Never too late
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Interested in comments about diesel vs gas engines for maintenance and hassel - a 200 hp diesel, for example, vs a 200 hp Honda outboard.
I think the outboard's big plus comes when doing repairs with the boat out of the water. In water repairs becoming much more challenging, especially on anything more than flat calm water.
I wonder, over a ten year period, whether the routine maintenance costs more or less for the 200 HP outboard or the inboard?
Ted
I certainly agree with the first paragraph. I assume that the OP's outboard powered boat is trailerable, so all maintenance is on land. On the water outboard repairs are virtually impossible.
If you are paying a mechanic to do the maintenance, I am quite sure that the diesel is more expensive. The mechanic has to come to your boat and is then faced with access issues. For an outboard, you trailer your boat to the outboard shop and for many reasons, outboard repair rates are cheaper than inboard diesel rates.
Changing an outboard's impeller is more work as you have to drop the lower end. But comparing the effort to change the impeller on my 370 hp Yanmar in a Mainship Pilot 34 (and the cussing due to dropped nuts and busted knuckles- the pump really has to come off to change the impeller), I think I would rather drop the lower end of an outboard in a nice clean driveway with all of the stuff sitting in front of me.
One thing I didn't address in my posting above is maintaining other boat systems: macerator pump, fresh water pump, A/C raw water pump, etc. Much depends on access, but on the Mainship, they were all installed around the big engine in the available corners, so Houdini contortions were required. This of course may not be the case in a trawler with a single engine in a large engine room. But in general such systems are installed in more accessible locations in an outboard powered boat.
David
But none of them seem to address the issue of how the heck does one service outboards on larger cruisers without haulout? Even a simple oil change is a major PIA while hanging over the transom on an outboard-powered boat while in the water. And ALL engines require routine service, including oil, water pump impellers, spark plugs (for gas engines, of course), valve adjustments, etc. And while trailers remain an option for some of these larger boats (Cutwaters certainly, MJM 53's not so much), having to haul on the trailer to perform simple maintenance seems to me to be a major PIA.
You nailed it. A boat like the Great Harbour TT35 is billed as the ultimate Great Loop boat but if you have to haul every 1000 miles (roughly 8 knots times 100 hours between oil changes, you will have to haul the boat 6-8 times on the loop. Definitely a PITA. Sure a trailer helps but how do you get the trailer to 1000 mile (100 hour) sites for routine maintenance. Can't wait to read a loop blog on how this will be handled.
You nailed it. A boat like the Great Harbour TT35 is billed as the ultimate Great Loop boat but if you have to haul every 1000 miles (roughly 8 knots times 100 hours between oil changes, you will have to haul the boat 6-8 times on the loop. Definitely a PITA. Sure a trailer helps but how do you get the trailer to 1000 mile (100 hour) sites for routine maintenance. Can't wait to read a loop blog on how this will be handled.
Thanks to all for your comments. I started out convinced that I wanted a 30-35 foot trawler with a diesel, but it seems people who own boats in that category spend a lot of time on maintenance, and I'm an older guy; I don't have a lot of time. Or mechanical knowledge. So I started thinking that maybe I should be considering something on the order of a Rosborough or C-Dory. Now I don't know what to think.
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I have read Europe is going to ban diesel engines, at least in and around cities since they pollute worse than gasoline.
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"This makes diesel the only option for a bigger boat."
For a big fast boat like a sport fish that requires big HP.
A displacement boat will cruise on about 3 HP per ton (2240lbs) .
So a 150,000 displacement cruiser ( a bigger boat) would be about 70 tons and require perhaps 200hp.
200 cont hp is easily available from most V8 or many outboards.
When the service is over 1000, 2000 hours a year diesel wins.