BetaMarine or Yanmar. Which would you choose?

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by stormalong

Never failed to start but I do preheat. Starts in less than a second.

I have an old Westerbeke but love the great starts in any weather with the glow plugs. I don't even need to advance the throttle past idle which was not the case with the Yanmar

[C Paton-Gay]

Hands down Beta.

[GBR134]

Originally Posted by driftwooddave

Hi,
Was in a similiar position a couple of years ago and fitted a craftsman marine engine which is a marinised Mitsubishi industrial engine, similiar to a Sole or Vetus.
I have never regretted my choice which was swung by proven core reliability, costs including spares plus 6 year warranty.
As a retired engineer I was allowed to carry out installation myself whilst maintaining warranty rights.
Worth a look.

Interesting - I have the Vetus which is a 3 cylinder Mitsubishi. Our original failed when it got doused in sea water. All was recoverable bar the oil pump that I now understand is very vulnerable to salt water corrosion. At shot notice replacing the pump and aluminium cover was well over half the price of the ‘short’ engine from Mitsubishi tractor engine importer (UK £2000 shipped). I’m not impressed with the vetus bits or prices but the Mitsubishi parts are almost free by comparison and the engine is a dream. Heat exchanger not so much!

[rcolesny]

BETA
I am not a good mechanic. Bit after the yard dropped it in my cabin, I did everything else myself, from a VP MD11C.
About 100 hours counting the complete cleanup, bed modification and insulation.
The problem I experienced was stupid. I needed a longer harness that required a new relay. It did not work for hours.... .... Until I realized the plug was not firmly in.
Also, adding a new awater heater forced me to add a remote cooler tank and overflow.
Beside that, great and proud satisfaction. I hope to launch for June 10, when Seawanhaka shipyard reopens totally.i can post pictures when I know how to find URL for pix which are locally stored on my phone.
By the way, the staff in NC, Lisa, Stanley and Farron are great help.Also, Joe at SoundIslandMarine in CT is also of great help.

[Wolfhound]

Why not go with a Beta 35, and get more torque at lower RPMs?

[Coltrek]

Beta.
I replaced a perkins with a Nanni, 37.5 HP and I liked it just fine. My buddy liked the air intake on the Nanni, and at the time I could buy it more direct, so cheaper than the Beta. But the Beta has some nicer marinized parts, like the serpentine belts on the Balmar, among other things. Plus, you can get Kubota parts cheap anywhere in the world.

[Stu Jackson]

Consider the differences of the exhaust risers between the two. The Yanmar is a built-in elbow, where the water injection occurs into the exhaust and is mounted directly on the engine, and has been reported, repeatedly, to be a point of failure, if not replaced, and it is a costly item. The Beta, like most Kubotas, uses an external pipe attached to the exhaust manifold, with a nipple on the pipe attached closer to the muffler for the water injection. Sure, they fail, too, but you can make your own out of pipe or buy pre-assembled ones to fit your engine's manifold flange.

A friend of mine with a Yanmar bought a new elbow recently, and replaced his old one and keeps it as a spare. He's had his boat for 7 or 8 years, brand new when purchased. Probably 1400-1500 hours. He ttries to stay ahead of the game.

I'm on my 22nd year with a 34 year old boat and its fourth riser, my third, 3650 engine hours.

[Gypsyjon]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I’d choose a beta these days too.

Would you prefer a more complicated, “hard to source parts for” engine or a simple tractor engine where parts abound? That’s your real decision.

EXCELLENT point!! Yanmar parts are crazy expensive. Simple is better, go with the Beta.

[MicHughV]

I think both Yanmar and Beta make excellent diesel engines. It really is six of one and half dozen of the other.

Do you like blondes or brunette's ? It's a personal preference.

Both engines, if properly maintained, will run forever.

It's the little things that make the difference. Ease of getting to various parts of the engine for maintenance, etc, but one man's easy can be another man's difficult.

No sailor I know, leaves port on a long voyage, without an armload of spares, so don't use spares as a deciding factor.

At the end of the day, you can't go wrong with either one, so pick a color you like :-)

[FerrariSailing]

Beta
The base engine is Kubota, a great diesel motor. When I repowered my Nanni/Kubota I bought brand new replacement from Kubota Aus for $4700 AUD with 12 month warranty. Came complete with starter and alternator all I had to do was strip off the heat exchanger and flywheel from the Nanni and fit to the new Kubota. A friend was so disappointed with his one year old Yanmars that he took em out of his cat and went to Kubota based units!

[Capt Doug]

I would suggest going with the beta or anything other than yanmar trying to get hearts or help from yanmar is like trying to deal with the government and you know how the government's been going here lately

[thomhofmans]

We have the yanmar totally recommend it

[Reefmagnet]

Thanks everyone for the useful tips. After the many helpful comments on here, and doing lots and lot's of comparisons of the engines discussed and despite really, really liking the Beta very much overall as a package I ended up splashing the cash on another Sole Mini 33. Those in the US have probably never heard of them, as I don't think they sell into the country but it is a Spanish assembled marine engine that uses primarily Mitsubishi engines as the base.

Would I have preferred the Beta? Definitely! I didn't plan on reinstalling another Sole (they kind of combine the worst of Yanmar with obfuscated pricey-ish spares and Betamarine with a single national distributor in my country), helpful advice within this thread provided solutions that negated some of my gripes. Throw in the fact that I now have a more or less complete parts engine as well, this eventually steered me towards the decision to repower with same.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Thanks guys, I was favouring the Yanmar but I need to re-jig the beds to get it to fit whereas it's like the Beta was designed to fit the hole. And then I just discovered tonight that the oil has to be sucked out of the Yanmar dipstick to change it. Even my lawn mower has advanced past that stage. Also a bit annoying the dealer refuses to sell it without demanding to commission it (for an appropriate fee, of course).

The Beta concerns me a little bit in that is is a higher revving and less powerful engine overall so I need to cross my fingers that it will drive the existing prop ok. I do like the Kubota engine though and I did install a Beta into our last boat that ran like a top. Wolfgal, I hear you but the bearing and shaft were fine prior to splashing and I'll most likely do the install dockside so pulling the shaft isn't an option. If we go the Beta and find it bogs down the plan is to install a feathering or similar prop at the next haul out which would be in about 12 months and in a location having more facilities then we have here. Then I'd more than likely replace the shaft, bearing and - most of all - our funky old school stern gland.

I had the same cancer regarding power. I called Beta and they explained the 50hp i was using wasn’t actually producing 50hp. Their 35hp would give me the same performace. I’m not an engine guy so I cant give you the technical explanation but they have run tests to validate their claim. i highly recommend you call them and ask the question. They sold me!

[warrior 90]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Thanks everyone for the useful tips. After the many helpful comments on here, and doing lots and lot's of comparisons of the engines discussed and despite really, really liking the Beta very much overall as a package I ended up splashing the cash on another Sole Mini 33. Those in the US have probably never heard of them, as I don't think they sell into the country but it is a Spanish assembled marine engine that uses primarily Mitsubishi engines as the base.

Would I have preferred the Beta? Definitely! I didn't plan on reinstalling another Sole (they kind of combine the worst of Yanmar with obfuscated pricey-ish spares and Betamarine with a single national distributor in my country), helpful advice within this thread provided solutions that negated some of my gripes. Throw in the fact that I now have a more or less complete parts engine as well, this eventually steered me towards the decision to repower with same.

Well, not what I would have done but in my opinion the second best option in line.
As the Kubota the Mitsubishi base engine has also a lot of options for parts. It´s a simple Drop In with no headaches and now You have a lot of spares and You have a lot more knowledge in Your tool box.
After all been said I hope You made a super deal.

But now comes the next part of Your project... 100 amp alternator for Lithium... Did I understand correct ?
Well, for that kind of alternator You should use a multi groove serpentine drive belt. Have You thought about it ?