KAD 44 River use

[Keithaniven]

Hello I am new to this forum and note that KAD 44 use on rivers has been discussed and it appears that some advice suggests this is not a good choice but others don t see it as an issue. I am looking to upgrade to a Sealine 28 which has KAD 44 ,s as do most upgrades. What do I need to do in addition to usual recommended maintenance to compensate for the fact that the boat will be cruising between 4 to 6 knots. Some suggest disconnecting turbo/supercharger etc Would welcome any advice. Thanks

 

[DavidJ]

Hello I am new to this forum and note that KAD 44 use on rivers has been discussed and it appears that some advice suggests this is not a good choice but others don t see it as an issue. I am looking to upgrade to a Sealine 28 which has KAD 44 ,s as do most upgrades. What do I need to do in addition to usual recommended maintenance to compensate for the fact that the boat will be cruising between 4 to 6 knots. Some suggest disconnecting turbo/supercharger etc Would welcome any advice. Thanks

Because the KAD44 is electronically controlled I imagine disconnecting the turbo/supercharger would throw up all sorts of errors. I’ve heard of others doing this on non electronic motors like the KAD43 which is probably where you got the idea from.

 

[Momac]

It is not possible to 'disconnect' a turbocharger .

 

[volvopaul]

Hello I am new to this forum and note that KAD 44 use on rivers has been discussed and it appears that some advice suggests this is not a good choice but others don t see it as an issue. I am looking to upgrade to a Sealine 28 which has KAD 44 ,s as do most upgrades. What do I need to do in addition to usual recommended maintenance to compensate for the fact that the boat will be cruising between 4 to 6 knots. Some suggest disconnecting turbo/supercharger etc Would welcome any advice. Thanks

You cannot disconnect the clutch cable plug as it will throw up a fault code.
Also the valve operation does not suit the 44/300 at low rpm because the bridge post relies on splash lubrication , unfortunately over many hours the pushrods, ball studs and bridge post wears out , this can lead to a dropped valve basically wrecking the engine . The 43 would be a much better choice if you’re going single .

 

[petem]

Plenty of people abroad install a switch to disconnect the supercharger, seemingly without any issues. But I doubt you'd be going fast enough for the turbo to engage normally.

 

[gordmac]

Don't want to cause offence but why would you want a high speed planing Hull in a river?

 

[Chris_d]

Don't want to cause offence but why would you want a high speed planing Hull in a river?

A common question and I think it is usually meant to demean the person using a planing hull on a river so you have caused offence. The reason is simple what is a river boat? something with a displacement hull and small engine, flattish bottom? This usually means a steel narrow boat or something old and massively out of date, if you want something with reasonable accommodation and up to date features your choice is mainly seagoing planing type cruisers, nobody actually makes many dedicated river cruisers anymore in the UK, and if you want to go to sea occasionally why not have the capability built in.

 

[Momac]

.......why would you want a high speed planing Hull in a river

Why would you want a fast car or a large 4x4 for road use ? Plenty do.
Indeed why would you want a planing hull boat for sea use ? Its not essential.

I am based on the non tidal River Trent.
There are loads of planing hull boats here . For sure some never go tidal but that's up to them.

Flows on a river can be significant (fresh water flows and tidal flows) so ample power is a good thing.
The river is connected to the sea so we might want to go there from time to time.
Journeys at planing speed are possible/permitted below Gainsborough. Even if not going to sea but say to Hull the journey in a planing boat is easier to achieve compared to a slow boat.
Keeping a boat on fresh water has the benefit of a less corrosive environment.

 

[Alicatt]

There are three planning hulls at our haven on the canal naar Beverlo, soon to be joined by our semi displacement boat, one, a Birchwood 360 has one small engine the other two I have not had any contact with. At the next haven at Leopoldsburg there are a few planning hulls including a Marine Component (Belgian Navy) fast patrol boat that has to go in and out of gear every couple of seconds or it will exceed the speed limit for the canal of 8km/h.

Our boat with the previous owner has been all over Belgium and France in her, it was his swansong when in remission from cancer he took the opportunity to cruise, passing away the following year.

 

[gordmac]

Seems I might have caused some offence! It was a genuine question, I had a family event in the deep South and on the way down came across York marina and was surprised at the number of performance boats there maybe 30 miles from the sea. We don't have big rivers here and the hire boats living in the Caledonian canal would be my idea of a river boat.

 

[Chris_d]

We don't have big rivers here and the hire boats living in the Caledonian canal would be my idea of a river boat.

All those hire boats at Caley Cruisers are built specifically as hire boats on the canal, but the basic hulls from Haines, Broom, etc... are all also available for private pleasure use in 15-20kt offshore spec's as well. You just wouldn't choose a basic under powered version if buying it for private use even if you could find one.

 

[Alicatt]

All those hire boats at Caley Cruisers are built specifically as hire boats on the canal, but the basic hulls from Haines, Broom, etc... are all also available for private pleasure use in 15-20kt offshore spec's as well. You just wouldn't choose a basic under powered version if buying it for private use even if you could find one.

Well mine is a Broom design with 2 145hp Perkins turbo diseasel on shafts, there is a lower powered version with twin 115hp Perkins and there are also 185hp Perkins all the same basic engine from the non turbo to a 240 hp turbo inter cooled version, but the higher power ones are not so good on the canals.
The propellers run in quite deep tunnels and are protected by the deeper keel which makes the boat quite stable in a straight line, at slow speed she is quite responsive to steering by throttle and gear

 

[Montemar]

We had a Sealine S23 a few years ago and it was all over the place at low speed, it had a single KAD32 engine with an outdrive. We now have a Broom with a small keel and twin shafts which is well behaved at river level speeds and easy to sail. It was used on the Thames in the past and has TAMD41B - ludicrously overpowered for river use.

 

[SC35]

A single engined planing outdrive boat has a tendency to “wander” at low speed.

It’s not a big deal to be constantly correctly the steering or just let it waggle up the river, but it would be helpful to get a test drive before you commit to a purchase so you know what you are letting yourself in for.

 

[Momac]

We had a Sealine S23 a few years ago and it was all over the place at low speed

Over correcting the tendency to wander will lead to the boat being 'all over the place'
Even a twin engined outdrive boat will wander a bit at slow speed .
After a while the correction of the steering becomes instinctive.


Not the first time there has been the same discussion of engine choice in a S28
Sealine S28 Engine Options Advice Please?

 

[SC35]

Over correcting the tendency to wander will lead to the boat being 'all over the place'
Even a twin engined outdrive boat will wander a bit at slow speed .
After a while the correction of the steering becomes instinctive.

It’s hilarious watching someone for the first time.
Typically they are reactive, and the swings get larger.
After a while I was correcting the S24 without even thinking about it - a small correction in advance does the job.

 

[Keithaniven]

You cannot disconnect the clutch cable plug as it will throw up a fault code.
Also the valve operation does not suit the 44/300 at low rpm because the bridge post relies on splash lubrication , unfortunately over many hours the pushrods, ball studs and bridge post wears out , this can lead to a dropped valve basically wrecking the engine . The 43 would be a much better choice if you’re going single .

Many thanks to everyone for your advice it appears that the KAD 44 could experience issues if used just on a non tidal river at low speeds so I will look for a boat with KAD 43 engines which , from the guidance , appears to be better suited to longer periods at low revs. All the best Keith