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Boat builder / manufacturer buying advice please.


ARAL

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So, at the risk of going backwards on this thread, does anyone have any thoughts on the Thornycroft engine(s)? Thankyou.

 

Not sure what has been said so far, but searches seem to suggest that the Thornycroft T95 uses the Mitsubishi S4L 1500cc 4cyl as its base engine, and shares this with the Vetus M4.15 .

 

I suspect the latter has been quite widely used in canal boats.

 

I'm guessing it is the kind of engine where when some parts like filters need replacing it may be cheaper to go to someone supplying Misubishi parts direct rather than mariniser sources. That may be a bad guess, but I thing one of the objections about Vetus is often the price at which they resell some consumables that are not themselves marine specific.

 

 

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Thnakyou Neil, my thoughts exactly - 1500 cc seems a bit under-powered / over-worked for a 50+ ft steel boat. I think I will look to get something with a slightly larger engine.

I believe the Beta 38 is 1500cc, and I'm pretty sure there's many satisfied users in 50' plus Narrowboats. One may be along shortly to add a view?

 

I have a Beta 43 in my 57' and I'm very happy with it, but the builder (Simon Piper) often fits the 38 in the same hull.

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I believe the Beta 38 is 1500cc, and I'm pretty sure there's many satisfied users in 50' plus Narrowboats. One may be along shortly to add a view?

I have a Beta 43 in my 57' and I'm very happy with it, but the builder (Simon Piper) often fits the 38 in the same hull.

Our boat builder offered the 1500cc Beta 38 as standard on the medium length boats. However we went for the 43 in part due to the extra load presented by the alternators - one small engine one which is an irrelevance, the 3.5kw Travelpower and 2.2kw 12v alternator. Although it would be unusual to have them both working hard, it would not be impossible - for example after starting in the morning 175A to batteries and 2kw to the tumble drier or kettle. The 43 struggles a bit with this sort of load in gear at low rpm and I can't help thinking a 38 would be much worse. So my point is, the engine is not necessarily just about propelling the boat.

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Our first shareboat had a 1400cc Mitsubishi powering a 58 foot boat.

 

It went very well but was a bu**er to stop in anything like a straight line, simply because you needed so many revs. It had no torque at all.

 

The second shareboat, also 58 foot, had a 1.8 turkish built BMC, and the extra torque it a much nice boat to drive, especially when stopping.

 

My current boat is 60 foot, heavily ballasted and has a Beta 43, and again is a pleasure to drive.

 

My point is small engines in longer boats are adequate for going ahead, but stopping needs lots of low rev torque.

 

Edited for spolleng.

Edited by cuthound
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Me too as it happens, andi I'm pleased that my boat's previous owner chose to spec the bigger 43 in mine. I was just raising a cautionary note about 1500cc so that you were not going to dismiss many a good boat perhaps unnecessarily. My point is that it would be prudent to check, because I can see that 1500cc looks puny against Nick's Shire which is 2200cc to produce 38hp, but clearly not all 1500s are created equal as the Beta is also 38hp at 1500cc.

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We have an Izuzu 42 in our 60 foot and its fine but as has been said we have alot of gadgets and things to power but as standard the boat was offered with 38 I believe .. our previous boat was 50 foot and was fine with a SR3 producing about 22 BHP but many less gizmo's on the old boat .

 

In the summer we hired a 69 footer with some friends and that had a Izuzu too but it was a 38 and it was not too bad though as has been said it needed a good gunning to turn it around / stop it etc .

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  • 1 year later...
9 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I have the misfortune to moor near this boat. It is far from quiet. Calling it Whisper, I assume is a joke!

Its a typical gas free nonsense, where oh where do these people get their ideas from. Question, Why have 99 percent of boats got a super safe gas installation, answers on a postcard and why do 99 percent of diesel engines not have a cocoon round them, fit you answer on the same postcard.

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Just now, mrsmelly said:

Its a typical gas free nonsense, where oh where do these people get their ideas from. Question, Why have 99 percent of boats got a super safe gas installation, answers on a postcard and why do 99 percent of diesel engines not have a cocoon round them, fit you answer on the same postcard.

Maybe its quiet on the inside :)

I've got my earplugs in. 

They must think its a brilliant idea, as their website is plastered all over the side of the boat. 

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2 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Maybe its quiet on the inside :)

I've got my earplugs in. 

They must think its a brilliant idea, as their website is plastered all over the side of the boat. 

Its all been done before and always ends in tears but still the Saudis love em :)

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Plenty of 1500cc Beta 38s and 35s on boats up to 60ft. I think the only difference is the 38 is rated to 3000rpm instead of 2800rpm for the 35. With a 2:1 gearbox the 1500rpm shaft speed is not really sustainable. We have a 38 capable of pushing our 58ft Reeves hull at 6.5 mph at 2100 rpm.

Stopping is a little leasurely at speed but never has been a problem using the maxim of never going so fast as to not be able to stop in half the clear distance. However if I was specifying a new build go anywhere boat I would seriously consider paying for the up rated engine.

 

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