New to me 50, Steel full displacement, engine questions

Why would you consider cutting out the original tanks and SS is hardly an ideal material for fuel tanks. As long as the originals have cleanout/inspection ports, I would stay with them.

Pics

No just for the water tanks. She has 8 fuel tankes, all with great inspection ports.

Hey Obie, she's fantastic in every way except one... those anchors! Perhaps you should ask the people here their advise on that, they are always so friendly and helpful when it comes to anchor-talk

Greetings,
Mr. O. IF I may suggest a method of getting to know your new girl...STOP. Make NO plans for at least 6 months. What seems like a good idea now may not be so in the future. Make no changes unless absolutely necessary. I really know what you're going through and the excitement you are experiencing. Been there, done that, three times already. I'm not trying to pee on your pancakes at all but like getting to know ANY woman/mistress, it takes time to establish and develop a good relationship.
When you get back on her, find a comfortable place, a comfortable seat, put on some good music (keep it low key...You know you always drive faster when a fast tune is on the radio? Don't want that. Not right now) and chill. For the moment, just forget about changing her. Enjoy her vibes and relax...

makobuilders said:

Hey Obie, she's fantastic in every way except one... those anchors! Perhaps you should ask the people here their advise on that, they are always so friendly and helpful when it comes to anchor-talk

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You are such a ship-disturber.

Good advice, except she is part way into a bit of a refit. Like you I have done this a few times, more than I would cair to admit. For me it is looking at what is there and simplify, simplify, simplify. This girl has 4 electrical systems. 120 shore power, 220 from transformer, 32 volt, engine refrigeration, autopilot, inverter, and more. 12 volt depth, some lighting. She has more valves and through hulls, than any boat should. Two water systems, two hot water heaters. 1 220 volt one propane. Time to simplify.
Obie

Obie,
that's a beautiful salty boat, congratulations on your purchase! You probably know hull speed for that waterline should be right at 9 kts. A repower should likely be a choice of minimum horsepower needed to comfortably move your tonnage along at hull speed.
If you're going to use her a lot, i can understand why you might want to improve your GPH. good luck!

djmarchand said:

It will not have a water cooled exhaust manifold however. That is a big negative for me, but lots of others say they are fine. David

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All sorts of already marinized options for coolant cooled exhaust manifolds while using a dry stack setup. Certainly not from an over the road truck though, just have to find a marinization setup kit, which isn't always easy..

I am in the middle of refurbishing my water tanks, I cut a hole in the deck and installed a hatch and I'm busy scrubbing, scrubbing and intend some sterilizing chemical and some more scrubbing. Your water tanks may be recoverable and are probably part of the hull anyway...

Gorgeous boat. If you have to repower will you do it through the side of the hull?

Not sure what the concerns are over a dry exhaust? You just wrap it with a blanket or use a custom-made jacket. Easy and no worries. My exhaust is cool to the touch, most of the engine heat is from the block itself. Keep the saltwater out and there is no limit to how long the engine will run dry stacked.

My exhaust was a long blanket that you wrap with aluminum tape, cost me about 200 for the kit. You will need more tape than they give you if the exhaust is convoluted, buy a spare roll of tape, it doesn't go bad and is useful for repairs. You can double-wrap the turbo and it will be cool enough to sleep on.

Obie said:

Pics

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THAT is a real boat!. Wouldn't mind one like that.

Ken

FG wrap tape, Chill seal painted on makes it cool to the touch. Blanket on top if you want. Standard setup for thousands of boats worldwide. If you want to KISS your systems , this is a big one.

Obie said:

Just a few pics, I think she is around 50 ton.

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Obie,
225hp would be 4.5hp per ton. Should be perfect.

No there is a huge access hatch over the engine room. Even a large crane that drops straight in. That is so easy.

Nice boat!!

She's gorgeous, Obie! Will you marry me? Oh, wait....

Nice boat Obie .

xsbank
LOL
I just saw that you have a 52 foot aluminum boat, nice. I have a 37 foot aluminum sailboat also. I like metal boats. I will probably put a full blown isolation transformer in my new one. First thing I did with my aluminum one.
Obie

Aaaahhh! Keel-protected propeller and shaft!

6-71 could be restored/rebuilt or replaced and probably be the lowest $ option. Parts will remain available for longer than any one of us are alive.

But.... As much as I like a Jimmy, I tire of the noise. If I was to pick an engine for that boat it would be a Cummins 855 either NA or very mild turbo. Those are amazingly quiet and in the same class as the Jimmy with regard to parts availability. Going dry stack/keel cooled/turbo no aftercooler, or jacket water aftercooler, that engine will last incredibly long. Set it up for 200-250hp at 1800-2000rpm.

Another option would be the Cat 3406, like the 855 they are nearly the same size, same performance, and same parts availability.

I like the "stack talk" of the 855 over any of the smaller engines like the 5.9, 8.3 Cummins or the similar sized Deere. The 855 can do the job at 1200-1400rpm and at that rpm it just...purrs..

You've got a real classic hull there, take your time and pick power carefully. I love me some 671's but I do tire of needing ear plugs.

Yes, I have an isolation transformer too. I prefer aluminum because there is no paint. The only thing shiny on my boat is my new Bruce SS anchor. As some kind soul said, "at least with it that shiny it will be easy for the diver to find." I press on, rewardless.

Shippy. I like!

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. O. IF I may suggest a method of getting to know your new girl...STOP. Make NO plans for at least 6 months. What seems like a good idea now may not be so in the future. Make no changes unless absolutely necessary. I really know what you're going through and the excitement you are experiencing. Been there, done that, three times already. I'm not trying to pee on your pancakes at all but like getting to know ANY woman/mistress, it takes time to establish and develop a good relationship.
When you get back on her, find a comfortable place, a comfortable seat, put on some good music (keep it low key...You know you always drive faster when a fast tune is on the radio? Don't want that. Not right now) and chill. For the moment, just forget about changing her. Enjoy her vibes and relax...

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Obie, I think what RTF is trying to say here, in his usual interesting and roundabout way, is to remind you of rule number one in boating circles..."if it ain't broke, don't fix it..! Because you will, as always, find plenty of stuff that does need fixing, and it all COSTS...HEAPS..!

"50 tons"

Is that displacement or USCG document measurement volume?

I think it is us CC document tones, what would you guess the displacement to be?
Obie

And thanks to everyone on this forum, what great traffic, and responses.

Obie said:

I think it is us CC document tones, what would you guess the displacement to be?
Obie

And thanks to everyone on this forum, what great traffic, and responses.

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Where are you getting the number? If it's on yachtworld, it's likely the weight, not the documented tonnage. If it's in a boat brochure it's also generally the weight and they distinguish documented tonnage by GT or GRT or GT ITC, which then gets into a discussion we don't want to pursue of GT vs. GRT.

So, unless you're looking at the documentation, you're likely speaking of weight.

BandB said:

Where are you getting the number? If it's on yachtworld, it's likely the weight, not the documented tonnage. If it's in a boat brochure it's also generally the weight and they distinguish documented tonnage by GT or GRT or GT ITC, which then gets into a discussion we don't want to pursue of GT vs. GRT.

So, unless you're looking at the documentation, you're likely speaking of weight.

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A quick search of the CG database shows that the boat is listed as 35 GRT (24 NRT) on the documentation. So it's likely that the 50 tons is weight. That sounds about right. BTW - the documentation lists the length as 45.6 feet.

Richard

The WEIGHT is useful for deciding how to power a vessel, the USCG volume useless.

The builder might have the numbers.

The other way to look at engine HP is to consider the origional engine to be proper.

At 20HP per cylinder 120HP , probably at 1500 rpm might be close.

30 HP per cylinder would give 180HP , probably at 1800.

Thats why the fuel log or day log could be a big assist if the engine is not simply rebuilt.

Peter,
I agree w RTF in principal as I've been there. I had plans to do quite a few changes to my Willard that were never missed and not done.

But I disagree w "if it ai'nt broke". That would exclude much preventative maintance that IMO is very important. So in my opinion no one philosophy rules. One has the responsibility to pick and choose.