Diesels vs Gas Engine - Pros and Cons

I don't apply the length of the boat to this discussion at all. I'm not sure it's ever a factor. B_Arrington's Back Cove is a 34. We've had other members here with similar sized Sea Rays who appreciated their diesels. The opposite is often true too. Those with thinner wallets and without plans for distant travel etc should think twice about this "over 40' must be diesel" docktalk.

I think it's much more about who is going to use the boat and how. Some friends of mine bought into the "over 40'" advice when honestly, at their income level, I don't think they had any business buying a boat with high performance diesel engines. Sure enough, they faced $40,000 worth of repair expenses in the first year.

Some of my closest friends have a diesel 46 footer. I was jealous as various trips took them from Chicago up, and around and through the Great Lakes, down the eastern seaboard, over to The Bahamas... That boat is only 1 year younger than mine, and as much as I love my boat and as far as I've taken her, I wouldn't even consider doing that in my 22 year old gasser 40. Getting back to that trip though, they arrived in Palm Beach on 1 engine. By the time they had it torn down, they discovered that the meticulously maintained engine was toast. Estimates ranged from $29k for a rebuild to $50,000 for a new replacement. The insurance company helped by delaying the repair by several weeks before saying, "good luck with that, it's not our problem." (or something to that effect)

If I get another boat, it will likely be larger, I'll take her even further and anchor overnight much more often. For those reasons it will be diesel. That's not to say that for a minute I regret having my 40 gasser.
 
Just bought 15 gallons on amazon, 16$ free delivery!

Just took the only 5 gallons on the shelf at Walmart. They raised the price to 15.61.
Couldn’t find the straight 30 weight gallons on Amazon for anywhere near that price.
Guess I’ll just have to stop at Walmart again next week.
It’s directly on my route between home and the boat so not a big deal.
 
I am on Long Island too. Do you run the Rotella t1 sae 30 or 40??? Asking because a friend was advising me not to run 30..had a long winded answer that conflicted with what I thought I knew. ..previous owner was running 15-40 but I’ve read enough to understand not to use the multi viscosity in these 3126.

I use the Rotella T1 SAE 30 in both motors and the generator.
 
I am sure Frank W will answer but my understanding is the Rotella SAE 30 matches all of the Cat specs.
As Steve says, already asked and answered. Alrelenty of threads here on Rotella and Cats, and everything related to it. A bit of
Just took the only 5 gallons on the shelf at Walmart. They raised the price to 15.61.
Couldn’t find the straight 30 weight gallons on Amazon for anywhere near that price.
Guess I’ll just have to stop at Walmart again next week.
It’s directly on my route between home and the boat so not a big deal.
I was looking into Rotella T1 30 last weekend, and the cheapest I found was Tractor Supply , which was $14.99. Unfortunately my "local" store 18 miles away only has a couple in stock, you can't seem to order online and have it delivered to the store, I can't order online and have it delivered to my home, so I have to ask the store to special order it.
 
I was using the multi-viscosity oil in the gen. because I could get it at Costco cheap, but it's more a pain in the ass to have two different oils sitting around and I always carry some extra onboard.
 
Had a 31 Signature from Chaparell. It was a gas powered boat. Liked the boat, hated the gas. Moved up to 400DA with Catapiller motors. Maintenance and fuel burn were better. Of course I'm on salt water but it's still a bunch of machinery on the water.
Hey, big boat go diesel. If your going to drag a floaty thing around a lake then do the gas thing.
 
Yeah, the oil volume is something. Costco has oil in sale now. I just picked up 2 3 gallon cases. I would not go with the 5 gallon pails. Everything I’ve heard is they are a pain to deal with.

Ours came with a Reverso oil pump system for the Volvos. I watched the tech do our annual service yesterday. He flipped the switch on the breaker panel then took three five Gallon jugs and pumped all the oil out of the engines into the jugs. As each one filled he simply swapped the hose and capped the jug. These then went into the dock cart. To put the oil in the engine he opened one gallon at a time inserted the tube and filled each engine. It was the cleanest oil change I’ve ever seen. To top off to the marks once the filters were replaced and engines run he used it again. Definitely an improvement over trying to pour gallon jugs into the engine fill. Might be something to consider as a “cool mod”.

H
 
Ours came with a Reverso oil pump system for the Volvos. I watched the tech do our annual service yesterday. He flipped the switch on the breaker panel then took three five Gallon jugs and pumped all the oil out of the engines into the jugs. As each one filled he simply swapped the hose and capped the jug. These then went into the dock cart. To put the oil in the engine he opened one gallon at a time inserted the tube and filled each engine. It was the cleanest oil change I’ve ever seen. To top off to the marks once the filters were replaced and engines run he used it again. Definitely an improvement over trying to pour gallon jugs into the engine fill. Might be something to consider as a “cool mod”.

H

Henry,

I have the Reverso system also. Very quick and clean to drain the oil. I still pour the gallons in the top. My thought is there is still dirty oil in the lines and pump. Why mix the clean with that?
 
I bought 2 six-gallon gas jugs years ago to pump the old oil into...
 
For those of you who are concerned about a few ounces of old oil remaining in the engine before you pump in new oil with the Reverso pump, buy a couple of quarts of oil when you buy your oil change oil then pump out the old oil, let the engine sit for 5-10 minutes, turn on the Reverso pump and pour in one quart of new oil while the pump is running and run it until it sucks air.

BTW, the remaining oil is perfectly good oil, it just has some diesel soot in it, as long as you are under your recommended oil change interval. Verify that statement with your regular lube oil analysis.........
 
As Steve says, already asked and answered. Alrelenty of threads here on Rotella and Cats, and everything related to it. A bit of

I was looking into Rotella T1 30 last weekend, and the cheapest I found was Tractor Supply , which was $14.99. Unfortunately my "local" store 18 miles away only has a couple in stock, you can't seem to order online and have it delivered to the store, I can't order online and have it delivered to my home, so I have to ask the store to special order it.

I wound up ordering more from Walmart online and having it sent to the local store for pickup. I had it two or three days later.
I’ve got 14 one gallon jugs sitting in my garage now. Depresses me every time I go in there and see them because I know that winterizing time is approaching.
 
Never ever mix old oil with new oil. Never use the same oil filter twice. Your contaminating the new oil. Would you mix old tranny fluid with new. Of course not. Cleanliness is crucial for engine and transmission tolerances. Even a grain of sand can damage a transmission. Sorry.. just my 2 cents
 
Never ever mix old oil with new oil. Never use the same oil filter twice. Your contaminating the new oil. Would you mix old tranny fluid with new. Of course not. Cleanliness is crucial for engine and transmission tolerances. Even a grain of sand can damage a transmission. Sorry.. just my 2 cents
DUHH? There's always going to be some old contaminated oil residue left somewhere, ALWAYS change the oil filter....JMHO
 
Read this thread with a lot of interest. Do the higher rpm Yanmars have all the same benefits of the diesel engines folks are referencing on this post?
 
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Read this thread with a lot of interest. Do the higher rpm Yanmars have all the same benefits of the diesel engines folks or referencing on this post?
Got a buddy that really likes those motors for whats it worth.
 

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