Marinizing Small Industrial Diesels

There are a number of Kubota and Yanmar industrial diesel engines available in the sub-50 HP range that would be great to marinize, but for one problem: availability of water-cooled exhaust manifolds. Anybody know of a source?

[FAST FRED]

Sorry about the delay,

www.mesamarine.com

Is the site for Marine Exhaust of Alabama .

1-251-928-1234 in USA ,

They have a very complete catalog of exhaust manifolds and some other conversion equippment.

HTH

FAST FRED

[bjamesw]

Hello All,
I have a kubota 1505 diesel taken from a commercial mower. It has less than twenty hours on it. I'm toying
with the idea of using it in a small houseboat. Probably something like a narrowboat for river use. NO more than five to ten knots max.

What is about the minimum required of this engine for marinization? I understand at this point (I'm just beginning this learning curve) that considerations involve fresh/salt use, heat, noise, compartment space, auxilliary uses, and legal requirements. I guess the ideal set up would be to build a 12kw genset around it and use electric propulsion. I could use the AC for aux uses. But it appears that affordable small craft electric propulsion is a few years off yet from what I'm able to learn on the internet. Hydraulics sound appealing as well, esp for adapting auxilliary stuff -but potentially messy and less efficient than mechanical drives.

Could you comment on just a few options I might consider?
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Brad Williamson

[gonzo]

By the time you end up buying a transmission, bellhousing,adjusting the timing, adjusting the pump and other things, it should be cheaper to get a used marine engine. However, if you are looking for a project to kill time, get the specifications for a marine engine, including the camshaft, and compare them with what you got.

[SigTyr]

Briggs and Stratton has an electric motor (ETEK), that
has been used in everything from robots to dirt bikes for
years! I'm surprised that no one has converted it for marine
use, as it's nearest competitor (solomon tech) costs nearly
20 times as much, for the same horsepower. They only
cost around 400US$ !
I was wondering about them, as well as marinizing the Briggs
23HP freshwater diesel engine. I don't know what to do about
a transmission for it tho...

James

[FAST FRED]

The simplest is belt drive , although reverse is a problem.

Better but more $$$ is a simple hyd drive, which is complex , but gives a power source for anchor retreval or other toys.

Full throttle FWD to REV in a second or two with NO harm.

There is NO reason to have a water cooled exhaust , when doing it as a dry stack is far cheaper and more reliable.

A proper INSULATED (heat & noise) engine box with an air blower is needed , some engineering but little co$t.

FAST FRED

[gonzo]

Hydraulics are more expensive than a mechanical transmission. Also, the power loss will be 25-35% compared to 3%. You should add that to the cost. It will mean a bigger engine with a higher fuel consumption for the same useable HP.

[PowerTech]

"Seems to me that a really ideal setup would have a 12k generator on my kubota charging an electric lift-truck battery (two to three grand, very compact, extremely long lived, and efficient). I'd get a bow thruster/primary drive unit similar to the following...." No Way, Have you even seen a boat before. You can find marine diesels for next to nothing that need rings and a valve job all over the place. You don't want some Rube Goldberg contraption in your boat. Go to a salt water toun and serch all of the marine diesel shops and pick one up.

[rxcomposite]

Try ZF marine transmission. They carry/have small transmission by the name Hurt

[PowerTech]

ZF Hurth and Kansaki Hurth.A old german gear box company that sold out

[rxcomposite]

ZF bought Hurth and is now called ZF HURTH MARINE S.p.a. in Italy.

They have ZF4M, ZF5M, and ZF10M for the 16 to 41 Hp. range. Web site www.ZF-Marine.com. I remember they have Hurth Marine gear as low as 8.5 Hp.

HangZhou Advance Gearbox Group Ltd. of china has marine gearbox for 12.5 Hp and 33Hp. coded 06 and 16A. E mail Trade@Chinaadvance.com

To marinize a water cooled diesel engine you will need a heat exchanger. Either keel cooled or intercooler.

[craigj]

EC Power Systems in WA, OR, ID CO, & UT have developed a marine engine w/ Orca Marine Cooling Systems for the Kubota D905, D1005 & D1105 engines and are working on developing other systems to marinize Kubota engines for the Pacific Nortwest marine market. Call Craig @ 206-436-6060 or e-mail @ craigj@e-c-co.com for a flyer and purchase options.

[MMNet SEA]

Hi Craig.

A very good industrial engine which is successfully marinized is the Isuzu.

Models 4JB1 and the 4EL1 .

Here is the spec for the 4JB1 :

The Engine
Isuzu Model 4JB1 OD – Exhaust elbow outlet 2.5” or 3”
Aspiration Natural OD – Raw water inlet 1”
Cylinders Four OD – Fuel Inlet 10mm
Bore x Stroke (mm) 93 x 102 OD – Fuel Return 10mm
Displacement (cc) 2771 Alternator – AC 12 volt 94 amp
Engine Rotation Counterclockwise, viewed from flywheel
Maximum Engine Output kW (hp) 50 (67) @ 3000rpm
Maximum Torque 181 Nm @ 2000rpm
Approx.Fuel Consumption @ 1500rpm: 75% Load 4.6 litres/hour
(note that fuel consumption will vary substantially with load and rpm)
The Transmission
ZF Model ZF25
Single speed , vertical offset, direct mount
Maximum rated input 107kW (143hp). Pleasure duty.
Reverse reduction integral marine transmission, with hydraulically actuated multi disc clutches.
Available Ratios 1.969, 2.80

Professionally marinized $7500 US
If you want, email me and I will send you details etc of the company. (my only connection is that I am replacing my 80hp Ford Lehman with the Isuzu , which puts out better HP at 1750 RPM.

[sal's Dad]

As noted, one problem with the small diesels is finding an appropriate transmission. As near as I can tell, the lowest (highest?) reduction Hurth/ZF makes on its little gearbox is 3:2. I got one on ebay, approx 1.9:1, but it is gonna be sloooowww.

I need more like 5:4 for my "Rescue Minor". (I briefly considered a direct drive, using extreme rudder angle for reverse) Any thoughts?
Sal's Dad

[David H]

Hey .....any chance ya still got that slloooow tranny cause it would be the perfect speed for me. Let me know if its for sale. Cheers, David