Volvo Penta D12 in a commercial vessel

"...HOUR P.A ratings..." What does that mean ?? CMD's HO rating states 12% at WOT and 500 hours per year, Volvo's equivalent rating (R5) states 8% at WOT and 300 hrs. Does that mean that CMD has a better engine or are they less conservative as to how they apply their engine ?? IMO it means nothing.

I love Scania too, worked for years on their 12 and 14 liter motors. I also love (and have worked extensively on them) Cummins 855, 555, N14, DD 71 and 53 series (Don't care for the 92). Some limited experience with various MAN, Iveco and Rolls Royce - Some I liked, some not so much.
Have worked extensively on the Volvo D12 in all applications and ratings from 300 to 775 hp. IMO the best commercial engine in its class.

However, back to the original post and the authors questions: IMO, As long as you stay with an establish manufacturer (CAT, Cummins, Scania, Volvo, etc. etc) and you select the appropriate hp for the application following respective manufacturer’s criteria you can't go wrong. Your starting point however should be the quality of your local service and parts support.

I don't care what it says on the valve cover, one day your engine will go "bang" and if there is nobody to be found that can work on the beast, no parts to be had, and the local dealers parts guy is clueless and orders the wrong part you will be up-the-creek regardless of engine brand.

Karl

And BTW: The biggest engine manufacturer of diesel engines over 9 L on the planet is Weichai Motors in China.

 

why are scania so popular in nz, they can't give them away here, volvo would out number them 2 to 1 in trucks here. the only scania i have driven was a 580 hp pulling a double roadtrain and that truck had a fair bit of trouble with the engine electronics. 2 weeks ago i was driving out of melbourne in a kw with a brand new cummins n14 525 hp and it dropped a valve which resulted in a destroyed head , liner, piston and turbo. volvo have an excellent reputation here so i would not be put off by some of the comments.

 

Volvo's are great engines.
BUT:
On commercial vessels Volvo is a little uneasy with warranty.
Further, the latest engines are extremely compact. If you need to fix something at sea, you may have problems.
Someone said before: Dealers and services should be available.
Brands not yet mentioned here (or I did not see the respective post):
M.A.N. / MTU / Yanmar (all also used in military and commercial craft)
Straight forward and relatively cheap, but big and heavy: Hyundai