Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 10-05-2014, 07:22 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
saltcod's Avatar
 
City: Campbell River
Vessel Name: Selkie
Vessel Model: Canoe Cove 41
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 114
Jimmy vs. Perkins

My first post! I'm looking at two identical boats, both Canoe Cove 41's. One of them has twin Perkins 6.354's (That's the number, I think) 3100 hrs
The other has twin 6v-53n Detroit Diesels, 2600 hrs.
I know the Jimmys are loud. I haven't heard the Perkins. Both engines have excellent reputations for longevity.
Any opinions?

Thanks,
Murray
saltcod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2014, 08:00 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
City: Hampton Bays, N.Y.
Vessel Name: Grand Yankee
Vessel Model: 1981 49' Grand Banks Classic
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 328
I would go with the Perkins over the 6V-53s. The 53s have had their share of problems. Perkins with clean air,fuel and oil just keep on perking.
Ron T is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2014, 08:02 PM   #3
Guru
 
caltexflanc's Avatar
 
City: North Carolina for now
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,348
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron T View Post
I would go with the Perkins over the 6V-53s. The 53s have had their share of problems. .
I'm curious. What problems? They have a very long service life in general.
__________________
George

"There's the Right Way, the Wrong Way, and what some guy says he's gotten away with"
caltexflanc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2014, 09:15 PM   #4
Guru
 
City: Venice Louisiana
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,097
I love DDs. I will tell you, as most who have owned, worked with or been around DDs for any length of time, will tell you, anything else is better.
kulas44 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2014, 09:48 PM   #5
Guru
 
Edelweiss's Avatar
 
City: PNW
Vessel Model: 1976 Californian Tricabin LRC
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,860
Quote:
Originally Posted by saltcod View Post
My first post! I'm looking at two identical boats, both Canoe Cove 41's. One of them has twin Perkins 6.354's (That's the number, I think) 3100 hrs
Perkins are an excellent choice. Good availability for parts. On the naturally aspirated engines, exhaust manifolds are available from aftermarket only and are about $1500 each in stainless. The turbo charged version is less and available in cast iron from Barr. What year and HP Perkins? Are they turbo charged? Yes they are quite a bit quieter than the DD's.
__________________
Larry B
Careful . . .I Have a Generator and I'm not afraid to use it !
Edelweiss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2014, 10:37 PM   #6
Guru
 
Nomad Willy's Avatar
 
City: Concrete Washington State
Vessel Name: Willy
Vessel Model: Willard Nomad 30'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 18,743
Peter Jung has a CC 53 and I believe he's got Jimmies. Wonderful boat and great engines. Peter has extensive experience w both the boat and the DD engines.

He is jungpeter on TF.
__________________
Eric

North Western Washington State USA
Nomad Willy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2014, 11:11 PM   #7
Guru
 
City: Carefree, Arizona
Vessel Name: sunchaser V
Vessel Model: DeFever 48 (sold)
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 10,186
If you buy the boat with Perkins and they have older than 10 year mani coolers, budget replacements into the purchase price for an ASAP replacement. Not a cheap PM item.

The 4-53Ns are very good engines. How do the rest of the two vessels compare? This is equally important IMHO and should weigh heavily in the coin flips you are going through.
sunchaser is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 01:43 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
r-rossow's Avatar
 
City: Oslo
Vessel Name: Southern Promise MMSI 258170360
Vessel Model: Ocean Alexander 55 Mk1
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 105
The 6.354 stems from the mid sixties I believe and has been put into use in for numerous different tasks; farming equipment, tractors of different shapes and manufacturers, pump engines, etc. Early ones were just above 100 HP. Engines were produced in several countries. Be aware that serial number (on early ones at least) will tell you nothing. There seems to be no way of telling model/year/plant from the serial number. Base engine parts should not be that hard to come by. Perkins is nowadays part of Caterpillar.
My previous boat had ca 1968 6.354 engines with turbo and Interooler. Port engine had a new exhaust manifold/cooler (seawater) when I bought the boat. The starboard was the original when I sold the boat a couple of years ago, making it approx. 35 years old!
Both Intercoolers were rusting/leaking when I got the boat. Kept the old bronze cores /end caps and had new shells machined out of large diameter steel tube.
r-rossow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 04:44 AM   #9
FF
Guru
 
FF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
If they will be run hard , near full throttle for long periods of time , the Detroits are the answer.

If its a full displacement boat where under 1/2 rated power will be normal cruise the Perkins will be OK , but still more maint.

Detroits get less efficient at low power (below 60% of the rating), but at 2-4 GPH , it wont amount to much.
FF is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 11:02 AM   #10
Guru
 
jungpeter's Avatar
 
City: Everett
Vessel Name: LIBERTY
Vessel Model: TOLLY 48
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 502
Hi Saltcod,

Having owned and lived with a CC53 with DD671s for 12 years or so, I would look seriously at the CC41 you are considering with the 6V53s. Take a look at the maintenance records, have an engine survey done if you move forward, and don't discard a fine boat with fine power plants because of urban legend regarding Detroits.

I have no experience with Perkins engines, so can't contribute 1st hand information on them. However, bear in mind that maintenance by previous owners is VERY important, irregardless of engine type. Availability of parts is also important, as the routine maintenance items on all marine engines can be spendy, especially big-ticket items such as exhaust manifolds, risers, exhaust elbows, heat exchangers, etc. It's fairly straight forward to check the WWW for representative parts costs for each engine, and I think you'll find the parts for the DDs are relatively inexpensive and available, literally world wide. Someone posted that fuel injectors for DDs are found hanging on the pegs in the Ketchikan Walmart. True story. Waterpump impellers, complete water pumps, exhaust manifolds, complete in-frame rebuild kits, etc etc for most DDs are all over the WWW, at NAPAs everywhere, and Pilot gas stations in the middle of the stinking desert(!).

Are the DDs noisy? Not appreciably more so than any other equivalent engine in the same engine compartment, in the same boat, with the same muffling and engine room noise insulation. Are they less "efficient" than other diesel engines? Perhaps, if you get down into the weeds of brake specific fuel consumption as it relates to horsepower. In the real world, fuel consumption is a small fraction (<10%) of the cost of ownership of boats such as these, in typical pleasure service. Do they leak oil? Not appreciably more than any other properly maintained marine engine. The 671s have multiple blanked-off inspection ports and assembly bosses, as they were used in so many different configurations. Less so for the 6V53s. And it is possible to inspect during survey through these self-same ports such things as the condition of the piston walls, the pistons themselves, and the condition of the piston rings. Again, have a complete engine survey done if you go forward with the purchase, and you'll be money ahead.

As you can probably tell by this overly-rambling missive, I'm a fan of 2-stroke DDs. I wouldn't hesitate to own a boat with these powerplants, all things considered related to condition at purchase. Hope some of this helps.

Regards,

Pete
jungpeter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 11:28 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
saltcod's Avatar
 
City: Campbell River
Vessel Name: Selkie
Vessel Model: Canoe Cove 41
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 114
DD's vs Perks

Looks like a pretty even split. Thanks for the opinions. The two different boats are listed with the same broker in different cities. Same price for either boat. I've not seen the boat with Perkins yet as it is a 3 hr. drive plus 2hrs by ferry. For what it's worth, the broker has a preference for the DD's. I'm going to get in touch with a friend that is a HD mechanic with 40 years experience. He's worked with both engines I'm sure.
saltcod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 11:42 AM   #12
Guru
 
Nomad Willy's Avatar
 
City: Concrete Washington State
Vessel Name: Willy
Vessel Model: Willard Nomad 30'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 18,743
Peter I had hoped you'd find your way here.

A 6cyl DD has as many power strokes as a 12 cylinder 4 stroke.
__________________
Eric

North Western Washington State USA
Nomad Willy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 12:21 PM   #13
Technical Guru
 
Ski in NC's Avatar
 
City: Wilmington, NC
Vessel Name: Louisa
Vessel Model: Custom Built 38
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 6,194
The noise may be the biggest downside of the DD. A good exhaust system and good engine room isolation/insulation can control the noise. But not all boats did a good job with this. It is hard to kill that exhaust drone on a DD.

Make absolutely sure you can live with the noise.

I did some work on a Hatteras LRC with 4-53n, it had mufflers but was still too loud for my tastes. Kind of like a Harley: The noise is fun. For five minutes.

My vote is for the Perkins. Much quieter, and a lower frequency tone. Love me some old Detroit iron, but I have paid with some hearing loss.
Ski in NC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 12:36 PM   #14
Guru
 
City: gulf coast
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3,440
With the Detroits if the fuel tank runs empty you can always run off the bilge lube oil.
bayview is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 12:49 PM   #15
Guru
 
Mule's Avatar
 
City: Fort Pierce
Vessel Name: Florita Ann
Vessel Model: 1982 Present
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,935
Take a picture of an old Harley and a series Detroit (4/53, 6/71, 8/92 and so on) hang pictures on the wall. Come back 4 hours later an each will have an oil stain running down the wall.
Mule is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 01:55 PM   #16
Guru
 
C lectric's Avatar
 
City: Gibsons, B.C., Canada
Vessel Name: Island Pride
Vessel Model: Palmer 32'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,414
The 41' Canoe Coves had the engines under the backdeck on V-drives so compared to another vessel with engines beneath the salon sole the noise should be lower.

Just find out and as pointed out the naturals 6v-53 should be a good engine.
C lectric is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 03:55 PM   #17
Guru
 
caltexflanc's Avatar
 
City: North Carolina for now
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,348
The DD's are only as noisy as the boat design allows them to be.
__________________
George

"There's the Right Way, the Wrong Way, and what some guy says he's gotten away with"
caltexflanc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 03:59 PM   #18
Guru
 
City: gulf coast
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3,440
Quote:
Originally Posted by mule View Post
take a picture of an old harley and a series detroit (4/53, 6/71, 8/92 and so on) hang pictures on the wall. Come back 4 hours later an each will have an oil stain running down the wall.


lol
bayview is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 04:38 PM   #19
Guru
 
Scary's Avatar
 
City: Walnut Grove Ca
Vessel Name: Cary'D Away
Vessel Model: Hatteras 48 LRC
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 887
They may be noisy but they are very smooth.

Having run the crap out of DD 53 series, you can expect at least 8000 hrs out of 53 series heads, 30,000 plus out of bearings. Heat ex-changers, manifolds, circulating pumps, starters and alternators, life time. Everything about them is over sized and rugged. They are very smooth, nothing shakes at idle. They also aren't that noisy up to 1800 rpm. Injection pumps and injectors rugged reliable and cheap. Mine engines are 38 years old running pretty much all original parts. Leak oil yes mine do but many don't. I've got one engine starting to start hard from cold, probably due for a valve job or new head and one that you can't hear the starter it starts so fast. 38 years is a long time running the original manifolds , heat exchangers, circulating pumps, fuel pumps , starters and alternators. I had 353's in lifts and back hoes, a 6v53 in a Dumptruck , not one time have they let me down. Don't mistake a 2ycl DD with a 2cycle gas engine. These engines run 4 exhaust valves per cyclinder, Intake ports are pressurized by a blower at about 5psi, oil is not intentionally mixed with the fuel or air. The 453's run a ballance shaft, the 3's,v6's and v8's don't need to. Fuel consumption is no different than any other diesel designed and first used in 1957. About the same age as a Chevy small block and I believe still in production by MTU.
Scary is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2014, 04:44 PM   #20
Member
 
City: oceanport NJ
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mule View Post
Take a picture of an old Harley and a series Detroit (4/53, 6/71, 8/92 and so on) hang pictures on the wall. Come back 4 hours later an each will have an oil stain running down the wall.
That's good.
When I was younger the screaming Detroit didn't bother me so much, but a little older I like to be able to talk to the person next to me when running the boat. IMHO. Perkins +1
party of 5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Trawler Port Captains
Port Captains are TF volunteers who can serve as local guides or assist with local arrangements and information. Search below to locate Port Captains near your destination. To learn more about this program read here: TF Port Captain Program





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:22 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2006 - 2012