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Old 04-28-2019, 08:28 PM   #7
Nomad Willy
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City: Concrete Washington State
Vessel Name: Willy
Vessel Model: Willard Nomad 30'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 18,743
I like the idea of repowering but it dosn’t usually result in a cost effective move.

There’s lots of ducks that could line up though.
The new engine can be a piece of cake for some and a nightmare for others. Exhaust can be easy, basically the same as the old engine or on the wrong side and no end of problems related.
On our repower I moved the engine mounts for better balance. I put the aft mounts back on the BW gear instead on on the bell housing. Worked out well.

A significant downside is the possible reduction in value at selling time. I wouldn’t worry about that because I believe there are buyers that would welcome smaller engines. Also taking old heavy engines (like FL’s) out and replacing w small lightweight engines much to huge weight reductions can be had. The engines would be more efficient just because they are new but the large reduction in overall boat weight will probably lower fuel burn more than anything else.

There could be unforeseen problems. An unlikely example is ....The boat could have had excessive engine vibration during R&D and been modified to cope w the vibration. But big old engines usually run at lower speeds and newer engines would most likely be running at higher engine speeds. A problem here would be hard to predict if the boat would like the higher rpm. This is perhaps a bad example as it’s not very likely to come to pass. But an example of an unforeseen potential problem.

As I said I like repowering as it gives the boat owner the option to make her what he/she really wants from a boat. And w so many trawlers out there that are overpowered w old heavy engines they are a natural for smaller engines and a repower.
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North Western Washington State USA
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