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Bimini Babe

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Of the 3 engine outfits that have worked on my boat The Engine Room Ph 09 4802248 are by far the best because:

 

1. There's no such thing as a dumb question.

2. Andy and his team take time to find out what you want and work with you.

3. Andy gives a complete picture of the variables and possible costs before the job starts.

 

The Beta 30 recently installed is a marinised Kubota. Its quiet, powerful, clean and the parts are cheap. The price includes the gearbox and alternator. It comes with a 3 year self service warranty and oil pump fitted. Also, you don't need to be an acrobat to get at the bits that need servicing.

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The Bukh is a good motor very reliable, very smooth and very heavy!

The Engine room are the NZ agents, ask them what they would put in if it was their boat and let them know what you are intending to do

I belive they deal with John Deere, Bukh and Beta

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Sorry, Im more interested in your intent on a circumnavigation.... my bucket list also. How long does it take/time to alllow? Best month to depart? Which way - turn left or right? A thousand other questions.... are there any/many others keen?

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I would also say talk to Andy about the Kubota based Beta, They do the full package, wiring etc. etc. They are also the Bukh agent, a bloody good boat engine, they used to be designed for marine use from scratch, maybe still are?

I have a D1105 (28hp) Kubota with an aussie conversion (Diecon) they convert 2nd hand engines at very reasonable prices. Also look at C B Norward (Kubota agents) they are are selling new kubota conversions at very affordable prices. They sell kubota tractor parts through a network of dealers throughout NZ.

Nanni is Kubota based as well but more expensive than the Beta.

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Oh yeah, sorry I forgot to answer about the Bukh. It's bullet proof.....for most normal Guns. You need a fairly decent armour piercing bullet to penetrate that piece of solid casting. It's a heavy and old design and has a very poor power to weight ratio. Yanmar would be at the other end of that scale of power to weight. Most of the Yanmars were designed as light weight power plants for many commercial applications. Then about 20 or so years ago, they produced the bigger range specifically designed right from the get go as a light weight high power fast speed marine engine. Of course, heavy means smooth and quiet, light means a little noisier and a bit more vibration. For marine applications were light weight is important, then Yanmar really does fit the purpose. Although the latest generation of Volvo have improved that power to weight.

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Sorry, Im more interested in your intent on a circumnavigation.... my bucket list also. How long does it take/time to alllow? Best month to depart? Which way - turn left or right? A thousand other questions.... are there any/many others keen?

 

 

Hey SF - why not cut and paste this to a new thread, maybe in the cruising division?

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just to correct a few misconceptions

1. There are no Kubota's used in the Yanmar range, the small Yanmars (YM's and JH) are Yanmar designed and manufactured, in the bigger sizes there is a mix of Yanmar, Toyota, BMW and big Scania engines as base. Very big fishing boat engines are Yanmar's own again.

2. The smaller Volvo's (up to 75hp) from the mid 90's to mid 2000's were Perkins, since then they have been IHI Shibaura, which is a JV company with Perkins. The small Volvo's continue to have indirect injection with a mechanical fuel pump, it is not until you get to the 150hp D3, which is from the Volvo car range, that common rail starts.

3. Caterpillar did not buy the tooling for the Perkins 6.354, they just bought Perkins outright about 5 yrs ago.

4. There is another very good Kubota based conversion from Australia, Witchard Marine

http://wm-marine-diesel.com/

 

When I re-engined, getting rid of the accursed VW diesel, I went Yanmar - Nanni was a serious contender but the Yanmar was a bit more compact (except for the huge exhaust) and I liked having direct injection for a quick start or having a better chance of getting started if the batteries were down

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I had a Lombardini in a previous boat back in the UK, had numerous problems from a broken main drive shaft into the gearbox to a governor that stuck so it would either run at max revs or tickover but nowhere in between. Changing from one to the other required running down into the cabin and hitting the block with a hammer, sometimes quite a stressful thing to do when maneuvering in a tight space!

 

It wasn't cheap originally and spare parts were hard to find and crazy prices (even in the UK). At just 8 years old it was scrapped in favour of a 20-30 year old renault couch which was picked up for a few hundred dollars and has been very reliable. The few parts needed were cheap and easy to obtain (in the UK).

 

Sometimes simple, old technology is more reliable than over complicated modern stuff which is usually reliant on electronics and not designed to be easily serviced. Consider getting your old engine fully rebuilt and replace all the electrics rather than buying a new one. You could have it made better than new for much less than the cost of a new one, and it will fit your boat perfectly without any modifications!

 

... and make sure whatever engine you get has some kind of hand starter - most engine problems are electrical and jump leads can be tricky to use in open water :wink:

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Thanks again guys, have spoken to Andy at The Engine Room and can confirm the reviews are true! Real nice guy, and very happy to hear he's been getting such good feedback on here. Getting some prices on a Beta... birthday present from my other half, perhaps? :wink:

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Hey , happy birthday - 29 huh?????

What, you don't believe me???

 

No engine for birthday sadly. In fact nothing at all yet. Apparenly it's still at the boat builders???!!! VERY odd clue... I'm guessing it's probably not another boat though.

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Apparenly it's still at the boat builders???!!! VERY odd clue... I'm guessing it's probably not another boat though.

 

 

and the whole bloody issue was driven by a wheel ah humm tiddy bum , ah humm tiddy bum ah hummmmmm

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I'm probably looking at things a bit simplistically but if it seems like a 50:50 toss-up between Volvo vs Yanma then my going position would be the one with least installation hassle and that sounds like the Volvo (unless you are planning on changing gearbox as well)?

 

I think Fusion did some reasearch a while ago and found the Lombardini's were looking value at the time and had good power/weight ratios - but maybe that's out of date now...

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Just going through this now for the 1020.

 

Replacing ancient 18hp volvo with a 20hp Beta. Factory options for fitting onto the existing sail drive and engine base.

 

Fairly long lead time when you include shipping from UK, but the exchange rates is very good at the moment, so not a bad price. And I've got plenty of work to do in the meantime.

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Just going through this now for the 1020.

 

Replacing ancient 18hp volvo with a 20hp Beta. Factory options for fitting onto the existing sail drive and engine base.

 

Fairly long lead time when you include shipping from UK, but the exchange rates is very good at the moment, so not a bad price. And I've got plenty of work to do in the meantime.

 

 

the end joy of course is that you can start the new one without a ballpoint pen handy

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One of the boats on our finger recently killed a motor, a known name I can't remember, so went hunting for options.

 

To repair it was moonbeams so that went no where. Speaking to him yesterday and he's gone to a Bada. He did extensive research and said it was just to good a deal to let go. A Yamnar was very close but while the motor cost was good the peripheral stuff was horrendous. Also no 'official' installer meant no warranty and the installation cost was described as nasty, that sure didn't help either.

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One of the boats on our finger recently killed a motor, a known name I can't remember, so went hunting for options.

 

To repair it was moonbeams so that went no where. Speaking to him yesterday and he's gone to a Bada. He did extensive research and said it was just to good a deal to let go. A Yamnar was very close but while the motor cost was good the peripheral stuff was horrendous. Also no 'official' installer meant no warranty and the installation cost was described as nasty, that sure didn't help either.

Just picked up from the wharf today a brand spankers 4 JMLAX blah blah Yanmar to stick into a party yacht up here. Have been reviewing the warranty stuff and no mention of "no official installer" disclaimer.

I still stand by my comments re Yanmar. If circumnavigating then parts and supply are going to be a lot more available than some other no name, seldom heard name brands. Not that should be an issue with a new engine but make sure the install is "nambawan" (Bislama for very bloody good) as this is where most of any issues will come from. Volvo would be my second choice at best.

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Beta is a Kubota conversion so parts and service should be no problem.

 

Cameron, why do you say that resale would be better on a Volvo or Yanmar?

 

Beta are relatively unknown here at the moment, but seem to be making steady sales and plenty of satisfied overseas customers.

 

List pricing between Volvo and Beta is not streets apart.

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