and for one reason or another a diesel engine or two appears under their feet.

The conversion on the road to Damascus is sudden and dramatic and they then spend hours on here justifing the purchase (probably mainly to themselves) of a slower more expensive floating caravan on which the finance costs alone are more than the cost of the huge quantities of petrol they ever managed to burn in their soapdish.

 

[ricky_s]

Simple innit.

Most folks start out with a beefy petrol boat of some description and enjoy themselves blasting around at enormous speeds, water skiiing, ringoing, annoying raggies and generally having a fantastic time and enjoying a superb grin versus cost factor. Somewhere down the line,circumstance and boat changes and for one reason or another a diesel engine or two appears under their feet.

The conversion on the road to Damascus is sudden and dramatic and they then spend hours on here justifing the purchase (probably mainly to themselves) of a slower more expensive floating caravan on which the finance costs alone are more than the cost of the huge quantities of petrol they ever managed to burn in their soapdish.

Excellent!

 

[CX54WEK]

Simple innit.
Most folks start out with a weedy petrol boat of some description and then spend hours on here justifing the purchase (probably mainly to themselves).Somewhere down the line,circumstance and boat changes and for one reason or another a diesel engine or two appears under their feet.
The conversion on the road to Damascus is sudden and dramatic.
How many people go back to petrol once having had a diesel boat,yea I know somebody out there has flogged his Targa and bought a rib but that is not the same.

Spot on.

Some of us just went the sensible way though and skipped the gas guzzler stage out

 

[ulyden]

Diesel every time.

The fuel costs less (ours is currently 88ppl), it uses less and it is avaliable pretty much wherever we go. Servicing of the engine isnt hugely expensive, ours is a fairly simple lump (KAD32) and is proving to be pretty much bomb proof.

.

This tread is about 2011. Where can I buy a KAD32?. Today its the D3. This engine have no possibility to repair cylinders, un cooled turbocharger , common rail with nozzles that cant take MGO,
This is something complete different to a KAD32 which have no electronics, wet cylinders, water cooled turbo and a simple fuel system that don't require extreme filtering and purification.
The kad also have a cast iron head and block the D3 is all aluminium.

If a 10 year old diesel is the option i go for diesel, new cr VP no! Maybe mercruiser if they have replaceable cylinders? A marine engine is supposed to last 30years. How long new engines based on car industy engines with expekted 6years life time will be i dont know. Lots of 31 and 40 series are still running after 15-20years- Why? They can be repaired!

 

[CX54WEK]

This tread is about 2011. Where can I buy a KAD32?. Today its the D3. This engine have no possibility to repair cylinders, un cooled turbocharger , common rail with nozzles that cant take MGO,
This is something complete different to a KAD32 which have no electronics, wet cylinders, water cooled turbo and a simple fuel system that don't require extreme filtering and purification.
The kad also have a cast iron head and block the D3 is all aluminium.

If a 10 year old diesel is the option i go for diesel, new cr VP no! Maybe mercruiser if they have replaceable cylinders? A marine engine is supposed to last 30years. How long new engines based on car industy engines with expekted 6years life time will be i dont know. Lots of 31 and 40 series are still running after 15-20years- Why? They can be repaired!

Who mentioned age?

I would still buy a modern diesel over a petrol. They may have more electrics but they are still the better option. The avaliability and cost of fuel doesnt change if you have a 10 year old engine or a 10 day old engine.

 

[rafiki_]

This tread is about 2011. Where can I buy a KAD32?. Today its the D3. This engine have no possibility to repair cylinders, un cooled turbocharger , common rail with nozzles that cant take MGO,
This is something complete different to a KAD32 which have no electronics, wet cylinders, water cooled turbo and a simple fuel system that don't require extreme filtering and purification.
The kad also have a cast iron head and block the D3 is all aluminium.

If a 10 year old diesel is the option i go for diesel, new cr VP no! Maybe mercruiser if they have replaceable cylinders? A marine engine is supposed to last 30years. How long new engines based on car industy engines with expekted 6years life time will be i dont know. Lots of 31 and 40 series are still running after 15-20years- Why? They can be repaired!

A modern auto engine is lifed for no major replacement for 300,000 km, unlike engines from 20-30 years ago, lifed for 160,000 km with head off/new injectors etc in that time. Yes modern engines are more complex, and need proper engine diagnostics. They are also more susseptable to poor installation and servicing, but when looked after, are fantastic!!

 

[lovezoo]

Here in Spain the availability and cost of petrol and diesel is roughly the same. They don't have discounted red here.

As a result there are a lot more petrol boats here when compared to the UK.

In other words, its horses for courses and the best boat/engine/drive choice is the one that best suits the needs and budget of the purchaser.

 

[oldgit]

Bet the broker was larfing his nuts off when you handed over the dough.

" spend hours on here justifing the purchase "

For the prosecution I merely offer the following M,lud ......

"The conversion on the road to Damascus is sudden and dramatic and they then spend hours on here justifing the purchase (probably mainly to themselves) of a slower more expensive floating caravan on which the finance costs alone are more than the cost of the huge quantities of petrol they ever managed to burn in their soapdish.


Lets fess up Petrolheads youve been stiffed,just get over it and get a nice oil burner next time

 

[Morpheous]

My first mobo was nearly a petrol, until I started planning bringin it back to Portishead by sea. soon discovered that the last petrol before Portishead is Falmouth! Game over! Diesels it had to be. (and I stuck it on a lorry anyway)

 

[joliette]

Who mentioned age?

I would still buy a modern diesel over a petrol. They may have more electrics but they are still the better option. The avaliability and cost of fuel doesnt change if you have a 10 year old engine or a 10 day old engine.

Another angle on this issue is the decision you would make if restoring a classic petrol engined boat ... Think about it like this: If you found yourself with say an engineless Ferrari 512BB would you drop in a diesel for the reasons stated above? I think not!

 

[Questor]

Do they ever really explode though?

Oh yes they do. A few years ago on a Sunday afternoon, one blew up on the fuel pontoon at Chi, having just taken on a load of petrol. Fortunately skipper and family lived to see another day.

 

[beejay190]

Now that diesel is so expensive, taking into consideration the diesel bug. Would we now be better off going for a petrol boat?

Having to keep the tanks full is expensive on diesel boats plus extra weight, probably two engines to have enough power, surely petrol is the way to go!

Out of interest what is your petrol fuel consuption per mile ? Geoffs reckons a litre/mile from his LARSON 240 with the luverly diesel D4 260.

 

[ricky_s]

Out of interest what is your petrol fuel consuption per mile ? Geoffs reckons a litre/mile from his LARSON 240 with the luverly diesel D4 260.

I think about .69 miles per litre? About 8 gallons per hour at 25 knots, though I am **** at maths.

 

[gsturgeon]

Actual petrol useage.

10m boat, two 5 litre petrol Mercs...

In ten years, total mechanical reliability - plugs changed once, other than filters and oil, nothing.

These pics show the consumption over the last (and a bit) season.

 

[Bbroomlea]

I didnt intend on buying a petrol boat but it was the right price in the right location and the right boat. If it were not on Windermere (where we wanted to keep the boat) then may have stuck out and continued the search for a diesel. I dont think with a single engine with speed limits (supposedly) it makes much difference as to whether its petrol or diesel - Of course the bigger you go the more diesel makes sense.

There is always a cut off in terms of economy/benefit though whether it be a car or a boat! Unfortunately I let my wife but a petrol LR Freelander and the fuel that gets rid of its nothing compared to a weekends cruising around the lake!!

 

[landlockedpirate]

On sub 25ft sportscruisers the difference has been marginal since the loss of red. If you take into account purchase, servicing, repairs,fuel and depreciation (including finance costs) petrol and diesel are pretty much the same (especially if you buy fuel at Tesco).

But the clue is in the name, sportscruisers are ment to be sporty, 170hp oil burner just isnt enough for anything but cruising, minimum needs to be 230hp, but for decent performance you need 260hp+ (even I admit that the 7.4l 300hp V8's are a bit over the top and heavy).

I have used an Aquador 23 with a KAD 32, great at the pumps, but slow, smelly and smokey.

I wont even begin to justify over 25ft (Possible exception of single Bayliner 285) or twins. Used a twin petrol V6 Regal 2860 for a season, it was staggering how much fuel you had to chuck at it !

 

[Fire99]

I wont even begin to justify over 25ft (Possible exception of single Bayliner 285) or twins. Used a twin petrol V6 Regal 2860 for a season, it was staggering how much fuel you had to chuck at it !

And I still stand by my point. It's not just the amount, It's the faff of getting the fuel into the boat (and not being stranded somewhere where there isn't any available)

If Petrol were no dearer than Diesel and available at all marinas and I was still running a 23ft boat, i'd be happy running a simple V8 petrol.
Mine was all but silent at low revs. It was quieter than the bilge fan.

 

[AndieMac]

Here in Spain the availability and cost of petrol and diesel is roughly the same. They don't have discounted red here.

As a result there are a lot more petrol boats here when compared to the UK.

In other words, its horses for courses and the best boat/engine/drive choice is the one that best suits the needs and budget of the purchaser.

Same out here LZ, but diesel is 10 cents pl dearer than petrol.
Diesels in recreational, sub-26 feet are rarer than hens teeth.
The main reason is cost, dealers say it will take 3000 engine hours to even start to become cost effective, which in most cases will be 60 years.
The other is the noise, it may be sort of acceptable at displacement speed, but at cruise with covers on, it's too much.

 

[aquapower]

Another consideration when deciding service/maintainance costs is replacement manifold costs with petrol engines