scottie
Well-known member
Does this include the ones they marinise as well
What is the best marine engine ever made
- Thread starter Nostrodamus
- Start date
Does this include the ones they marinise as well
Capt Popeye
Well-known member
Ah well, there is perhaps a better P word that I should have used, its Preference, for a slow revving Proper marine engine, never noticed vibration from them, just a good steady plod hour after hour, day after day, year after year.
Bringing reassurance to ones ears.
NormanS
Well-known member
A boat that I owned for many years had a Gardner 6L3, 114hp, 6 cylinder, max 900rpm. Ran like the proverbial sewing machine. These engines were designed for working fishing boats, where they had to work and work and work.....
fishermantwo
Active member
Obviously Gardners are the best but they start off as truck/ industrial engines and come out as marinised versions as well. When you read the workshop manuals they usually start off covering the road versions and then the marine. The truck engines rev higher, about 1350 and you can run your boat engine on truck settings if you like but the vessels wont go any faster if they are propped correctly in the first place. Interestingly Gardner built a few new LW series engines in I think one two and 3 cylinder versions in the 1980's to repower canal boats.
When I upgraded to a larger vessel in the early 80's I scoured the country for a vessel with a Gardner main and a Gardner mechanical box. The fishing I was engaged in at the time was line and poling Yellowtail Kingfish. We would chum with live bait and the kingfish would rise up to the live bait and also the sound of the Gardner's! After awhile we would turn up on the fishing ground, idle around in a circle and before we even started throwing live bait the kingfish would rise up to the stern of the vessel. The Gardner was the dinner bell!
fishermantwo
Active member
Would not the starter motor make a permanent earth to the block?
VexedIllologist
Member
My vote is for Kelvin.
A very poor power to weight ratio, low piston speeds and utter reliability; I am thinking particularly of the later 'medium speed' and 'high speed' engines (i.e. 1,000, 1,200 and 1,500 maximum RPM), such as the R- and T series.
Solidly built heavyweights, designed to be run for as long as they need to be run.
There are few engines like them.
Rated as 'Continuous Heavy Duty Marine Diesel Engines' you could literally run them at full rated output as long as you like, if you really needed to.
Give them clean diesel and good oil, do the basic maintenance and they will live as long as you want them to.
A Gardner looks better (all the polished pipes), but there is a difference between their marine engines (such as the 6 and 8L3Bs) and their marinised bus engines (LXs etc).
A very poor power to weight ratio, low piston speeds and utter reliability; I am thinking particularly of the later 'medium speed' and 'high speed' engines (i.e. 1,000, 1,200 and 1,500 maximum RPM), such as the R- and T series.
Solidly built heavyweights, designed to be run for as long as they need to be run.
There are few engines like them.
Rated as 'Continuous Heavy Duty Marine Diesel Engines' you could literally run them at full rated output as long as you like, if you really needed to.
Give them clean diesel and good oil, do the basic maintenance and they will live as long as you want them to.
A Gardner looks better (all the polished pipes), but there is a difference between their marine engines (such as the 6 and 8L3Bs) and their marinised bus engines (LXs etc).
fisherman
Well-known member
The usual is to fit an insulated return to a standard starter.
The Kelvin poppet 50/60 HP was four cylinder 29 litres, max 410 rpm, weighed nearly two tons.
http://www.sky-net.org.uk/kelvin/petrol/poppet/
NormanS
Well-known member
While the L3 Gardners were certainly used for industrial purposes, in particular for rail locomotives, they were primarily marine engines. The LWs were used in trucks and buses, but the L3 is a different animal altogether. The 6L3, complete with gearbox and reduction box weighed 3 tons, the 8L3 was even longer and heavier. Gardner's answer to the demand for more power, was initially to add extra cylinders, hence the 8L3, and then, later, to soup up the same engines, increase the revs, derive more power, and they were the 6L3B, and the 8L3B. However, like the K series Kelvins, they were huge and heavy for their power, and were overtaken by lighter, higher revving engines like Caterpillars etc.
fishermantwo
Active member
The body of the starter motor is still the earth and its bolted to the block/gearbox. The block will still be earthed.
savageseadog
Well-known member
What is the best marine engine ever made?
Mine, when I really need it.
Mine, when I really need it.
fisherman
Well-known member
We took a lorry starter, Ford, to the supplier and they fitted an insulated return, I think it was just a stud through the starter body with an insulation sleeve round it.
Biggles Wader
Well-known member
ChiPete
New member
My Yanmar 3YM20.
She starts first time and keeps going despite me doing all the maintenance.
Dammit, I've just jinxed her haven't I :disgust:
She starts first time and keeps going despite me doing all the maintenance.
Dammit, I've just jinxed her haven't I :disgust:
Rowana
Two steps lower than the ships' cat
one of these -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMb5GLMdFNY
or one of these -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wcMdqGVuS4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMb5GLMdFNY
or one of these -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wcMdqGVuS4&feature=related
dancrane
Well-known member
As a dinghy sailor, I'm nevertheless fascinated by marine diesels, particularly sailboat auxiliaries whose presence on board is nothing but a nuisance until the beast is urgently needed.
Hard to think of anything nicer than a big old Gardner (aboard a big old boat) which quietly, smoothly delivers enough power without ever disturbing the crew or going wrong.
Granted it isn't ideal to ship a gargantuan iron block & flywheel aboard the average modern yacht. Presumably the impractical power-to-weight ratio of those lovely old dependables, is exactly, inversely proportionate to the endless faults & failures suffered by owners of modern low-weight, high-output auxiliaries? (See any day's list of PBO forum threads...
)
Has anybody ever tried drawing up a list of failures that can be attributed to the degree of low weight/high output of yacht engines? I mean, are compact, powerful units the most trouble? Or are certain manufacturers (or layouts or cooling systems) invariably more prone to problems than others? Or ultimately, are the majority of problems most often the consequence of poor maintenance, dirty oil and abusive or idle owners?
Hard to think of anything nicer than a big old Gardner (aboard a big old boat) which quietly, smoothly delivers enough power without ever disturbing the crew or going wrong.
Granted it isn't ideal to ship a gargantuan iron block & flywheel aboard the average modern yacht. Presumably the impractical power-to-weight ratio of those lovely old dependables, is exactly, inversely proportionate to the endless faults & failures suffered by owners of modern low-weight, high-output auxiliaries? (See any day's list of PBO forum threads...
)Has anybody ever tried drawing up a list of failures that can be attributed to the degree of low weight/high output of yacht engines? I mean, are compact, powerful units the most trouble? Or are certain manufacturers (or layouts or cooling systems) invariably more prone to problems than others? Or ultimately, are the majority of problems most often the consequence of poor maintenance, dirty oil and abusive or idle owners?
webcraft
Well-known member
wully1
Well-known member
And a good job of it they made....
sailorman
Well-known member
Not as good as Nanni made them
fishermantwo
Active member
As a dinghy sailor, I'm nevertheless fascinated by marine diesels, particularly sailboat auxiliaries whose presence on board is nothing but a nuisance until the beast is urgently needed.
Hard to think of anything nicer than a big old Gardner (aboard a big old boat) which quietly, smoothly delivers enough power without ever disturbing the crew or going wrong.
Granted it isn't ideal to ship a gargantuan iron block & flywheel aboard the average modern yacht. Presumably the impractical power-to-weight ratio of those lovely old dependables, is exactly, inversely proportionate to the endless faults & failures suffered by owners of modern low-weight, high-output auxiliaries? (See any day's list of PBO forum threads...
Has anybody ever tried drawing up a list of failures that can be attributed to the degree of low weight/high output of yacht engines? I mean, are compact, powerful units the most trouble? Or are certain manufacturers (or layouts or cooling systems) invariably more prone to problems than others? Or ultimately, are the majority of problems most often the consequence of poor maintenance, dirty oil and abusive or idle owners?
As I mentioned previously the Gardner main engine in my fishing vessel had given sterling service for more than 60 years and still all original. I installed a Kubota 3 cylinder to power a 8kva 3 phase generator and up until I sold the vessel that did 16,000 hours at a governed speed of 1500rpm. In that time it did have the occasional drip from a rear seal, most of the problems were with auxiliary stuff. Couple of saltwater pumps, one freshwater pump, one new starter. One new charging unit for the generator[not an alternator like most diesels] lots of belts. One section of the cast iron exhaust where the salt water joins the exhaust. All the other fishing vessels in this port used the same Kubota set up and there was never a mechanical problem with them. They usually got replaced after a few years simply as a precaution. My main competitor had two Kubota's, one a spare in case one stopped at sea. The live bait tanks full bait could be converted into several thousand dollars each day so reliability is important.
Sandy Bottom
Active member
No internal combustion engine (of any make) can come vaguely close to the reliability and efficiency of marine turbines (especially steam) - and when the new Ultra Supercritical Steam Turbines come fully on-stream you are talking tens of thousands of hours of 50% efficiency with a 40 year (virtually full time running) lifespan!
http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/publikationen/publications_pof/pof_spring_2008/energy/effiziente_kraftwerke.htm
http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/publikationen/publications_pof/pof_spring_2008/energy/effiziente_kraftwerke.htm
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