Vote: best brand of inboard propulsion engine...

have you ever seen a Gardiner? I very much doubt it

 

Dean Smith,
It is a pity that someone with your standing and experience finds its necessary to use Boat Design to make such personal comments of an inflammatory nature.
In fact I helped install a 6LXB from a Hong Kong Bus into a displacement power boat , I also took a 4LB to west Africa
Both these Gardiner engines were naturally aspirated.

 

The namr of that brabd is Gardner and they no longer build marine engines.

 

before you dribble too much , read the original post, its for a 50 ton displacement boat ,i would not have thought power to weight would have been an issue. there are thousands of gardner owners worldwide that will disagree with you that they are a thing of the past. cummins are cheap crap. if i couldn't have a gardner i would have cat or john deere.

 

This website has some interesting information on the subject of Gardners :-http://www.gardnermarine.com/

 

I am very sorry to offend
You see this Gardner engine has become a legend, passed on from father to son be happy mate
I was an engineer in a company that had a raft of them on small car ferries
Modern engines are lighter by far, it does not mean they are more unreliable, in fact quite the reverse and quality engines such as Merc, cat, man, scania cummins to name a few will do as many or more hours and will rebuild when needed at a fraction of cost
One ship a trawler lost her Lister Blackstone was replaced by a 12 vee GM, she roiled and sank mid Tasman
her name Loch lLein
http://www.fleetwood-fishing-industry.co.uk/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=1762 my Friend a NZ NA did the inquiry into sinking

 

If you want to talk Gardner, then you should also talk about the same era engines of the above manufacturers which were also about the same.
855 cummins 210hp versus 851 Gardner at 170hp

 

the 855m could rate up to 380
When I was with Cummins Eng in Newcastle Au I used to look after a dredge there.
The 855 powered the truck world forever too, It is a wonderful engine with no external fuel lines We would turn the big end shells at 400000 miles
the only thing that bothered them was lack of water filter maintainence when those electric mice would eat the liner bottoms near the seals and cause a leak into the crankcase of cooling water

 

What about a naturally aspired MAN 2866? They are great reliable engines with very good fuel economy reasonable prices for spare parts since they have been built for quite a long time now in incredible numbers so there should be plenty of possibilities to get rebuilt ones for a very good price.

 

insnt this one of those questions with no definate answer... it depends entirely on what you are installing it in, what use it will see and how much money you have....

having seen a couple of them appart (a deutz, a yanmar and an aging penta) my first vote would be yanmar, but after hearing a scania 14L V8 ideling its my favorite (even if its not on the list or within the power specs ... for no other reason than the sound..

 

If you're go'nna talk sound it's DD all the way for me.

Easy Rider

 

2nd that, i would have another dd just so i could listen to it.

 

1946 Chev flat 6 Gas - sewing machine at idle - gentle tick tick tick

 

Sound....Agree, DD is hard to beat. Other than that.....They are also an efficient energy converter, problem is it converts fossil fuel to mechanical noise. Fossil fuel to propulsion trust - Not so much.

Still...Love the old DD (Especially the 71 series).

Karl

 

Daewoo Diesel

...this gentleman was quite complimentry about his choice of a 6 cyl Daewoo....and I believe he has lots of experience in commercial boat operations

The engine is a Daewoo L136 8ltr 6 cylinder marine diesel. It is naturally aspirated and rated for heavy duty continuous operation producing 160Hp at 2200rpm. In industrial service it has proved to be an extremely efficient and reliable engine. Many fishing vessels in UK waters have replaced ageing Gardners with this engine or a turbo derivative and their owners find that the engine is considerably more economical that their Gardners were. The UK importer makes very little money from the sale of spares other than routine servicing items! L136 Engine leaflet and power/torque curves. Being a direct injection engine, it does not have glow plugs, so there is one less thing to go wrong and maintain. The engine was impressively supplied with all ancilliaries - batteries, Morse throttle and cables, water inlet and kingston valve, toolkit with all special to engine spanners and tools, a years worth of servicing spares, spare gaskets, impeller, hoses and jubilee clips and even a pair of overalls with "Daewoo" on the back. It was supplied by Watermota and the package also included a 2 hour shore installation review at Triton before being KEI was launched by a Daewoo engineering representative prior to first use and then a sea trial. Only after this is the installation signed off and the warranty commences. Overall, the Daewoo package is a very good deal and having a commercial type back up is very reassuring. In operation, the engine sounds great and makes all the right noises for a luxemotor.

http://www.luxe-motor-kei.co.uk/mecheng.htm

....very interesting canal barge building site of his