Hallberg Rassy Rasmus Repower

[lizardheadone]

I am looking to repower my HR Rasmus with either a Yanmar, Beta Marine, or Westerbeke. Does anyone have first hand experience repowering a Rasmus with any of these engines (or others)? If so, what make and model and how did it go? Any suggestions? Thanks.

[AnzoNevis]

I repowered mine with a 48 hp Kubota from Phasor Marine in FL. Bought it at the boat show in Annapolis. Really good deal, takes up a lot less room than the original Volvo. A word of caution, at least as far as Annapolis goes, is that almost no one wants to install an engine they didn't sell you. I have a MAJOR horror story from using a very well known repower place in Annapolis who took over 2 years to install the engine, lost my prop, tripled their original estimate while doing an extraordinarily poor job of the installation (1 ex: mounting the engine on stacked pine 1x4s). Know who you're dealing with. Engine itself is fine, and I probably saved at least 150 lbs in weight.

[brak]

My Rasmus has a Yanmar (4JH2E) but the repower was done before me. All I can say is that engine works great, access is excellent and that's about it. Repower was done by a local yard.

It seems to be a fairly straightforward thing to do, as far as repowers go - but indeed make sure you choose your mechanic carefully.

[lizardheadone]

Sure appreciate the responses. Did the installers have to do any extra laminate work to get these engines mounted correctly? I wanted to go to a smaller engine but the mounts will not span the original mounts, of course. I am doing the work and sure would like to get it right the first time. I guess my question is: Will a larger engine that has mounts that come very close to fitting the original be simpler to install than a smaller engine that will need laminate work and possible metal work to mount? I know the answer to that question may seem obvious, but I also know that different engine dimensions can throw of alignment enough to warrant more mounting work anyway, no matter how the mounts line up.

[PierreMundo]

(I pass this on for a friend from Holland. Pierre)

We own the Rasmus number 647 in the Netherlands. Our ship has a Volvo Penta 4 cylinder MD22L from 1995. Besides standaard volvo penta minor details (rusty impellor house, which is leaking very often) we are very happy with the engine. Is has something like 55 Kw power, which is very good for a Rasmus. Especially in rough weather at sea, such an engine, in combination with a double reef sail gives a lot of happy people on board. Because the engine room is not very isolated from the rest of the ship, I would advice you an engine with a low rpm. Low as possible. This saves you a lot of noise during motoring. Some people in our harbor are very happy with mitsubishi engines. Perhaps also an alternative.

Good luck with your engine project and of course with your great Rasmus. We have ours since 6 years, so we didn't repower by our self, but we are very happy with it!

If you need any other info from us, let me know!

[AnzoNevis]

For my Kubota, the mechanic, who specializes in Kubotas, was able to dig up some proper looking rubber isolated mounts and bracketed those to the engine, that just needed old holes filled, new holes drilled. No laminating. He left adjustment for angle out of the boat for the shaft, and is currently shortening the shaft a bit.

[eherlihy]

Originally Posted by lizardheadone

Sure appreciate the responses. Did the installers have to do any extra laminate work to get these engines mounted correctly? I wanted to go to a smaller engine but the mounts will not span the original mounts, of course. I am doing the work and sure would like to get it right the first time. I guess my question is: Will a larger engine that has mounts that come very close to fitting the original be simpler to install than a smaller engine that will need laminate work and possible metal work to mount? I know the answer to that question may seem obvious, but I also know that different engine dimensions can throw of alignment enough to warrant more mounting work anyway, no matter how the mounts line up.

look here for a complete discussion.

[lizardheadone]

Thanks again for the good advice.

[hgv50]

We repowered our Rasmus with a VolvoPenta D2-40 and have been very satisfied.
Note that the original MD21 is often said to be a 75hp engine - it is, but under entirely irrelevant conditions (high rev, short time etc). Ii is actually a 45hp engine!

Keeping this in mind, you may be happier going with a "small" engine. With our D2-40, we were happy because;
1. easier access for service
2. lower fuel consumption (we average 1.7 liters per hour)
3. save more than 100 kilograms
4. cheaper than a big engine
5. we make 7 knots at 2100 rpm (burning about 2 liters per hour

The Vetus M4.17 is the same basic Mitsubishi block as as the VolvoPenta D2-40. Other brands also use this base engine. Note however that output and cylinder volume differ between different conversions of this base engine.
We were so happy with the D2-40 (which is a 1500cc engine giving 37hp) that we even repowered our Hallberg-Rassy 41 with the Vetus M4.17 (which is a 1750cc engine giving 42hp). Both the Hallberg-Rassy Rasmus 35 and the HR41 originally had the Volvo Penta MD21.
You can find more info on our site www dot syanna dot se

Good luck with your project! Please post back once you have completed the swap.

[redhead78]

Lizardhead, I am in the process of repowering my jeanneau 38 with a kubota, 35 hp. I don't know where you are, I bought my engine in Conn about 2 hrs from NYC, I picked it up 2 weeks ago, at Sound Marine Diesel.The dealer is great with support, I am installing mine. I also bought everything I needed from engine to prop, at reasonable prices, also no sales tax.I had issues for height on my engine stringers that I addressed, the engine I bought was stock from side to side centerline of motormount 16.5", mine were 20 1/4" he custom made them for me. Front to back is usually not an issue on mt spacing. My boat is 15-16K lbs, I could have went with the 28HP, I opted for higher for tides and currents in my area. If you want any info email me. Red