Saildrive replacement cost? (how long is a piece of string...)

[Kelpie]

Idly mulling over some project boats for sale and a few have saildrives. These are a bit of an enigma to me but since almost every new boat seems to have one I suppose they can't be all bad news.
Anyway, what would a ballpark figure be for replacement of the engine/gb/saildrive unit on a 35ft boat? Looking at about a 25hp engine. Just would be good to know if this is a £10k job or a £5k one.
Also curious about whether it is possible to do this DIY- presumably easier than a conventional re-engine job because there are no alignment issues?

 

[Seashoreman]

This was covered in a article in PBO a couple of years ago. Boat was a Trapper 500 belonging to a member of their staff, Tom Stevens. Sorry to be vague but if you do a bit of research I believe you will find valuable info. It was a DIY job, with some assistance.
Cant really give contact details without permission but I am sure PBO will be helpful.

 

[Tranona]

Price very little different from conventional package. If you use the same engine type very easy. For example the Volvo D1 30 is virtually direct for a 2030. Not a good idea to try and mix and match engines and drives. Most boats will have either Volvo or Yanmar and replacements for either straightforward. What is expensive is just replacing. Drive unit and usually better to replace the whole unit. Relatively easy DIY job, professional around 15 hours labour.

 

[Kelpie]

Price very little different from conventional package. If you use the same engine type very easy. For example the Volvo D1 30 is virtually direct for a 2030. Not a good idea to try and mix and match engines and drives. Most boats will have either Volvo or Yanmar and replacements for either straightforward. What is expensive is just replacing. Drive unit and usually better to replace the whole unit. Relatively easy DIY job, professional around 15 hours labour.

Thanks, I was hoping that DIY would be an option, especially if I was getting a whole package.
As to ballpark costs, would £8k sound about right? That's what a bit of googling suggests anyway.

 

[widgeon]

I have just priced up replacing a Volvo MD2020 with either a Volvo D1-20 plus 130s Saildrive or the Beta equivalents. Ballpark figure was £7000 including VAT for the Volvo - about £500 less for the Beta - and in each case about £2000 for fitting. Add to that, of course, the length of a piece of string for the unknown extras to finish the job!

 

[doug748]

The vibe I get is that saildrives work out about 20 -30% more expensive. This would seem to be bourne out by widgeon's figures.

 

[Tranona]

The vibe I get is that saildrives work out about 20 -30% more expensive. This would seem to be bourne out by widgeon's figures.

However most of that supposed difference gets eaten up when you find you have to modify engine beds and replace stern gear. The saildrive, if chosen wisely should need no modifications and provides a complete new propulsion system, not just engine and box.