Oxe diesel outboards

brian eiland said:

It was fairly expensive. There were 2 different sizes for two HP ranges. They only built them for a very short time, then stopped,...I don't know all the reasons why. (maybe legal concerns, see below).

I did hear of one installation on a big custom cat (French I believe) where the outdrive leg was hooked up directly to the engine without any intermediate shock absorption driveshafting, and of course it vibrated itself to dead. Then the builder/owner sought warranty on the item, when in reality it was an installation error.

As you said I think the concept has a lot of pluses over a Z-drive.

I've even drawn up a little idea for a duo-prop version...
Tennant Hull V ChainDrive

Thought about having the metal housings made up over in Thailand at one company I know of, then putting America bearings, seals, and drive chain(s) in them.

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This UK company makes tip-up out of the water out z-drives for cats, but very limited in hp, which at least gets rid of water in the oil problem .

sonic_type_2_catamaran_drive

Don't know about you, but I like the buttery smooth way it sounds;

diesel outboard engines

The military (not talking here about US military) have the most significant interest in this for the reason diesel outboard engines can burn kerosene - like all diesel engines - in particular Jet-A aviation turbine kerosene. By standardizing as far as practical fossil fuels, this greatly simplifies transportation, storage, all the associated costs and issues, in difficult field operation.

Having a lighter viscosity than diesel, kerosene has less oils in then has little lubricity, it doesn't lube the system as good as diesel which is not a problem. They fix it by adding a few automatic transmission oil.

KNW Diesel in Surrey, BC, Canada is now an OXE Diesel outboard dealer; https://www.knwdiesel.com/

Joystick controlled OXE's...pretty slick & quiet:

Mercury Marine builds 175HP spark OB engines that will eat diesel or JP.

Still only sold to the US military , but I understand they have passed Air Police tests , and may be the next step in outboards.

These are built from 200Hp gasoline car engines , the fuel injection followed by spark (not compression) ignition reduces the loading on the block to normal gasoline values.

MurrayM said:

KNW Diesel in Surrey, BC, Canada is now an OXE Diesel outboard dealer; https://www.knwdiesel.com/

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I've followed OXE for a number of years. They've made a lot of refinements and actually the drive may be as unique as the engine itself. The controls are also very nice. The 200 hp OXE is a 2 liter GM diesel (used in Vauxhall, don't know who else uses). It weighs only about 10% more than a comparable gas engine now so a lot of progress there.

The pros and cons based on the information I have and no real life experience with one:

Pros
-Less frequent servicing at 2000 hours vs 200 for gas outboard.
-More designed for running at high throttle.
-40% more fuel efficient.
-Comply with NATO single fuel strategy

Cons
-Lack of familiarity and proven record, including buyers and mechanics. Yes, basic diesel engine, but nothing basic about the overall outboard.
-Limited models and limited applications.
-Price new is approximately double that of a similar gas outboard. $15-20k more.

For the vast majority of outboard buyers, it addresses problems and issues they don't have. For military applications it makes sense. For perhaps workboats. Even perhaps for an outboard trawler. Just doesn't make sense to throw on the back of a 21' Ranger Bass Boat or a runabout or even a pontoon and that's where the vast majority of outboard sales are.

OXE is by no means new. The company was founded in 2012 and launched the engine in 2016. One thing I do find impressive is that they didn't sell before they had it ready like many new concepts try to. They have used it and proven it in real applications on real boats being used by real people. They've worked through most of the issues although I would still expect some bugs on a new product.