>On Oct 23, 7:56 pm, jwir...@hotmail.com wrote:
>> We were told by our boatyard that our boat needs a new engine to
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>see how you could spend more that $7000 after it was installed and
>running. That's a savings of $10,000. That's a lot of rum punch.
A couple of comments here. First of all the Perkins 4-108 is about a
20 year old engine based on an even older design. Parts difficult to
find and getting pretty expensive. I have an earlier model, the 4-107,
which has been chugging away down in the in the bilge for many years,
but there are more modern models that out perform it, particularly on
a weight to horsepower basis
The Volvo parts tend to be expensive so if you have to make any
repairs it is usually very costly.
I'm not sure what the Perkins 50 HP engine is based on but it is
probably a Japanese industrial engine of some sort. If the basic
engine and its parts are available where you are it is usually the
cheapest alternative in the event repairs become necessary.
Bruce-in-Bangkok
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Lew Hodgett - 25 Oct 2007 02:35 GMT
> I'm not sure what the Perkins 50 HP engine is based on but it is
> probably a Japanese industrial engine of some sort. If the basic
> engine and its parts are available where you are it is usually the
> cheapest alternative in the event repairs become necessary.
Precisely why Beta deserves a look, it a marinized Kubota.
Lew
Bruce in Bangkok - 26 Oct 2007 04:55 GMT
>> I'm not sure what the Perkins 50 HP engine is based on but it is
>> probably a Japanese industrial engine of some sort. If the basic
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>
>Lew
True, and the Beta engines that I have look at appear to be very well
thought out and constructed engines. It certainly would be an engine
to consider particularly that there is a dealer in the local area.
Bruce-in-Bangkok
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jim.isbell - 25 Oct 2007 15:14 GMT
> On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:12:26 -0000, "jim.isbell"
>
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My 4-108 was built in 1983 and while that is 20 years old, I dont
consider it to be "old". In computer terms, a 20 year old computer is
"old", but in engine terms, an engine is not. Parts are readily
available here in the US and are relatively cheap. No parts for a
marine diesel are cheap, however.
BUT, the marinised Kabota is another very inexpensive diesel. I dont
have any data on the reliability of the Kabota however, and I do on
the Perkins. They are virtually bulletproof. In my last boat, a 44ft
Bruce Roberts steel hulled ketch, I had a Perkins 6-354 and in my
Gulfstar 36 I have the 4-108 and you just cannot hurt these engines
with missuse. They will come back from anything. The Volvo is a
great engine but is not as reliable and as I stated before the parts
are expensive.