Question? Skipjack Diesel

[Reel 007]

Hi,Guys Top of the day to you Dean. I have been following this tread for a couple of days now, good information. Reel good information here is my 2 cents the facts first, I repowered a 1989 28 foot Wellcraft coastal from twin 350/ 260 hp gas to twin Volvo D4-210 hp diesel, weight of boat before repower 8200 lbs additional weight with diesel 950lbs, now keep in mind this is a boat with straight drive and 9'11" beam, fuel consumption at cruise prior to repower (3000 rpm) 22 n mph .9 mpg, wot (4600 rpm) 33 n mph .5 mpg props size 17X16 3 blades since repower cruise 2600 rpm 22 n mph 1.8 mpg wot 3500 rpm 29 n mph 1,4 mpg props size 19X23 4 blades, To the Gentleman that suggest you can not over power a boat yes you can this is boat with the shift forward and no throttle the boat is going 5.6 kph , next stop trolling valves. Now here is my opinion diesel is by far the best option in marine power. Total weight of this boat with fuel (200g) water (30g) gear 3 guys is close to 12000lbs and I am getting near 2mph, to you Dean find the best pair of diesel you can and go for it. my 2c.

[Bank Robber]

Originally Posted by ALUMINATOR

Dean, It is hard to over power a boat and I would also bet a race car. Go fast and burn more. On the other hand replacing yous gas for diesel will only cost you $$$$$. I do not think you will ever be able to off set the difference in fuel savings by changing to diesel unless you run many hours each year! Please don't get me wrong because I run single diesel and love it but I didn't replace I started new when building. I find it hard to believe that by going to diesel you will save 1/2 fuel burn. If that was the case all engines would be diesel. Shoot diesel used to be way less the price per gal than gas but that has changed! I bet you could replace your engines (if needed) with a pair of new gassers and then just slow down when you want to save a buck and you would be way ahead! I bet we are talking gas new for $3-4K each and diesel $15K each.

This is just another opinion to get you thinking.

Thanks for that Dennis. The thing is my gas engines are still good and I'm not going with new diesels I'm going to rebuild a couple used ones. Although I won't ever recoup the money I invest in the new engines at least it will bring the value of the boat up a little and also make it a little more desirable if I ever do want to sell. As far as slowing down I've tried it on several occasions and with only minimal success. I usually cruise out slow anyway and at best I bring my mileage up to about 1.2. The other thing is that some of my crew are flinching at the cost of these longer trips which makes it a little harder to find crew. Shit the way things have been these offshore trips are costing me over $600 a month . Besides I love my boat and love a good project too I haven't researched it fully yet but my estimate so far it that buying another rebuildable core doing the actual work coupled with the misc crap that will no doubt pop up will probably cost about 8k to 12k doing the work myself. I may also be able to offset some of this cost by selling some of the parts from my current set up

Originally Posted by Reel 007

Hi,Guys Top of the day to you Dean. I have been following this tread for a couple of days now, good information. Reel good information here is my 2 cents the facts first, I repowered a 1989 28 foot Wellcraft coastal from twin 350/ 260 hp gas to twin Volvo D4-210 hp diesel, weight of boat before repower 8200 lbs additional weight with diesel 950lbs, now keep in mind this is a boat with straight drive and 9'11" beam, fuel consumption at cruise prior to repower (3000 rpm) 22 n mph .9 mpg, wot (4600 rpm) 33 n mph .5 mpg props size 17X16 3 blades since repower cruise 2600 rpm 22 n mph 1.8 mpg wot 3500 rpm 29 n mph 1,4 mpg props size 19X23 4 blades, To the Gentleman that suggest you can not over power a boat yes you can this is boat with the shift forward and no throttle the boat is going 5.6 kph , next stop trolling valves. Now here is my opinion diesel is by far the best option in marine power. Total weight of this boat with fuel (200g) water (30g) gear 3 guys is close to 12000lbs and I am getting near 2mph, to you Dean find the best pair of diesel you can and go for it. my 2c.

Thanks for all the info Leon good stuff there.

[lokegirl48]

Dean you are getting lots of good information and Reel is correct. Even if you are going with rebuilds you will be far ahead of the game paired with the fact that you can do a good portion of the re-power. That 28 Skipjack is offered with diesels so it is already prepared to accept them hull wise. Have you considered dumping the outdrives and going with a shaft/v-drive (if needed) set up? Eliminating that maintainance black hole would be an excellent upgrade to your boat. I don't know if you trailer or not but you can modify the trailer for the shaft(s). That boat is certainly worth upgrading. In the marketplace they hold their value well. just a thought...

[BiggestT]

Originally Posted by PaDDy Killer'

My Dad has a 84' 28' skipjack with twin 41's and a pilot house. He gets better than 2mpg and has a 22 knot cruise. Performance is on the low side. Its a lot of weight in a narrow beam. His boat seems to lean when you turn the wheel at cruise speeds. You can't run his boat at full power without the boat leaning and then you start to loose control of the boat. It starts to wonder in one direction. I would think if he did it all over again he would do a big single diesel.

Are those 41s attached to DP 290 drives, or just the 280 drives? If the latter, then are they counter rotating? If not, that could explain the lean which would result from the steering torque.

[SOUTHWEST]

Thats encouraging, I'll have an additional 60 hp between the engines and I believe my boat is about 8000 without fuel. So perhaps with the additional weight of the engines I will get similar mileage. What is the beam on your Albemarle??

9' 6" beam, 24 degree deadrise.

[PaDDy Killer']

Originally Posted by BiggestT

Are those 41s attached to DP 290 drives, or just the 280 drives? If the latter, then are they counter rotating? If not, that could explain the lean which would result from the steering torque.

280 drives I belive. I have no idea about the props if they are or not. I will take a look, I love my Dads boat but the performance sucks, maybe thats the problem? Lets say there is a kelp paddy directly in your path, on plane and I turn the wheel a half turn or more the boat just leans but seems to still go straight.

[PaDDy Killer']

Thanks for the reply. I am very interested in hearing more information about your dads boat. If you have a chance maybe you can elaborate a little on the way the boat is set up. Stuff like bait tanks fuel tank capacity and drive type. I would also be interested in how the boat is propped. I would really appreciate it if your or he could give me a call or drop a line here. Thanks

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He has a two scoop Flowpro or Proflow bait tank behind the seat in the center of the boat. He also has another one maybe a 25 gal or so on the starbord side swim step. The boat has a factory tank I think around 130 gal or so and a 50 gal. tank up under the V-birth. I have no idea on the prop size on the boat.

[Bank Robber]

Originally Posted by PaDDy Killer'

He has a two scoop Flowpro or Proflow bait tank behind the seat in the center of the boat. He also has another one maybe a 25 gal or so on the starbord side swim step. The boat has a factory tank I think around 130 gal or so and a 50 gal. tank up under the V-birth. I have no idea on the prop size on the boat.

Thanks a lot for checking back Patrick. My boat does a little of that slippery handling thing too but more so when I have the trim tabs down and only on a hard bank turn at cruising speed or better. I usually don't take very hard turns though. Just checking but are you sure the boat is getting better than 2 mpg cause that is the main reason I'm doing the switch. If your right I can't wait to do this. Hope I'm not being pushy here but If your pops is up to it I'd love to fish the boat once and see how it is compared to mine. Tell him I'd be willing to cover fuel and bait. Even a short test drive would be great.

Originally Posted by SOUTHWEST

9' 6" beam, 24 degree deadrise.

Thats a foot and half wider than mine hopefully that will translate into better mileage for me. Thanks a lot for the info.

[BiggestT]

Originally Posted by PaDDy Killer'

280 drives I belive. I have no idea about the props if they are or not. I will take a look, I love my Dads boat but the performance sucks, maybe thats the problem? Lets say there is a kelp paddy directly in your path, on plane and I turn the wheel a half turn or more the boat just leans but seems to still go straight.

I'm pretty sure then your props are not counter rotating and what you're experiencing is steering torque x 2. Does the boat want to turn one direction (likely starboard) when you let go of the wheel at cruise (auto pilot not engaged)?

I have the single diesel with duoprop. I experience zero steering torque with this set-up. At cruise, assuming no seas to knock me around, I can let go of the wheel and it simply stays on course.

[ALUMINATOR]

Leon, Just to clear up what I said and what I ment to say about over powering Dean's boat. I was thinking along the line that what ever power package he could marry up to his outdrives would not over power his boat. Be it 200 or 300 hp per side would not be an issue. Sure you could go way overboard and have issues but I don't think he was going that way. Also after hearing his reply that he was looking for used his choice of a repower makes a bit more "cents" I also have the problem of a over 5knots in gear with a single 220 Cummins. Big prop likes to bite!!! My gear will not let me go the way of a trolling valve so I am off to plan two being electric or a kicker for the SLOW trolling.

Dean, I could go on and on about all the good things about diesel power but I think the rest of the guys have said it well. Yes it will cost more than the difference in fuel bills but all things have a trade off!!

I wish you well and hope you find a good pair to play with!

Originally Posted by Reel 007

Hi,Guys Top of the day to you Dean. I have been following this tread for a couple of days now, good information. Reel good information here is my 2 cents the facts first, I repowered a 1989 28 foot Wellcraft coastal from twin 350/ 260 hp gas to twin Volvo D4-210 hp diesel, weight of boat before repower 8200 lbs additional weight with diesel 950lbs, now keep in mind this is a boat with straight drive and 9'11" beam, fuel consumption at cruise prior to repower (3000 rpm) 22 n mph .9 mpg, wot (4600 rpm) 33 n mph .5 mpg props size 17X16 3 blades since repower cruise 2600 rpm 22 n mph 1.8 mpg wot 3500 rpm 29 n mph 1,4 mpg props size 19X23 4 blades, To the Gentleman that suggest you can not over power a boat yes you can this is boat with the shift forward and no throttle the boat is going 5.6 kph , next stop trolling valves. Now here is my opinion diesel is by far the best option in marine power. Total weight of this boat with fuel (200g) water (30g) gear 3 guys is close to 12000lbs and I am getting near 2mph, to you Dean find the best pair of diesel you can and go for it. my 2c.

[PaDDy Killer']

Originally Posted by BiggestT

I'm pretty sure then your props are not counter rotating and what you're experiencing is steering torque x 2. Does the boat want to turn one direction (likely starboard) when you let go of the wheel at cruise (auto pilot not engaged)?

I have the single diesel with duoprop. I experience zero steering torque with this set-up. At cruise, assuming no seas to knock me around, I can let go of the wheel and it simply stays on course.

No, his boat stays stright when the wheel is let go. I am thinking its the weight of the two engines. I wish he would have put twin four cyl. diesels back there but he swaped his engines back in '02 and I/he did not know half about boats as we do now.

[PaDDy Killer']

[quote=Bank Robber;1108771]Thanks a lot for checking back Patrick. My boat does a little of that slippery handling thing too but more so when I have the trim tabs down and only on a hard bank turn at cruising speed or better. I usually don't take very hard turns though. Just checking but are you sure the boat is getting better than 2 mpg cause that is the main reason I'm doing the switch. If your right I can't wait to do this. Hope I'm not being pushy here but If your pops is up to it I'd love to fish the boat once and see how it is compared to mine. Tell him I'd be willing to cover fuel and bait. Even a short test drive would be great. quote]

He had the boat repainted about a year ago and we are trying to get the electrical working broperly. The throttle cable is very sticky on the port engine so we soaked it in grease hoping to free it up. I am sure once we get it all rolling he would have no problem.