Good morning Seabreezers

Advice needed! Should I repower to diesel? What should I look for when inspecting a diesel to buy? Is there any diesel-savvy Seabreezer out there who could accompany me to inspect this diesel???

Currently, my 26ft International Folkboat (displacement 2150kg; full traditional keel) is powered by a Tohatsu 5h.p outboard which sits in a well in the lazarette.

A Yanmar 8h.p diesel with gearbox has come up on Gumtree for, I'm suspecting, a reasonable price AND negotiable. This is the link: http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/redcliffe/boat-accessories-parts/8hp-yanmar-diesel-engine-and-gearbox/1107271261

I'm thinking of dipping into my super and repowering the Folky with a diesel...maybe this diesel! (And biting the bullet and painting the topsides, but that's a different story).

Advantages of the outboard:
Simple to operate, maintain and troubleshoot for my mechanically-challenged brain.
Doesn't pollute the cabin with any odours of fuel.
Small and compact, does not encroach on the already-limited stowage space I have.


Disadvantages: the outboard is 2-stroke. I'm not proud of the oil residue I am leaving in the water.
Limited battery-charging capability. At present, I don't have one of those coil-thingys for charging.
The well in the lazarette is problematic - fills the lazarette with water in choppy conditions (very unnerving, not being self-draining to see your fuel tank upside down and awash {with the vent open}); unless I take the whole motor out of the well, the leg remains in the water and produces drag.

Advantages of a diesel:
Diesel!
No lazarette and well problems, therefore, better and safer offshore capabilities.
Alternator.
No threat of cavitation in a sea.


Disadvantages:
Repowering costs...still need shaft, prop and the installation of everything....EXPENSIVE and, out of work and the future looking bleak, the only way I can possibly do it is to dig into my Super.
The location of instal will take up valuable space...the biggest and longest void in the boat underneath the cockpit.
I don't like the odour of diesel in the cabin.

So, long story short, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards
Trace

Have you considered mounting the outboard motor on the stern using a folding bracket on a block purchase system to lower and raise.
I had that system on a Sonta 7 and it worked well.
you could eventually upgrade to a 4 stroke 10hp motor with a battery charging system so no oil release.

I found a photo of a stern mounted OB on a Folkboat.
You would have to box out the stern to get a vertical surface to mount the motor bracket.
The folding bracket is on page 70 of the Whitworths catalogue.

Thanks guys for all your input. I really appreciate it.

Think I'll stick with the outboard and get a bracket (and box) mounted on the transom. Work toward getting something I can get some battery charge from.

Kind regards
Trace

I'd stay with the outboard for sure.
How about a modification like this if you don't want the OB on the transom.


I am in the process of removing my inboard diesel, not so much because the actual engine was unreliable, but everything else attached to it, engine mounts, water pumps, mixing elbow, raw water thru-hulls, stern glands, cutless bearings etc etc.
A new outboard just seemed so much simpler to me.

Having said that however, im not completely happy with my 8hp 2st Tohatsu on a bracket on the transom. The yacht is not as manoverable in close quarters, & changing gears is slow....having to reach over the pushpit to do so, think I will rig up some type of stick to solve that problem though

Mounting the outboard on the stern could easily be done with a nice SS bracket.

5hp seems a bit small. I have a Mercury 9.9hp on my 2ton Seaway 25 and reach hull speed at about 3/4 throttle. It has the gear and throttle all on the tiller. I have a pvc tube as an extension, no leaning out the back. The other advantage to having the outboard out the back is that you can use it as a stern thruster.

In rough stuff over about 1.5m seas If I'm at the bow the outboard can cavitate but as soon as I'm back behind the mast all's good. We have the parallelogram style outboard bracket and it can drop the motor very low.

Biggest issue is you will need to work how you can flush the motor. If the bracket gets the outboard high enough you can use a canvas bag or something. With ours it just lifts out of the water and I can get the muffs on. Ok if you're at a marina but trickier if you are on a morring? What do you do now?

There is no mention or photos to indicate which Yanmar this is. It could be a YSE8 and that could be a nightmare. I would stick with the outboard. Perhaps make a Korts nozzle to get more thrust if needed. Hang in there for a couple of years and wait and see how the electric outboards and Lithium battery technology pans out.

Hi Selkie,

My thoughts for what they are worth. If you dont like the 2stroke and the oil residue, why not look at a 4 stroke, Yamaha or Honda, quiet, economical and probably a little more efficient that the present 2 stroke and less pollution.

Admittedly my boat about same length but less than half your weight is pushed along happily with 5Hp Honda, comes with altermator built in, albeit only 3A, but 3A is still better than 0A.

Would I change to diesel, hell no, weight weight weight

somewhere in the 9HP would do perfect.

Enjoy the decision making.

theselkie said..
Thanks everyone. Yes, in retrospect, the idea was just folly. Will stay with the outboard.

Presently, I take it home to flush. Another good reason to have a transom bracket mounted so I can get muffs on and flush it in situ. With the neurosurgeon eager to get in and do a 3-vertebra laminectomy to release my compressed spinal cord, the less heavy lifting the better!!

I actually have a 2-stroke Tohatsu 9.8h.p. which was the motor to the tender from the cat. Alas, still 2-stroke, but would push the boat along better. I don't think the leg fits in the well, so once again, a vote for the transom bracket.

Thanks guys.
Trace

Is the Tohatsu long shaft?? It would be a must i would think

I am not subject to sea sickness! Had to go to use the head by ruff weather ............... the cabin was stinking of diesel and I got seasick in 2 minutes! Went back to that yacht 2 years after the episode and my mate tried every thing he could to clean the cabin and it still stinks of diesel! Was just a 1 to 2 liters spill!
Stay with the outboard!

That butchery of the Alberg 30 to fit a "well " is very poor design. They have effectively cut off the volume of the aft section of the boat that was the lazarette compartment, from the boat. It is now open to the sea, and in rough seas will end up flooded, with extra weight dragging the stern down. Also, being in a closed lazarette, the motor would suffocate in its own fumes, if it does not drown first.

In the good design cockpit wells, like on Bluebirds and Top Hats, the motor is open to the atmosphere, easy to get at, and the well acts as a high-flow cockpit drain, even with a partially streamlined plug around the motor.

Stick with the two stroke. Lighter than a 4 stroke and you can lay them down anyway you like. Britain has banned the sale of two stroke outboards but everyone wants them.

sorry this should have been with my other post powerboatmagazine.co.nz/

they do make smaller HP diesels...they are not local, but seem to be simple construction ...so with a bit or care should be fine.


www.klaxondieseloutboards.com/

spent some time in PNG when the Yanmar outboards where available they where ok...but dirty fuel was their biggest problem

The next time I buy an outboard it will be electric. Not necessarily this one.

Like diesel outboards. Navy went to diesel outboards to remove petrol off the ships. After a few years they went back to petrol, the diesels were so heavy the sailors were breaking backs lifting them. Nothing like petrol engines in these roles. Leave diesels to the inboard role.

nice storage