Defever 41

looking at a Defever 41 1988 Twin Volvo TAMD 40D. Any thoughts yea or nea. How about the Volvo's? Teak decks through out. They look to be on top of fiberglass??? 9 knot cruise advertised. Does that sound accurate.
Thanks in advance
Jim

The Volvo engines would give me pause. Never had any, but have never heard much good from those who have.

Are the decks solid under that teak?

Defever 41 owners

What can you tell me about the 41 pros and cons. Im trying to decide between a Defever 41 or a Californian 42.

All things considered equal, I'd vote DF. But on 30 year old vessels they are never equal. The list of areas for checking things out is very long, well beyond engines. BTW, what engines in the CA?

Do you have a buyer broker helping you? I am shopping actively for a trawler (or SD hull what some call "fast trawler") and my broker told me that there is one local shop who maintains Volvos and they are very expensive and parts can take a long time to get. Thus, because I will be living aboard, I have ruled out any boat that is powered by Volvos. I have also ruled out anything powered by Cummins VT903's, as Cummins no longer supports those engines (what I heard elsewhere).

So basically the powerplants are one of my "top 3" criteria for boat shopping. My other two are layout, and quality/consistency of maintenance (are there records, etc.)

If that Californian has cat 3208's, that would be a big plus in its favor, for me, versus the Volvos.

As far as Defevers go, I have heard nothing bad about them, as long as they have been well maintained. Some depends on your intended usage. Where will you be using the boat? If you will be in protected waters almost always, that may equalize the two choices a bit more. Also, where the Defever was built (by which yard?) may be something helpful to tell us (MMC, Bluewater?). I am unaware of which yard did a better job, but others here might know.

You will have to assess how well the layouts of each boat meet your needs. Overall, it would be helpful for you to provide more info, or links to the listings of each boat,

Hi,
Have you purchased a boat yet? I have a 1987 Defever 41 with twin 120 hp Volvos. Don't let all the hype about Volvos put you off. If they have been well maintained they are very good engines, yes they can be expensive to repair but most engines are. I found mine to be reliable, efficient and quiet. They do smoke like crazy on start-up, which scared me at first until I learned about them. I just want to say that the defever is a strong good handling and reliable boat. It all depends on the care it had.

Gordon B said:

Hi,
Have you purchased a boat yet? I have a 1987 Defever 41 with twin 120 hp Volvos. Don't let all the hype about Volvos put you off. If they have been well maintained they are very good engines, yes they can be expensive to repair but most engines are. I found mine to be reliable, efficient and quiet. They do smoke like crazy on start-up, which scared me at first until I learned about them. I just want to say that the defever is a strong good handling and reliable boat. It all depends on the care it had.

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Good to see your positive notes on Volvo's. Much of the negative heard are from those who have never owned any, just heard. In Europe, their reputation is more positive than in the US with many highly respected builders using them widely. It seems that much like brands of autos, there are always some with strong ideas. Some are based on one bad experience, some on hearsay.

I will make this one comment on brands of engines. With some, such as Volvo, in some parts of the country or world, you may find fewer mechanics knowledgeable and/or fewer yards with parts. If you choose mechanics who aren't trained on them or experienced, you will hear negative.

Gordon B said:

Hi,
Have you purchased a boat yet? I have a 1987 Defever 41 with twin 120 hp Volvos. Don't let all the hype about Volvos put you off. If they have been well maintained they are very good engines, yes they can be expensive to repair but most engines are. I found mine to be reliable, efficient and quiet. They do smoke like crazy on start-up, which scared me at first until I learned about them. I just want to say that the defever is a strong good handling and reliable boat. It all depends on the care it had.

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We couldt' come to mutually agreeable terms so no sale/purchase. But, thanks for your advice & comments !

We love our Defever 41, it has twin Cummins 5.9's with only a bit more than a 1000 original hours. Exterior teak is a son of a gun to redo, just so dang much of it and for that reason we have not addressed it ....yet. The inside is really beautiful with all the teak, plus it does not need a thing.
If you would like to talk about it or have questions let me know.
Rob

roguewave said:

We love our Defever 41, it has twin Cummins 5.9's with only a bit more than a 1000 original hours. Exterior teak is a son of a gun to redo, just so dang much of it and for that reason we have not addressed it ....yet. The inside is really beautiful with all the teak, plus it does not need a thing.
If you would like to talk about it or have questions let me know.
Rob

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Thanks a bunch. The exterior teak sure looks like it is a lot to keep up with. What do you thing about the engine hours on the one we were looking at?

I'm sorry, I have no knowledge about Volvos. My engine of choice is Cummins.
All the best in your search!

Manleytl3 said:

Thanks a bunch. The exterior teak sure looks like it is a lot to keep up with. What do you thing about the engine hours on the one we were looking at?

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Just purchased and returned to Orange Beach, AL a 1988 Defever 41T from Miami, 607 nm, she is powered by twin Volvo TAMD 41A, 2,800 hours, and they performed great! Keep Racors clean, and let her work, averaged 7.4 knots, bridges, locks and no wake zones kept us from the 8-9 knot cruising speed. Parts are a bit expensive, purchase them before you need them, so you have options! The boat is slow, efficient, and relaxing, why else would you want a trawler!

JimW said:

Just purchased and returned to Orange Beach, AL a 1988 Defever 41T from Miami, 607 nm, she is powered by twin Volvo TAMD 41A, 2,800 hours, and they performed great! Keep Racors clean, and let her work, averaged 7.4 knots, bridges, locks and no wake zones kept us from the 8-9 knot cruising speed. Parts are a bit expensive, purchase them before you need them, so you have options! The boat is slow, efficient, and relaxing, why else would you want a trawler!

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Wifey B: Is this the boat the OP was looking at last fall or just it's twin?

Congrats, you have a fine vessel, we love ours and I'm sure you will find that she is worthy of your love.
Gordo

Jim, congratulations on your new Defever 41 !!

Fuel Burn

New to the forum and new to trawlers as well. I'm interested in this boat here
1987 DeFever 41T Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

My question concerns fuel burn in GPH. We will be liveaboards and cruising the east coast and Bahamas's. Not familiar with the Volvos at all. Any info regarding the boat or engines would be a great help.

Basically, we're looking for a trawler, sundeck trawler or small sundeck motoryacht that's efficient on fuel. Speed not really a concern as I'd be happy at 6-8 knots....

Sidclark, I looked at this boat, purchased the same boat, but with Volvo TAMD 41A 200 hp. Engines are obviously old but have performed very well. Put 98 hours on them (about a years worth of hours, engines had about 2,900 hours on them) bringing the boat from Miami to Pensacola over 8 days. Burn rate of under 3 gallons/hour at 8 knots (w/genie). You can read (and hear) various opinions on the 41A’s, they will until warmed up, blow through the exhaust some unspent fuel (smoke), but this is reduced greatly underway. Parts maybe hard to find, but I have purchased spare parts for the obvious (raw water pump, alternator, starter with no problem). My mechanic had one of the fuel pumps rebuilt for $750, and wasn’t a bit concerned about age of the engines and finding parts. While there are a lot of Volvo’s world wide and domestically, there are also many domestic engines that perform well. These are 30 year old, early generation engines, many advances have been made on Volvo’s and others. Keep the fluids changed, racers clean, and enjoy the ride. The cabin layout is nice, functional and meets our needs. You will need to get a good survey for both hull and engines. If they come back OK (engines especially), spend $30,000 and bring the interior back to full luster and at that price you will have a fine trawler. If Art is still the broker tell him Hi! Good luck and welcome aboard!

Good info..Thanks!

I have 40ft DeFever you will be very happy with the way she rides great bones can’t go wrong with this pedigree

Question-We refer to the pedigree of Defever. While one designer, many different builders so do we assume the same pedigree throughout?

Trivia: Defever is credited by many as the founder of the recreational trawler. Who developed the first powered trawler at a time when they were all sail?

Trivia two: What happened to Rudolph Diesel?

BandB said:

Question-We refer to the pedigree of Defever. While one designer, many different builders so do we assume the same pedigree throughout?

Trivia: Defever is credited by many as the founder of the recreational trawler. Who developed the first powered trawler at a time when they were all sail?

Trivia two: What happened to Rudolph Diesel?

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1. Only by Defever owners. The first powered trawlers were steam conversions in the 1800’s.

2. Nobody knows.

dhmeissner said:

1. Only by Defever owners. The first powered trawlers were steam conversions in the 1800’s.

2. Nobody knows.

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First powered trawlers offered by a builder were by Benjamin Beneteau. His powered trawlers would outfish the sail trawlers, getting out faster and back in faster. The competition used smear tactics to try to destroy the effort saying all sorts of things like it was scaring all the fish away.

As to Rudolf Diesel, come on conspiracy theorists. He saw the need for a more efficient engine than steam. His dream was that farmers could produce their own fuel and he started with engines fueled by peanut oil. He supposedly "disappeared" from a passenger liner. And who would conspiracy theorists credit with his death? Of course, the petroleum barons.

BandB said:

Question-We refer to the pedigree of Defever. While one designer, many different builders so do we assume the same pedigree throughout?



Trivia: Defever is credited by many as the founder of the recreational trawler. Who developed the first powered trawler at a time when they were all sail?



Trivia two: What happened to Rudolph Diesel?

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Author DeFever

from www.passagemaker.com
May 18, 2013 · Arthur DeFever, a founding father of the trawler lifestyle, died April 10 and was buried at sea. He was 94. It has been estimated that more than 3,800 boats were built to his designs.

dhmeissner said:

1. Only by Defever owners. The first powered trawlers were steam conversions in the 1800’s.



2. Nobody knows.

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He died at sea in the English Channel on my birthday September 29th so coincidentally we celebrate the same birthday

JimW said:

Just purchased and returned to Orange Beach, AL a 1988 Defever 41T from Miami, 607 nm, she is powered by twin Volvo TAMD 41A, 2,800 hours, and they performed great! Keep Racors clean, and let her work, averaged 7.4 knots, bridges, locks and no wake zones kept us from the 8-9 knot cruising speed. Parts are a bit expensive, purchase them before you need them, so you have options! The boat is slow, efficient, and relaxing, why else would you want a trawler!

Click to expand...

I live in Slidell la my wife and I will be leaving in March heading to Miami then on to the Bahamas on our 1979 40ft DeFever we have the DownEast model any thing you would be willing to share about the trip would be greatly appreciated ours has 130hp twin Perkins this is going to be our first trip since we purchased

Sidclark said:

New to the forum and new to trawlers as well. I'm interested in this boat here
1987 DeFever 41T Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

My question concerns fuel burn in GPH. We will be liveaboards and cruising the east coast and Bahamas's. Not familiar with the Volvos at all. Any info regarding the boat or engines would be a great help.

Basically, we're looking for a trawler, sundeck trawler or small sundeck motoryacht that's efficient on fuel. Speed not really a concern as I'd be happy at 6-8 knots....

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Sid:

Late to this thread.

I re-powered to a pair of TAMD41s in 2000. Mine were 1990 build, so probably TAMD41B. All I can find say the As were all rated 200 hp, so your listing rating at 140 is likely not accurate. Doesn't matter if you are planning a 6 to 8 knot boat. Mine at 8 knots 44,000 lb, gets 2 mpg, so in that significantly lighter boat you should get much better mileage.

Harlyguynola said:

I live in Slidell la my wife and I will be leaving in March heading to Miami then on to the Bahamas on our 1979 40ft DeFever we have the DownEast model any thing you would be willing to share about the trip would be greatly appreciated ours has 130hp twin Perkins this is going to be our first trip since we purchased

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You will enjoy the trip! Take the ICW to Apalachicola, use multiple sources of weather forecast/models to pick your window to cross the Gulf to Tampa (160+/- nm). One of several weather sources we found helpful is stormsurf.com. Consider purchasing (if not already equipped) a life raft for your trip . . . Safety always first.

Back in the ICW, we crossed through the lake . . . free marina (city marina) in LaBelle, FL. Going through the locks are an interesting experience, if you haven’t been before you can watch a YouTube on it I am sure, the lockmasters are also helpful. You might want to get one of the tracking devices (SPOT, or others) to let your friends and relatives follow your journey along with you!

Plan your journey, watch your weather closely throughout, especially when making crossings (Gulf & Gulf stream), don’t get in a hurry, be kind to your mate, enjoy God’s creation!

We hope to make that same trip one day. We will be asking you for pointers!

Standing by -

JimW said:

You will enjoy the trip! Take the ICW to Apalachicola, use multiple sources of weather forecast/models to pick your window to cross the Gulf to Tampa (160+/- nm). One of several weather sources we found helpful is stormsurf.com. Consider purchasing (if not already equipped) a life raft for your trip . . . Safety always first.

Back in the ICW, we crossed through the lake . . . free marina (city marina) in LaBelle, FL. Going through the locks are an interesting experience, if you haven’t been before you can watch a YouTube on it I am sure, the lockmasters are also helpful. You might want to get one of the tracking devices (SPOT, or others) to let your friends and relatives follow your journey along with you!

Plan your journey, watch your weather closely throughout, especially when making crossings (Gulf & Gulf stream), don’t get in a hurry, be kind to your mate, enjoy God’s creation!

We hope to make that same trip one day. We will be asking you for pointers!

Standing by -

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Thanks love the advise especially be nice to the mate part but thanks hopefully we will be casting off the 1st of March keeping fingers crossed

Sidclark said:

New to the forum and new to trawlers as well. I'm interested in this boat here

1987 DeFever 41T Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com



My question concerns fuel burn in GPH. We will be liveaboards and cruising the east coast and Bahamas's. Not familiar with the Volvos at all. Any info regarding the boat or engines would be a great help.



Basically, we're looking for a trawler, sundeck trawler or small sundeck motoryacht that's efficient on fuel. Speed not really a concern as I'd be happy at 6-8 knots....

Click to expand...

This Defever looks allot like mine and it seems to be priced very reasonably you won’t find a better bones boat than a DeFever I love mine so I guess I am a lil prejudice form the pics looks like you found a gem there