Can anybody recommend a good (old) diesel power boat? I have extra WVO, and my gasoline Bayliner is a POS.

Thanks.

Grand Banks? Hattaras? I'm kind of partial to some of the aluminum Roamers, but would take a nice old Broward also or a Feadship.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

A nice "Old" Bertram hull (Say,the "31"pictured)and this:
http://www.yanmarmarine.com/
(or 2)

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

I'm assuming your looking for something in the sub-33' range? There really aren't any "old" diesel production boats, at least not on the lower end of the price scale. There are lots of older fiberglass boats converted to diesel. The 31' Bertrams are a popular, highly sought after bulletproof fiberglass boat for diesel conversion and restoration. Restored with newer diesels they can fetch over $150K. Ones in need of engines and restoration can still command $20-30K. The 28's aren't a bad consolation and get considerably less attention (and for less money) but the amount of space in the engine room will drastically limit your engine choices.

In the 70's and 80's Chris Craft and Pacemaker each made 31' Sportfishermen with larger engine rooms and solid hulls. If you get in the 33-40' range your horizons expand greatly with old Bertrams, Hatteras', Pacemakers, Egg Harbors, Vikings , Chris Crafts. Even then you are far more likely to find gassers ready for a complete diesel transplant which will require everything from the fuel tanks to the engines and everything in between.

Yanmar makes a complete line of diesel engines to fit in place of virtually every V8 gas engine offered. That might be a consideration but figure on $12K-20K per engine to change it over depending on how much you're able to do yourself. Boats that have diesels will generally bring in that difference over the similar gas boat. The Duramaxes have made it to the marine market now and they'll easily fit in place of any big block.

I've been toying with the idea of dropping a 617 into an open 21' PennYan tunnel drive as a river and bay runner. If you're mechanically inclined and up for the troubleshooting your options really are endless.

Are you looking for a fishing boat, cruiser, river runner? What size range are you hoping for? Price range?

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

How much are you looking to spend, and what are you going to use it for?

IMHO the best bang for your buck would be an early 80s Chris Craft 315 Commader with a pair of Cummins B series. I have seen these for sale with very recent motors for as little as $60k.


As well built as any boat, Ray Hunt hull, fantastic little convertables!


If you want an open boat, a Tiara 31.



Or a Shamrock in any form, those are nice boats! All keel drive!

As said above don't overlook a conversion, and Yanmar is the best for this. they make drop in kits to replace old 454's and 502's. Figure $50k-$70k to properly convert a boat, if you do some of the work yourself. On the Bert's they all have glass fuel tanks, so WATCH OUT! Ethonal eats them! Figure on any boat your going to have to change the tanks, shafts, props, gears, controls, exhuast, lots of new lines and plumbing to. If you have to go way up in shaft size you may have to replace the log, and struts which can be some work.

Forget about WVO on a boat, thats just asking for problems. Ethonal creates a ton, I can't imagin that grease would create!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

what are you going to use the boat for,and how $$$fast$$$ do you want to go.The answers to those questions would be a starting point for choosing any boat!

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Red Green "This is only temporary,Unless it works!"

97 E300D 157000 miles
87 300TD ?141k? miles

Put a 617 in your bayliner!

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Thanks for the great info, the boat I currently have is a 19' Bayliner that has a 24" draft. That is key since the water at the end of my dock is not that deep. Right now I use the boat for water skiing and anchoring at the islands in the intercoastal. If a diesel replacement for that kind of boat does not exist, then I was thinking about getting a bigger boat to use out in the ocean. Something with a cabin, that I could use to tool around the Keys. That would be more expensive because I would have to pay for storage.

Based on what has been suggested so far diesel boats may be out of my price range, plus I would be nervous as hell to put wvo into a $20,000 engine.

Here is some past discussion about twin 617s in a boat.

Check out this OM 617 Marine conversion project!

and discussion at the benzforum.com from the actual person who did.

http://www.benzforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10556

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Outboards are the best for shallow water. Inboards are tough, hit bottom with one and it gets very expensive very fast.

Sounds like a 20-23 center console might work good for you. 24in's pretty much rules out all inboards, except maybe a small Shamrock or Penn Yan. I don't really like tunnel drives though. Converting either to diesel is going to be pretty expensive.

Your not going to touch a diesel boat for much under $40k, and thats going to be a project. I know of a Bert 38 up in Brandford that someone could probably get for $30k. But than you have to put $100k into it, still nice boat.

$60k-$80k should get you a nice little sportfish or convertable with diesels, with reasonable hours.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Than you would have a trawler, I doubt a 617 has enough power to get it on plane. Plus with all the weight out back...it would be a mess.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Look for an older 23' Mako Center Console or a Blackfin. Quite a few diesels around.

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www.jerseyplanning.com
1987 300TD 440K - My car
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 107K - Tim's car
2000 - CLK320 100K - Deb's car
1994 C230 150K - Josh's Car

Not to be rude, but bayliners are crap. To get a quality diesel powered boat in good condition you are going to spend $$$. For a center console, if I had the money, I would consider one of these with a straight shaft, not a jack shaft, so you may have do a little dredging at the end of your dock first.

http://www.albinmarine.com/ExpressTrawler/ExpressTrawler.html

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2006 E320CDI- current dd
1999 E300TD - retired
Wilmington, NC USA

Those Uniflite Salty Dogs are stout (Uniflite built hulls for Navy and CG use) and can be found running and restoration ready for under $10K. Look carefully for gelcoat blisters, though.

I wish that guy posted more info. His last post on 9/10/08:
I wish he were more specific. Cruising speed, GPH, cruising RPM, prop size & pitch, etc. It is an interesting project!

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Hattie,
Your posts here always seem as you are knowledgeable relating to the boat stuff......perhaps it's because I'm a "blowboat" kinda guy.....but.....Yanmar makes a line of Diesel Outboards......really fuel efficient outboards.....Not in the huge sizes tho.....I think that the largest that I've personally seen was 35HP.....I don't have a clue as to WVO, but I can assume that you could hook up a cooling water powered WVO heater....interesting thought!!!

SB

Looks like they don't make em' any longer.....
http://www.yanmar.com.au/marine/d_series/dseries.htm

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Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG