Time to ask again. Petrol or Diesel?

[lovezoo]

No change.
People who can afford to buy a diesel boat..... do. ..... Simples Innit !

Those who cannot ....and buy...... petrol .....generally end up spending their time on here interminably justifying their choice,mainly cos they cannot actually afford to go anywhere in their boat.

Nothing changes on here.

Those who can afford to buy a diesel boat.....generally end up spending their time on here interminably justifying their choice, mainly cos they haven't got any money left to buy diesel with, as its all tied up in their boat.

BTW here in Spain you can buy petrol everywhere, there is no artificial price reduction for diesel and guess what? There are lots of petrol boats. Shocker!

 

[ricky_s]

Would people change their minds if petrol was made available everywhere? It seems to be on the south coast.

 

[MapisM]

Is it still better to go with a diesel boat or a petrol?

I'm surprised to see that nobody asked you so far WHICH boat.
In fact, the choice is bound to be driven by two factors, on top of which all other consideration can refine the choice: size and speed.
You'd neither want a diesel engine on a small RIB or a petrol engine on a trawler, I reckon?

 

[AdeOlly]

Would people change their minds if petrol was made available everywhere? It seems to be on the south coast.

I wouldn't. As has been stated, diesel in a boat is much more economical, by at least 50%, and this has been shown time and again. I think it was MBM that ran back to back tests with the same boat, a Karnic from memory, with petrol outboard and inboard diesel a few years back; the difference in economy was massive.

Another point, diesel is a safer fuel than petrol. Yes I know petrol boats aren't exploding all over the place and that diesel boats burn just as well, but the fact that petrol is highly flammable and explosive in confined areas, whereas diesel isn't, is beyond dispute. I have first hand experience of this - my first boat was petrol, and it nearly went up in flames after some fuel vapour in the bilge was ignited. (not by me but by somebody who should have known what he was doing)

Having said all that, I think the proportion of petrol to diesel in smaller craft will change with more petrol powered bought new.

 

[Scubadoo]

Another point, diesel is a safer fuel than petrol. Yes I know petrol boats aren't exploding all over the place and that diesel boats burn just as well, but the fact that petrol is highly flammable and explosive in confined areas, whereas diesel isn't, is beyond dispute. I have first hand experience of this - my first boat was petrol, and it nearly went up in flames after some fuel vapour in the bilge was ignited. (not by me but by somebody who should have known what he was doing)

Having said all that, I think the proportion of petrol to diesel in smaller craft will change with more petrol powered bought new.

Totally agree, but one thing to note, diesel has a flash point, so if a diesel boat is burning you are at a higher risk compared to a Petrol boat (of course assuming the pertrol tank is not leaking). Basically you can stand next to a sealed petrol fuel tank that is on fire and it won't explode, compared to diesel. Also something to note with cars!

For me, Diesel boat everytime because of better economy, more filling points, safer and diesel engine don't have so much to go wrong (well older types).

 

[ian38_39]

I'm surprised to see that nobody asked you so far WHICH boat.
In fact, the choice is bound to be driven by two factors, on top of which all other consideration can refine the choice: size and speed.
You'd neither want a diesel engine on a small RIB or a petrol engine on a trawler, I reckon?

That is far too simple for a debate like this. (can't work out how to put smiley's)

I agree that there is a cut in point for diesel, bellow which people still buy diesel but it just makes a small boat too heavy and cumbersome, there is also a cut out point for petrol, above which people still buy petrol but traditional petrol engines do not offer the torque for the weight of boat. These margins are rather blurred to say the least dependent on personal preferences and use.

for the purpose of the debate maybe we ought to assume we are in the middle of common ground, where both diesel and petrol are perfectly capable.

By far the most telling post that I have seen in all the diesel petrol debates is the one below

"BTW here in Spain you can buy petrol everywhere, there is no artificial price reduction for diesel and guess what? There are lots of petrol boats. Shocker!"

If petrol is available, and I have a feeling there will be more along shortly, and the benefit of cheap diesel is removed you will get the same here as in Spain.

I believe that petrol boat prices will stay where they are, big diesel boats over say 45' will not be effected by the price of diesel directly, economic conditions could still have an effect on values, diesels that are too small will plummet, Middle ground diesels will reduce to leave around half the current difference between the petrol and diesel price now, Diesels in the 30-45' market will reduce a bit as the upchange cost will be too big from the lower priced 25-35' market.

 

[ian38_39]

Totally agree, but one thing to note, diesel has a flash point, so if a diesel boat is burning you are at a higher risk compared to a Petrol boat (of course assuming the pertrol tank is not leaking). Basically you can stand next to a sealed petrol fuel tank that is on fire and it won't explode, compared to diesel. Also something to note with cars!

For me, Diesel boat everytime because of better economy, more filling points, safer and diesel engine don't have so much to go wrong (well older types).

Petrol has a flash point too, it is just a lot lower than diesel. I don't think you will find many people that if the boat is on fire would rather stand on the petrol one than the diesel one. That said I do hope never to be on either and as long as people are sensible the fuel should never be the cause.

 

[gjgm]

I suspect you are wrong Ian. Petrol will remain of use only in smaller boats. You forget boaters are not rational. It is a bit like fitting a smaller engine spec, or fitting a single engine where there might normally be twins. No one wants to buy it, even if it is markedly cheaper.
It isnt about a saving;it is about what people want, and people dont want petrol in 28ft+ boats, rightly or wrongly.

 

[ian38_39]

I suspect you are wrong Ian. Petrol will remain of use only in smaller boats. You forget boaters are not rational. It is a bit like fitting a smaller engine spec, or fitting a single engine where there might normally be twins. No one wants to buy it, even if it is markedly cheaper.
It isnt about a saving;it is about what people want, and people dont want petrol in 28ft+ boats, rightly or wrongly.

Beg to differ, although I do think you are partially correct.

You would probably be 100% correct if you inserted the words some in between the words and _ people.

Petrols have never been so easy to sell and that is because some peoples attitudes are changing.

 

[MapisM]

That is far too simple for a debate like this. (can't work out how to put smiley's)

LOL, what's wrong with simplicity?
I don't know if your predictions will materialise or not. As with all predictions, time will tell.
What I know for sure is that I've been boating for decades in the Med, where red diesel have never been available (with a few exceptions, not even worth mentioning), and almost every fuel station have both diesel and petrol.
And around here, assuming to stick to your latest assumption that "we are in the middle of common ground, where both diesel and petrol are perfectly capable", nobody - and I mean not one single boater I've ever met, myself included - have never seen petrol as an option worth of any consideration. And this is a fact, not a forecast.

Btw, I love petrol boats, and I've had more of them than diesel boats.
But that's just because they were small, fast, single engine sportboats, which I used on a lake.
Hence my previous "far too simple" question...

 

[oldgit]

BTW here in Spain you can buy petrol everywhere, there is no artificial price reduction for diesel and guess what? There are lots of petrol boats. Shocker!


O gosh yes ...but they are all toy boats more suited to going from one end of a bath to the other than for going anywhere further than just past the marina entrance bouy and back again and again and again and again..................and again manana.

Ist law of boating .Proper boats are diesel
2nd law of boating.Proper boats are diesel.
3rd law of boating .See above.

 

[lovezoo]

4th law of boating - go on internet forums to try and convince yourself your steam powered antique shed floating in a muddy estuary is proper "boating".

I'll stick with the med, the sun (and the petrol) thanks.

 

[PCUK]

Didn't read every answer so don't know if this has been raised. The advantage of petrol is the possibility of a gas conversion and I could see these coming back into fashion. Not many pumps now but I understand you can fill from tankers the same as with domestic tanks.

 

[ian38_39]

Didn't read every answer so don't know if this has been raised. The advantage of petrol is the possibility of a gas conversion and I could see these coming back into fashion. Not many pumps now but I understand you can fill from tankers the same as with domestic tanks.

Big gamble for a boat.

Firstly as you say there is no infrastructure at all and people moan about petrol availability.

Secondly, the success rate of these conversions the first time round was a lot at fault for it not taking off. For every one that worked well their were four that didn't. tends to work better on newer engines though so maybe brand new petrols with an LPG conversion is the way to go. Only problem if more than 10 boats swop it will be suddenly just a little bit more than white diesel at the pumps.

 

[Quest]

Come clean as both fairly new to this boating lark and with a petrol outboard. What about diesel bug? Sounds nasty and from what I hear is a biggish problem if it strikes. There doesn't seem to be a petrol equivalent. By the general tone of what I'm reading you diesel boat owners don't seem to be overly bothered about it, so is it unusual for it to hit?

Have to agree that passages tend to be planned around availability of petrol

 

[Fire99]

Having owned a number of Petrol boats, have a petrol and diesel car and hate diesel with a passion.............Diesel!! (For anything bigger than a day speedboat)

Diesel suits the marine environment better.

More forgiving to the damp, more torque biased engines, inherent better economy, far better availability at marinas (still).

My old Petrol V8 did make a compelling argument though because

a)It ran as smooth as an electric motor (at low speed)
b)Sounded great at high speed
c)Smelt nice
d)Was easy (and very cheap) to maintain.