Yanmar vs. Perkins

[skiakhokie]

Of my list of boats some have the Perkins 4-108 and some have the Yanmar 3JH3E and 3HM35F.

What are your opinions of these engines? The perkins has a little more hp which is a nice luxury however, the best luxury is an engine that won''t die 300 miles off the coast of no where with the weather piping up.

I can''t seem to find any good review or comparison webpages so if you know of any that would be a great help also.

Mike

[PaulBl]

Well they don''t make those Perkins any more but they sure made a lot of them and many still going. That said I have a smaller Perkins. Engines are funny things. Well cared for you could expect 6,000 hours before a major rebuild. Improperly cared for they might only last 700 hours or less.

IMHO, it''s not so much the brand but the condition and history of the specific engine that matters more. This would of course include an estimation of the proper size for the boat as well as the installation, transmission and all the assorted accesories.

It''s not the engine review you need it''s a total package. You are only buying one used engine not the whole company.

[hamiam]

While people will swear by a certain brand, diesel engines are, in general, a very hardy lot. The issues with them invariably come down to maintenance. All you need is clean fuel, air, and compression. Take a look at the engines in question; a quick visual inspection of the engine exterior alone will usually tell you how well it has been maintained. Also, ask the sellers how much they use the engine and in what capacity. IE you dont want a guy who never uses it nor do you want an engine that is being used constantly for a low level activity like battery charging. Diesels like to be run hard in general. So, in short, having owned 5 different boats with 3 different brands of engines, I would concentrate on the level of care of the engine and not the specific brand.