Vetus Diesels?

[TSteele65]

Anyone know anything about Vetus diesels? I'm interested in a boat that was recently repowered with one, and I'd like to get some input.

[Giulietta]

I know about them. They are very good heavy solid reliable engines. Made by Deutz. Deutz used to make Magirus and MAN truck engines. BIG STRONG POWER

They are more the type of engine found in industrial purposes, due to their reliability than other purpose.

Spares might be easy, but dedicated service out side Europe is unkown to me.

I have many many vetus parts on my boat, so far not one was returned.

Check the catalogue here for the engines

[Freesail99]

I was looking into getting pricing on the Vetus Diesel, I could get little information. I did hear from Beta Marine that they are the cheapest engine sold in the USA. I don't know that to be true or false.

[Rockter]

If they have a Deutz connection, they they will be very fine motors.

I caution you on one thing....
Check the price of some minor and major spare parts... starter motor, cylinder head, exhaust manifold, cylinder head gaskets, etc.
No matter how good the motor is, as it ages, you will get savaged for spare part prices IF Vetus behave like Volvo do.... like £1300 (then about $2400) in 1997 for an eahaust manifold for the Volvo MD17C. The Lister Petter equivalent, and of similar shape and dimensions was about 1/7 of that, and always far, far cheaper for the major bits.
The starter motor... and we are supposed to have a spare... was also shocking.

We normally have no problem paying for quality, but I choke at paying 7 times the price for anything.

Good luck with the Deutz... I suspect you will not need luck with a Deutz.

[Rockter]

The Beta is another fine motor, based on the Japanese-built Kubota motor. They are in constant use for fork-lifts, cement mixers, and so on, so their quality is likely to be solid.
I like the look of them... they are likely tol have that Japanese quality typical of their excellent motorcycles.

[Valiente]

Rockter speaks the truth. The nature of diesels is such that the distribution network for spares, and the price of the spares made by unionized white guys in Holland or Sweden really is a factor.

I'm looking at a $450 water pump for my Westerbeke. I was mentioning this extortionate price to a Volvo owner and he said "Is that all? You're lucky!"

I nearly spilt my drink...

[Rockter]

I like the Volvo. It's well built. I just will never buy another one as the spare parts prices are shocking. I would not blame you for not believing me on those prices. I would not have believed it either.

Their new motors are Perkins based machines, but give it 15 or 20 years, there is no protection against another price gouge.

Once bitten..... never again.

There are some excellent motors around, and if you chose a motor that is commonly used for other purposes, you can't get gouged really.

I like the look of the Kubota. The Yanmar looks a good unit too, and they seem to have good service in drawing up some new engine mounts that will drop right in, they say.

Wouldn't that be something? Mounts and transmission aligned.

Am I dreaming?

[Idiens]

I went for Yanmar to replace Volvo, so far so good, but spares are slow to come when ordered and Yanmar dealers don't seem to carry an adequate stock in NL, BE or the UK.
VETUS also do Mitsubishi engines for their smaller models, Deutz tend to be on the big side. The problem however is not the engine itself, which is usually an automotive product, so big global network for spares, but all the marinisation bits, like the heat exchanger or the gearbox, which are peculiar to the brand. I've been told Perkins/Ford are the most ubiquitous in the world for spares, but I don't think that is true in Europe, where Volvo and Yanmar seem preferred ahead of the others.

[deniseO30]

Are long and short Rmanufactured (rebuilt) blocks available for said Kubotas, yanmars etc? I"ve not found a site yet that addresses that question.

Surely not as costly as a total repower right? Yes I know.. most of the other "stuff" is still old. pumps, injector pumps.. yada yada.

[JohnRPollard]

The late Robb White used a Kubato in his famous Rescue Minor variant (based on William Atkin's RM). He claimed there was no need to purchase the "marinized version". But Robb's talents and ingenuity exceeded those of most mortals, so he was comfortable with this arrangement.

You can read about it at: http://www.robbwhite.com/

Click on "Rescue Minor Machinery Details". Photos of Rescue Minor can be seen at the link titled "Rescue Mino, skiff".