BetaMarine or Yanmar. Which would you choose?

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Pendragon35

I'm not the brightest bulb in the light or an LED...what does "common rail" mean? I have a Yanmar 3gm30F

It's just electronic fuel injection rather than a high pressure pump, so less mechanical parts to wear and fail, better responsiveness and fuel economy.

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by stormalong

Don't know about current emissions regs but in 2003 my Beta came with a letter certifying that the engine met California emission standards. Funny thing was that I took delivery of the engine in England.

Do Kubota tractors meet current regs?

I wonder if farm equipment and boats have the same regs? Two stroke outboards are still made and sold in some parts of the world. I've been told you can get new Yanmars for old boats that aren't usually imported to the US because they dont meet current emission standards. California is essentially it's own country when it come to things like that.

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

It's just electronic fuel injection rather than a high pressure pump, so less mechanical parts to wear and fail, better responsiveness and fuel economy.

There is still a high pressure pump. Actually much higher pressure, up to 20,000 psi. Electronic injection allows timing changes based on load and rpm, and maybe other variables.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

I wonder if farm equipment and boats have the same regs? Four stroke outboards are still made and sold in some parts of the world. I've been told you can get new Yanmars for old boats that aren't usually imported to the US because they dont meet current emission standards. California is essentially it's own country when it come to things like that.

I think you mean two stroke.

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by stormalong

I think you mean two stroke.

Yes, thanks. Fixed it.

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

California is essentially it's own country when it come to things like that.

Europe has its Lake Constance standards as well, and serve in the same way to lead in emissions reduction.

Greg

[malbert73]

I think in 30 HP range you will be very happy with Yanmar or Beta. Both are excellent engines. Pick the one that fits best.
I chose Beta for my repower 2 years ago because I didn’t want the common rail complexity (and unknowns) of Yanmar in the 45-50 hp range. I’ve never heard anyone complain about Beta and I’m in that very happy camp.

[Midnight Son]

In US and Canada, under 75 hp land side emissions can be met without common rail injection, unless it's a really dirty engine (couple generations back). The reason some have it, as far as I can figure, the engineers getting into show off mode, also a bit more efficient, but per horsepower (~20-30 gm/kw), the difference is small, at 600 hp on an ocean crossing, it adds up.
My two cents

[oldcal46skipper]

Beta in a heartbeat. We stopped working on Yanmars a few years back when parts to rebuild a one cylinder Yanmar exceeded the costs of parts to rebuild a Perkins 4.108.


Many Beta parts are available at your local Kubota tractor shop at a fair price.


Having said that, I have a old one cylinder 13.5HP turning my 5KW genset since 1987 with 6,600 hours on it. It is the horizontal cylinder, slow turning engine, not like the new screamers.


Some commercial fishermen tried Yanmars a few years back. Most reported getting 1,500 hours between rebuilding $$$ The Perkins I rebuild are good for 10,000 hours if treated properly.

[CarinaPDX]

The history is a bit amusing (or not). Back in the 1980's and 1990's the heavy old Volvos were coming up for rebuilds, and for less than the cost of that rebuild a new Yanmar, both lighter and more powerful, could be installed instead. Some friends of mine did that swap, commenting that the Yanmar was so cheap that they considered it disposable (although the parts costs were also attractive). At that time Volvo had (and still has) a deserved reputation for painfully high parts costs. As it turns out the Yanmars were quite reliable and no one talks about them as disposable anymore. But they followed Volvo's lead and pumped up their parts pricing as well. I would like to know if their plan from the beginning was to buy their way into the market with low prices, then after establishing their reputation start to ratchet them up.

Another bit of history is that the current line of Volvo-Penta motors was initially a creation of the Perkins-Sabre joint venture. Perkins was marketing the Shibauru line of diesels which the joint venture marinized and sold to the marine market at attractive prices, but had little market share. Volvo was in a corner as their old product line had to be replaced in order to meet emissions standards, and of course it was too expensive to design an entire range of engines just for the marine market. So they bought the product line from Perkins-Sabre and labelled it Volvo (and raised the prices accordingly). I met some owners of the original Perkins-Sabre branded engines while in England and they were "not best pleased" that they had to buy parts form Volvo, at Volvo prices, after the deal went through.

Greg

[kmacdonald]

I bought a temperature switch at the Kubota dealer for $60. It was the only place I could find one with BSPT. NPT temperature switches are about $10. Just Saying.

[CarinaPDX]

We should all just go metric and be done with this idiocy.

[Compass790]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

I bought a temperature switch at the Kubota dealer for $60. It was the only place I could find one with BSPT. NPT temperature switches are about $10. Just Saying.

I have an NPT male ss tee in our Yanmars oil pressure sender hole ( BSP ) It's a little loose but seals fine with a bit of Loctite. 300 hrs & no leaks so far
Of course you may not like doing that.

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by Compass790

I have an NPT male ss tee in our Yanmars oil pressure sender hole ( BSP ) It's a little loose but seals fine with a bit of Loctite. 300 hrs & no leaks so far
Of course you may not like doing that.

Did you check the continuity of the grounding of your temp switch? Probably OK, but with the Loctite compensating for a loose fit, the ground may be possibly defeated. Still, I would try exactly the same thing.

[Compass790]

Originally Posted by Minggat

Did you check the continuity of the grounding of your temp switch? Probably OK, but with the Loctite compensating for a loose fit, the ground may be possibly defeated. Still, I would try exactly the same thing.

Its an oil pressure switch so it gets checked every time I turn the key to the start position. But I never considered it stopping grounding. Haven't had trouble with that using either Loctite or thread tape so far but can see your point as his temp light would only come on when it overheats.
I have thread tape on the temp sensor & it worked last time we were motorsailing with too much heel so the raw water intake came out