Fitting a new engine

[pjf]

Hi,

Would appreciate any advice on where best to have a replacement engine fitted in Europe including uk. I need a 30hp so I'm looking at options for both Beta and Yanmar.

When I say best, I mean in terms of price and quality of installation. I will also be fitting a new max prop at the same time. The engine I'm replacing is an old Volvo MD11 and the access to get in and out is relatively straightforward.

I'm currently in the med but can go more or less anywhere for the best option

 

[Kwik Decision]

Very happy with TS Marine, who fitted our new Beta last year. Based at Universal marina on the Hamble, so a bit of a hike from the med.......

 

[PhillM]

I'd have thought that you could find more than a few decent marine engineers between there and here.

Given the choice I'd rather be there than here in the winter.

 

[345000]

Small marine diesels don't get better than the Bukh DV24ME, or if 24shp really isn't enough, there's the 32shp DV32ME - mechanically, these are the best twin cylinder marine diesels currently in production anywhere in the world.

 

[Niander]

Are they?

 

[pvb]

Are they?

So say Bukh owners. I've always had VP engines, and I reckon they're good.

 

[robertj]

So say Bukh owners. I've always had VP engines, and I reckon they're good.

both bloody good engines

 

[345000]

The difference is in the crankshaft - the pistons move up and down together as opposed to alternately. This makes the interval between the firing of the each cylinder equal, which no other twin cylinder diesel currently in production does. The engine uses two contra rotating balancing shafts, which balance the inertia generated by the crankshaft, the connecting rods, the pistons, AND each other.

The configuration is lifted from the Coventry CDMQ twin cylinder diesel, which was designed just after the war and used in the TMD forklift trucks of the 1950s. A beautifully smooth, quiet diesel.

 

[pvb]

The difference is in the crankshaft - the pistons move up and down together as opposed to alternately. This makes the interval between the firing of the each cylinder equal, which no other twin cylinder diesel currently in production does. The engine uses two contra rotating balancing shafts, which balance the inertia generated by the crankshaft, the connecting rods, the pistons, AND each other.

The configuration is lifted from the Coventry CDMQ twin cylinder diesel, which was designed just after the war and used in the TMD forklift trucks of the 1950s. A beautifully smooth, quiet diesel.

View attachment 47494

All good stuff, but basically a compromise solution to the inevitable problem of only 2 cylinders. Modern engines often have 3 or more cylinders to give smoother running, and features like fresh-water cooling, glowplug starting, etc.

 

[cryan]

Bukh are OK but I've never been their biggest fan. They are major players in the ship's lifeboat engine market (which requires hand start etc) these days but only because the other mainstays of that market moved their efforts into more mainstream activities. Given a choice I would go for a Lister over a Bukh.
Bukh make a big sales pitch about being designed purely for the small marine market but that is just another way of saying, "Because we're not big players in the industrial market we don't have the opportunity to spend the amount of money needed to compete with the bigger boys."
There are a lot of good engines about in that power range. I would personally choose one with mechanical fuelling and gear driven timing. I would also personally go for one derived from a plant engine as they are designed to be abused for years on construction sites etc. Kubota based are popular, as are Perkins. If you upped your requirements by 10bhp that would get you into the new Kohler range from Mermaid (yes I have an interest in saying that ) These are used in all new JCB small plant.

 

[345000]

features like fresh-water cooling, glowplug starting, etc.

A Bukh can do indirect cooling. Glowplugs can be a pain the ar*e, and Bukh engines don't need them. Disappointingly however the twin cylinder Bukhs no longer have hand start as standard.

 

[pvb]

Glowplugs can be a pain the ar*e, and Bukh engines don't need them.

Glowplugs on cars work reliably, and there's no reason why they can't be equally reliable on marine engines. As for Bukh engines not needing them, many Bukhs have been fitted with heated inlet manifold conversions.

 

[vyv_cox]

The difference is in the crankshaft - the pistons move up and down together as opposed to alternately. This makes the interval between the firing of the each cylinder equal, which no other twin cylinder diesel currently in production does. The engine uses two contra rotating balancing shafts, which balance the inertia generated by the crankshaft, the connecting rods, the pistons, AND each other.

The configuration is lifted from the Coventry CDMQ twin cylinder diesel, which was designed just after the war and used in the TMD forklift trucks of the 1950s. A beautifully smooth, quiet diesel.

View attachment 47494

I replaced a Bukh 20 with a Yanmar 27 HP. Although the Bukh was admittedly past its best the Yanmar was a huge improvement in every respect, smoother, better starter, quieter, far smaller (enabling me to fit a large toolbox where the cylinder head used to be) and 100 kg lighter. I have worked on engines all my life and have no hesitation in saying that the Bukh was the most awkward and time consuming of the lot. Ridiculously complicated and with housings held on by dozens of bolts, many of which corrode in short order in a marine environment.

 

[345000]

Glowplugs on cars work reliably, and there's no reason why they can't be equally reliable on marine engines. As for Bukh engines not needing them, many Bukhs have been fitted with heated inlet manifold conversions.

I didn't say the weren't reliable - I said they can be a pain.

 

[345000]

I replaced a Bukh 20 with a Yanmar 27 HP. Although the Bukh was admittedly past its best the Yanmar was a huge improvement in every respect, smoother, better starter, quieter, far smaller (enabling me to fit a large toolbox where the cylinder head used to be) and 100 kg lighter. I have worked on engines all my life and have no hesitation in saying that the Bukh was the most awkward and time consuming of the lot. Ridiculously complicated and with housings held on by dozens of bolts, many of which corrode in short order in a marine environment.

Fair comment - but the DV20 had a different cylinder head from the DV24, and was quite a bit noisier for it.

Best Regards.

 

[pvb]

I didn't say the weren't reliable - I said they can be a pain.

Don't understand; if they're reliable, why are they a pain?

 

[robertj]

cant fault the bukh I had. didnt find it noisier than other 3 cylinder engines.
The Dv 20 was renowned for bad starting in cold weather but the cold starter kit solved that problem.
What I do find good with bukh is that if you needed to take anything off, it came off intact and not sheered bolts etc unlike on some Japanese made engines.
down down side is weight, size and the spares are expensive.

 

[robertj]

Small marine diesels don't get better than the Bukh DV24ME, or if 24shp really isn't enough, there's the 32shp DV32ME - mechanically, these are the best twin cylinder marine diesels currently in production anywhere in the world.

they make a 29hp one too!

 

[oldsaltoz]

I would also be looking at some of the small engines used in every day industrial plant like concrete mixers and small fork lifts etc.

Proven reliability, cheaper and easy to procure parts, fresh water cooled, without the 'Marine' badge that costs us all.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[345000]

What I do find good with bukh is that if you needed to take anything off, it came off intact and not sheered bolts etc unlike on some Japanese made engines.

My Nic 30 is fitted with a Beta 13 - great power for the size and weight, but I do find it lightly built, and I do wonder how long it'll be before I break something off it !... And as good as they are, Japanese cars (and their engines) are much the same; my other half's Rover 600 for instance - while it's an excellent car, it isn't built like my old BMW.