Detroit Diesel

[Num1fireman]

This is an old thread, apologies for raising it from the dead. The OP started by saying he hasn't ever seen a DD in a Sailboat. I can say that it is rare, but not unheard of. To whit: I am re-fiting a classic plastic boat from the 70's, and replacing the rotten 4 cyl 80hp Lehman, with a 85 hp 3-71 DD for all the reasons stated in the thread. Simple, all mechanical, robust, reliable, will run on 1 cyl. cost about $1500 to rebuild, they still make factory parts, and their are millions still in service world wide since they were in production for 58 years.. alll using the same internal parts .....and at 85 hp it should out-last cockroaches..

The Noise, weight and fuel economy are the knocks... well its a sailboat, and at $7 a gallon I will be under sail as much as possible, but its nice to know that when I het the button, that safe rumble will be there,..... go ahead come after me for putting a dirty old heavy stinky polluting 2 stroke...

[Num1fireman]

pic of the motor.. won't let me upload vid

[Bowdrie]

I won't complain.
A friend down the dock has a 3-71 in his 50' steel ketch.
It seems to start before you can push the button down all the way, even after sitting all winter.
Jimmys just run.

[Num1fireman]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Du1...ew?usp=sharing

[nhschneider]

Originally Posted by Num1fireman

This is an old thread, apologies for raising it from the dead. The OP started by saying he hasn't ever seen a DD in a Sailboat. I can say that it is rare, but not unheard of. To whit: I am re-fiting a classic plastic boat from the 70's, [FONT="Georgia"][/FONT]and replacing the rotten 4 cyl 80hp Lehman, with a 85 hp 3-71 DD for all the reasons stated in the thread. Simple, all mechanical, robust, reliable, will run on 1 cyl. cost about $1500 to rebuild, they still make factory parts, and their are millions still in service world wide since they were in production for 58 years.. alll using the same internal parts .....and at 85 hp it should out-last cockroaches..

The Noise, weight and fuel economy are the knocks... well its a sailboat, and at $7 a gallon I will be under sail as much as possible, but its nice to know that when I het the button, that safe rumble will be there,..... go ahead come after me for putting a dirty old heavy stinky polluting 2 stroke...

The biggest drawback I see is having a 1,600-pound engine in a small sailboat. The horsepower-to-weight ratio is terrible at best, considering the options that are available.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

The biggest drawback I see is having a 1,600-pound engine in a small sailboat. The horsepower-to-weight ratio is terrible at best, considering the options that are available.

Fair winds and calm seas.

Only an extra 300 pounds and 5 more hp .
For a 40 or 50 ft boat that's not much difference in weight .

[nhschneider]

In my boat, I installed a 90-hp Beta Marine and it weighs less than 700 pounds with a ZF 45A transmission. With over 5,000 hours on it, I couldn’t ask for a more reliable engine - on top of that, it’s very quiet and burns .89 gallons per hour while pushing my 40,000-pound boat at 5.5 knots in calm conditions.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[RaymondR]

After working exclusively on offshore oil rigs I took a job on a land rig. As I stepped from the vehicle onto the work site I recalled what I had most hated on previous land rig jobs, mud to my ankles everywhere and screaming GM diesels.