Diesel vs Petrol vs LPG

B

big_si

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 May 2005
Messages
214
Location
Buckinghamshire
web.mac.com
Firstly a very quick intro from a newbie.... Hi!

SWMBO and myslef have now resigned ourselves to selling my car (as its hardly ever used) and getting a boat.

We have been looking at boats like the 250 and 218 Monterey, had a look at a Sessa 23 yesterday, so you get a feel for the kind of thing we are after.

Until now we both have been adamant that diesel iis the way to go (one of the big pluses of the Montereys), but then i thought about LPG.

What are the pros and cons of each fuel, right now the only plus i can think of for petrol is that it can be converted to LPG!
 
The biggest issue with LPG is availability. You cannot carry fuel to the boat in jerry cans, and there are few outlets for marine lpg compared to petrol and especially compared to diesel. Which area would you be boating in? This not only limits where you might want to base the boat as you'd want to be somewhere close to an lpg supply, but also limits cruising options

If going for the lpg option, make sure it is extremely well done. Many people who have had conversions done have had problems.
 
Diesel, as you are well aware, is the most popular fuel for MOBOs. Red diesel is currently inexpensive, at about 40p per litre. This means your boating can be reasonable once you have purchased the boat. The only negetives of diesel are that:

a) Manufacturers grosley over charge for diesel boats
b) Red diesel concession may dissappear in 2007, at present we just dont know.
c) Diesel engines are IMHO not as smooth or puncy as a petrol


LPG is an option, but at present you are relying on a conversion as no manufacturers offer dual fuel boats from new. A conversion is not a bad thing though, it is something I have researched heavily as I am seriously considering having my 285 bayliner converted. It costs about £2500 (VS £13000 for diesel) and MarineGas costs about 37p per litre. You retain silky smooth V8 power, with diesel running costs.There are disadvantages however:

a) You need to fit a gas tank, which only come in cylinders. You could lump your existing fuel tank out and install a half sized petrol tank with LPG tanks either side. This will ad a lot of cost and most will need to add an extra tank somewhere in the boat. I have room for a 55 gallon tank under the V berth, but she is nealr 30 feet in length.
b) There are currently only 5 re-fueling stations on he south coast, though they are a good distance apart so cruising is ok. the stations are 1. Hayling Island 2. Warsash (hamble) 3.Lymington Yacht Haven 4. Cobbs Quay (Pool) 5. Torquay. There is also a re-fueling point on Guernsy, so Cross channel hops are possible.

I think the biggest influence will be what happens to the Red Diesel concession at the end of next year. I think LPG is a viable alternative, but you need to go into it with your eyes open. I'll let the forum know how I get on with my conversion.
 
Not a MOBO type me,but the main advantage of Diesel is that it is universally available,followed by petrol,with LPG a long way behind.
Diesel is intrinsically safer than the other two.
Don,t know about the cost implications,but if that is a problem then a sailing boat may be the answer!

Ducks below parapet and returns to PBO.
 
Make sure you do the sums, Solitaire on this forum struggled to get to the point of being in pocket (AFAIK LPG conversions don't add much capital value to the boat, unlike diesel conversions) - in fact I think he only broke even by selling the conversion kit when he finally went to diesel!

Talk to as many who have done the conversion as you can, is seems quite easy to end up with a petrol engine with diesel fuel costs but 70's Italian supercar levels of (un)reliability - which can spoil your whole enjoyment of the boat far more than the costs of filling up with petrol!
 
Like jez said...very limited refuelling stations. It will take the fun out limiting yourselves where you can go. Atleast with diesel you know you can refill. Even petrol is slowly getting difficult to get on south coast!!
The other factor is space you would need a decent size gas tank to make it worth while so making sure the boat has space for it would be necessary. Which on a cruiser you would need that room for gear(well in my head any way swmbo`s extra bag for shoes etc!!)
 
Been there, seen it, done it, I have had Petrol/LPG and diesel. If I had to have either petrol or LPG I'd go for LPG but in reality I wouldn't bother with either. Diesel is the only real choice if you intend using your boat.
 
think LPG is fading away after Calor pulled out a few years ago of their mega investment programme.
Petrol points- if you keep the boat on a trailer you can fill up at the petrol station. If its in the water, hardly any marinas seem to sell petrol, and its very expensive if you do. Petrol engines are easy to service, and perfectly safe if you look after them. Of course if you wish to fill your engine bay with leaking fuel and gases, its highly dangerous. With a 5-5.7l engine you ll use 30-60 litres an hour. Average use is 50 hours a year, and that IS realistic. maybe you ll do 70 or 90, but its highly unlikely you ll do hundreds. So you can work out an annual fuel cost estimate for petrol.
Diesel, cheap fuel to buy, more expensive to service,much more expensive to buy the boat,fuel readily available everywhere, might double in price in 18 months.
If you can fill up on land, go for petrol; if after a season or two you find you really do cruise 100s of hours- and you almost certainly wont in a small boat- trade in and up for something bigger. EVERYONE will tell you that your first boat is a start, and from there you will decide you you want different on the next boat!
So, id say, kept in the marina-diesel;kept on a trailer-petrol.
 
Hi

Having bought a Monterey 218 Diesel in January I'm a tad on the biassed side!!

But I've gone from an 18ft 3.0l Petrol Bowrider to a 21.5ft cuddy, the 1.7TD Mercruiser that I suspect you would be looking at in the 218 is very good, economy wise £50 (Red diesel @40p/litre) lasts I would say around 15-20 hours depending on how you use it, whereas the 3.0l petrol use to go through £80 fuel in around 10 hours (this was normal car petrol @ around 79p, marine petrol I think is around £1/litre)

Ok it's not going to break any speed records, but it is a fabulous boat, very comfortable and very capable, will happily tow a wakeboarder (would assume it would be happy with ski's and a ring but I haven't tried them yet!!) while also being comfortable for overnight trips, we're planning a trip in a few weeks from Gosport to Falmouth so will get to test it for a decent length cruise!!

As for which model you go for it depends on your busget and what you want to do!!

But one thing I will say is the service help and advice I received from my local Monterey dealer has been second to none, and when I eventually have the money to upgrade to a bigger boat I'll be heading straight back there again!

If there is anything you'd like to know about the 218 feel free to send me a PM

Regards and welcome to boating!!

Charlie
 
I'll agree with almost all of the above. I have had a diesel 245 (same as a 250 but a little older) for exactly a year and there is at least one other owner of a 250 - Mister_Smee - who is a regular on the forum.

For me, as a newcomer to boating, my decision was almost entirely based on convenience. If I was going to keep the boat in a marina then diesel was the only option. I did slightly over 100 hours last year and would agree that that's top end for a boat that size. I average about 2 litres per mile - about 6 gallons an hour at a comfortable cruising speed of about 20 knots. You can do the math.

I would also agree with the comments regarding Monterey dealers. Although I bought the boat second hand from a non-Monterey source, the main dealers have been nothing but helpful with any queries or problems (small) that I have had.

Feel free to ask if you think I can help with anything.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Not a MOBO type me,but the main advantage of Diesel is that it is universally available,followed by petrol,with LPG a long way behind.
Diesel is intrinsically safer than the other two

[/ QUOTE ] .

Thought this had covered the safety aspect well enough, not that I know many people who put lit matches into fuel tanks!! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
dont agree diesel is the only way to go... on 30ft plus, id agree.. petrol fuel costs would be horrific on large petrol twins. But on a 22ft (day)boat, the increase in purchase cost for selecting diesel seems unsupportable-especially if diesel goes to £1 per litre in 18 months. At 50 hours a year, its going to take years to break even in running costs, and i cant see the price differential on a sportsboat between diesel and petrol being maintained long in the second hand market,- and not at all if the tax concession goes. Id guess the 250 would be ok on a 6.2 litre petrol, which would keep fuel costs within sanity. Depends how fast you want to cruise...
 
I guess it depends how much you want to use your boat, for me it was a no brainer I wanted maximum use and since purchase on 8th January this year have clocked up over 45 hours, which I don't think is too bad!

At £1/litre even the base 4.3L petrol in the 218 would cost (shout if I'm wide of the mark someone!!) ~ 4 gallons / hour X 45 hours is over £800 If I've used £180 that's all it is and I know I've got at least 2/3rds of a tank left!!

If usage is going to be low than I can see your point, but I didn't want the cost of fueling to be the reason why usage was low, hence why I went diesel!!

The other thing to bear in mind is that even IF Red diesel did come up to the same level as Petrol (I won't start on that though!!) the 1.7td mercruiser still only sips fuel therefore is still going to cost at least half that of Petrol.

Although the breakeven point in hours for me, compared to petrol is probably higher than I am using the boat, for me an extra bit on a loan which might add up to £30-50/month makes it considerably more manageable compared to having to find hundreds of pounds per month just to be able to use it.

Also servicing is cheaper as diesel engines are simpler and have less to go wrong, so a bit extra is saved there!

As for fuel costs from a 6.2l petrol, well I guess it depends on your sanity levels!! I'm just happy to spend the day on the water in mine for somewhere between £10 & £20 per day /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
err, no-one has mentioned yet that petrol is highly volatile and dangerous but you can drop a lighted match into diesel....

[/ QUOTE ]

I seem to remember figures quoted on this forum that petrol-fuelled boats account for 2/3rds of fires on boats......leaving diesel engines as the other 1/3rd.

Wouldn't suggest dropping lighted matches into anything - you could always set fires to the more volatile additives..... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Thank you all for your replies thus far!

We do intend on keeping the boat in a south coast marina and getting similar sort of usage to Chas25. (interesting you say the 1.7td is an ample performer, gives us another option to consider. I must get down and see David for a test drive!)

Would be interested to hear how you get on, on your Gosport to Falmouth run as we really do was to 'use' this boat, not have it say for months at a time.

These replies have also given me a good idea as to how much (not including servicing) running costs will be. I really want to have as much info as possible so i am able to make the most educated decision possible!!

Oh one more thing... right now i have no plans to take matches to the tanks, irrespective of fuel! ;-)
 
I Agree but I did say if you use your boat. If the use is only 50 hrs or so then maybe it's difficult to justify the difference in the cost of the boat. Personally I prefer paying extra on the initial outlay and not have to worry about how much I'm going to spend each weekend on fuel.
 
Let me know what you decide on, Think Davids got a 218 diesel but if not let me know as I need to go and see him soon anyway so could probably arrange a demo if needed!! or just meet up to chat about them if you wanted!

Will post a report end of June/begining of July to say how the holiday went!! currently keeping fingers crossed that the weather will be ok!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top