Gas v/s Diesel

[davidroddy]

Looking to buy an older sportfishing boat. I will almost certainly need to repower the vessel. I have heard that diesel engines are the only way to go for serious offshore boats. Howver, recently I have seen that many new boats such as Bertram and Hatteras etc... use crusader gasoline engines in many of their sportfishers. Whats the deal. Is there a real performance difference? Diesel fuel is cheaper on the water here where I live but the upfront cost of the engines is considerably more.

 

[62_Kiwi]

Re: Gas v/s Diesel

Hi David,<br />If it was me choosing an inboard boat engine, I'd take the diesel ahead of a gasoline engine purely for the reduced risk of fire or explosion. Diesel is far safer. Only my 2 cents though...

 

[CAPTBLACKSMARINE]

Re: Gas v/s Diesel

THE DIESEL WILL ALSO GIVE YOU ALOT BETTER FUEL ECONOMY. AND IF MAINTANED PROPERLY WILL OUT LIVE THE GAS ENGINE BY SEVERAL YEARS . THE COST OF THE DIESEL IS THE BIGGEST REASON THAT SOME OF YOUR LARGER BOATS ARE BEING OFFERED WITH THE GAS ENGINES,BUT IF IT WERE ME I WOULD GO WITH THE DIESEL .

 

[DJ]

Re: Gas v/s Diesel

David,<br /><br />The difference is initial $$$$. Gas engines are installed in these big "battlewagons" simply to keep the initial price down. Alot depends on how you are going to use it. If you're looking for range, economy and safety, diesel is the way to go. If you're going to cruise short distances and the boat is basically a "marina queen", go gas.<br /><br />You can expect to pay at least twice the $$$ for diesel over gas on a new installation. You can expect to pay a large premium for Caterpillar over Cummins also. Volvo (another good one) is somewhere in between. I personaly would not look at a boat powered with Detroit Diesel based engines. There alot alot of them out there but they have their problems. They are the "price point" engines in diesel powered craft.

 

[Walt T]

Re: Gas v/s Diesel

You dont say what size boat you are interested in, but anything above 35 feet ought to be diesel powered. Be careful, there are a lot of older boats out there with Detroit series 53's and 73's in them. Nothing wrong with them, but it's getting harder to find mechanics that know how to work on these properly. Have the boat surveyed before you buy.

 

[DJ]

Re: Gas v/s Diesel

David,<br /><br />DieselWalt speaks with knowledge. The 53 and 71 series engines are OK (92 inc.) however they suffer from the following.<br /><br />1. Thirsty.<br />2. Leak Oil.<br />3. Noisy.<br />4. No one knows how to work on them-reliably.<br /><br />I've been to many boards on the marine subject throughout the web. Everyone is asking very basic questions about how to make a 2-stroke Detroit run right. There aren't many left that know how.

 

[davidroddy]

Re: Gas v/s Diesel

Thanks for the help. As far as size of boat I hope to buy in the 30ft-38ft range. No, I'm no marina prince. We love to go out there for the big ones. Most of the fishing grounds here are 30-100 miles from the jetty. That requires some serios range if you want to troll all day and still get home. I will continue to look for the boat. I am partial to cummings diesels. Many of my local friend use them and they seem to do great. Now, how do I decide how big or small the engines should be? There seems to be a huge veriaty. Is there a method to the madness. Speed isn't everything but it sure helps. Any Ideas?

 

[DJ]

Re: Gas v/s Diesel

dividroddy,<br /><br />If you are a Cummins fan, I wouldn't look at anything in a 38' with less than C-8.3L engines. The B-5.9's are too small. Even though the 5.9 will push nearly 400 hp. (in marine trim) it is stressed. The 8.3 doesn't have to work so hard, plus it is a sleeved engine-much easier to overhaul/repair.<br /><br />I would think something in the range of 350 to 425 hp. would give very nice performance and more hp. means better resale.<br /><br />Better yet, L-10's (older) or M-11's would be the best ticket. N-14's would probably be overkill.