Yanmar, Bukh or ANOther?

For me it has been Beta

The why is the easy part:

Price, price, price......

i.e.

Price of new engine
Price of installation
Cost of installing new engine bearers, and/or new engine mounts.
(If it's not compatible) Price of alternative gearbox if using existing shaft and prop
Price of spare parts for new engine

If you get quotes for all above, you should be able to determine preferred manufacturer.

For me it equated to Beta.
We have installed, or had installed 2 new Beta's in the last 15 years. Both times it came down to PRICE and the fact that the yard preferred fitting Beta's. They install many of these engines every year.

Would not hesitate to buy another Beta if required.
 
After having owned two yachts with Yanmars fitted in the seventies, thousands of hours of use, years of neglect, but still running like new, the choice is obvious...
 
Although price is a major factor, might I humbly suggest that there are other factors that might trump price.

Does it fit is the first one.

If it fits, can I get to the major serving parts easily?

If you then shortlist all the engines that comply with the above, price might be a good thing to check next!

As far as reliability etc is concerned, Yanmar, Nanni, Beta, Lombardini, Volvo Vetus etc etc are all modern diesels (Nanni and Beta both use the identical base Kubota engine) and they are all quieter and more efficient than some previous generation engines.

Don't be put off Volvo by stories of the price of spares. People who have been stung by Volvo have often never priced up the spares on Yanmar engines! Some Volvo prices are eye-watering, but you can get some parts for some engines very reasonably.

For what its worth, we have fitted Yanmar and Nanni engines in previous boats and our current boat has a Volvo. We have been very happy with all the engines that we have fitted.

For some reason there are a few people on here who swear by Beta - but when we looked at the Beta for our last boat, the control panel wasn't as nice as the Nanni one, and the ancillaries didn't fit into our engine bay quite as well.
 
Agree with all John says. There is very little to choose among the popular modern engines - even price, as it is a very competitive market. Arguably a Volvo or Yanmar is better if you are travelling abroad as they have the most extensive dealer networks and are the brands that are fitted to almost all new boats.

Choice on re-engining often revolves around ease of fitment and location of service items. For example I chose a Nanni for my current engine because the service points are at the front and access to the sides is poor in my installation. On the other hand the exhaust is on the opposite side to the Yanmar it replaced, meaning a relocation of the water trap and exhaust run.

In the UK Beta and Nanni seem to have the biggest share of the re-engine market because they specialise in putting together installation packages, plus of course being good engines.

In performance terms there is also little to choose. Efficiency and therefore fuel consumption is virtually identical HP for HP, but the overall efficiency of the whole package can be influenced by choice of gearbox ratio and propeller.

Life of the engines in mechanical terms is effectively indefinite in yacht auxilliary terms where typical annual hours is in the range of 1-200 against a design life of 8000. The Volvo in my Bavaria has done about 3500 hours in 10 years, mostly as a charter boat and the engine is perfect mechanically.

Spares requirements are minimal and you can get aftermarket filters and belts etc rather than OE parts if you really want to save a few £s each year. Other spares tend to be expensive for all brands, but few are needed.

When looking at a re-engined boat it is important to check the installation has been done properly and ideally that all the related ancilliary equipment (exhaust, stern gear, controls, electrics, fuel system etc.) have been replaced and upgraded at the same time as it is more likely these bits give trouble rather than the basic engine.
 
john_morris_uk said:
Although price is a major factor, might I humbly suggest that there are other factors that might trump price.

Does it fit is the first one.

If it fits, can I get to the major serving parts easily?

If you then shortlist all the engines that comply with the above, price might be a good thing to check next!

As far as reliability etc is concerned, Yanmar, Nanni, Beta, Lombardini, Volvo Vetus etc etc are all modern diesels (Nanni and Beta both use the identical base Kubota engine) and they are all quieter and more efficient than some previous generation engines.

Don't be put off Volvo by stories of the price of spares. People who have been stung by Volvo have often never priced up the spares on Yanmar engines! Some Volvo prices are eye-watering, but you can get some parts for some engines very reasonably.

For what its worth, we have fitted Yanmar and Nanni engines in previous boats and our current boat has a Volvo. We have been very happy with all the engines that we have fitted.

For some reason there are a few people on here who swear by Beta - but when we looked at the Beta for our last boat, the control panel wasn't as nice as the Nanni one, and the ancillaries didn't fit into our engine bay quite as well.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree with most of the above and opted for a Beta as they were just about the only supplier who would make wider bearers to fit existing bearers on the boat. Also a good deal moneywise, all service bits easily accessible - including the sea water pump and oil pump included. The cheapest I found was Vetus BUT it was 'a take it or leave it attitude' no changes possible at all.
I would dispute the 'quieter' claim above - I fitted a Beta 25hp with new engine insulation, new exhaust etc etc and I was surprised to find it was noisier than the original BMC 1500. This due mainly to the increased mass of the old engine therby absorbing noise better and a much slower idling speed.
I quite like my Beta control panel, I opted for the full panel which is fine. I had no problem fitting the Beta into the engine space as the Beta was much smaller than the BMC.
Go to the SBS and compare the engines available.
 
I have a new Yanmar in the new boat and previously had an old Volvo in the old boat. The Yanmar is better. BUT . . . perhaps if I'd had an old Yanmar before and a new Volvo now, I'd think the Volvo was better!

For me the point is that newer diesels are (a) more modern and better designs and (b) newer (!) - in the sense that they have less wear. I wonder if there is anything very fundamental to choose between them. So it comes down to spares network for where you plan to cruise, whether your local most reputable engineer who'll fit it has more experience of one than another, space available, deal on price etc.

This assumes that you mean sailing auxiliaries. I don't know about the big powerboat jobs.
 
For me the answer would be helpfulness, after sales service etc. Beta have a very good reputation, & I have had a dire experience with Nanni/Peachments.
 
RobBrown said:
I just have a high regard for engines that are designed from the start as marine engines, hence Bukh appeals to me.
Click to expand...
Yanmar claim to be Marine engines designed from scratch. I am not sure it makes a lot of difference with some of the engines as they are so well marinised. I seem to recall that Lombardini also claim not to be 'marinised' industrial engines.
 
RobBrown said:
I just have a high regard for engines that are designed from the start as marine engines, hence Bukh appeals to me.
Click to expand...

I don't think the crankshaft rods and pistons really take notice of where they are asked to perform.An engine is an engine and as long as the power carachteristics are suitable it'll do.
 
RobBrown said:
I just have a high regard for engines that are designed from the start as marine engines, hence Bukh appeals to me.
Click to expand...

In their day they had a lot going for them as they were generally superior to the competition, despite some well known weaknesses. However, the world has moved on in the last 40 years and the new breed of engine is at least as good if not better - as well as being smaller, lighter and cheaper. As many have pointed out, there is little to go wrong with the basic engine which is designed to run hard in such things as dump trucks, diggers etc. It is the quality of the marinisation that is key, particularly the fresh water cooling system.
 
Limited experience Volvo - 2 charter boats - some 7000hrs cost £12,000 in repairs

Yanmar - 1 charter boat - some 3000hrs - cost £0

Obvious buy a Volvo and suport the economy
 
We did ours last year, replacing a Bukh with a Beta:

http://www.vbdata.co.uk/Blog/index.php/2010/10/ (start at the bottom.....)

We narrowed it down to Beta and Nanni, and Beta just got our vote. Slightly better deal, closer to us (South Wales) and they really were very helpful all through the process.

Regarding weight, we had to re-trim Ishtar after replacing our bukh with the beta, which was roughly half the weight - she lifted her stern significantly. Not a problem, however.
 
Price is obviously a big part of the equation. Therefore costs of fitting is a significant part of the overall cost. If you can buy a like for like replacement then the fitting costs can be minimised. For example I replaced a Bukh 20 with a BUKH and as teh "bottom end" of teh engine is exactly the same it fitted precisely - a days job in and out after I had disconnected everything from the old one.
 
Alcyone said:
We did ours last year, replacing a Bukh with a Beta:

http://www.vbdata.co.uk/Blog/index.php/2010/10/ (start at the bottom.....)

We narrowed it down to Beta and Nanni, and Beta just got our vote. Slightly better deal, closer to us (South Wales) and they really were very helpful all through the process.

Regarding weight, we had to re-trim Ishtar after replacing our bukh with the beta, which was roughly half the weight - she lifted her stern significantly. Not a problem, however.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, I'm looking at similar, 20hp bukh to a 38 beta. Happy with the beta?
 
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