Diesel Boat

A guy down the street from me is making biodiesel in his back yard. He hasn't bought gas in the past 3 years. He is starting a company and will soon start selling the biodiesel for offroad use ($2.50/gallon). He will also have people who pick up local grease from companies which he will sell for about .30/gallon. I can build a biodiesel processor really cheap because my uncle has a wholesale parts/tractor/anything company and has all the pipe, fittings, tanks, etc. For roughly $1/gallon (.30 for the grease and .70 for the ethanol and lye) I can make my own biodiesel and use it for my car and my moms' car.

This got me thinking. I have always liked the idea of a diesel boat. What if I took my current 2001 nautique and swapped it with a diesel. There is a company right now called Steyr Engines that are making diesel engines that will replace a 350. They also only weigh about 700lbs and have closed cooling (which is perfect since the water is brackish where I live). I know this is all speculation and I definately don't have the money to invest in this right now. But I think it would be a fun future project once I graduate college.

I think it will work. Not sure how well the trans will hold up or what size of prop you will have to use since diesels have more torque.

Sure it could work. They might have to detune the motor so it put out an appropriate amount of torque for a boat like this. Or even go with a smaller motor that would have the appropriate amount of power.
Hopefully they figure out how to clean up the exhaust a bit though.

As long as you can get a wet exhaust for it then it should be a faily easy swap.

I'd most likely go with a fresh air exhaust fitted to the transom though to push the fumes into the water. Modern diesels are pretty clean but bu the sounds of it your be using an older and dirtier motor.

Gotta love veg oil though, I just pour it straight out of the bottle into my landrover. Less than half the price of diesel over here in the UK!

http://www.steyr-motors.com/products/pdf/marine.pdf

That is the engine. They have them for inboards. Dont now how easy the swap is and what size engine would be the most efficient for a boat that size.

looks like the wiring is a little different. Other than that, I think you could match engine torque to your existing drivetrain. 163hp/309ftlb would be solid bet. You could prolly get away with less torque. you know the 351 isn't throwing off that much and how it pops out of the hole.

Whats the price on these? any US distributors?

oh yea! how's your 351 after the overheat? if you have to rebuild anyway, i'd consider this for sure.

Ummm, I painted the 351 this summer when I redid the floor. I took the wiring harness off the engine, and one of the bolts went to the intake manifold. I forgot to retorque it to 30ftlb, which is why I was leaking. Or at least I hope. I only ran it for about 15 minutes before we winterized.

My uncle saw these guys at the commercial boat show. He said the engines are impressive. About 20k for the larger models. I guess the smaller ones would be about 15-18. There are US distributors, at least in Louisiana.

There is a guy in the MasterCraft pride post that has a diesel 04 X-Star. He burns roughly 3-4 gph instead of the 11-12 on gas.

awesome. Winsors are built like a tank. You have to REALLY screw something up to do perm damage. Everytime i have an issue, its because of something i did wrong or didn't put back where it goes.

I remember the diesel star, but i thought his costs were lower. burning 1/3 of the fuel, it wouldn't take long to recoup 10K of investment. couple years tops. The 2001s are damn sweet boats, but you may outgrow it before you get to break-even on the engine.

what does the guy do with the byproducts of this biodiesel processing?

The by-product is straight Glycerin. Mix it with saw dust to make logs for the fire or compost it. It is non-toxic and biodegrades quickly. Another idea is to use it as a degreaser. Many different ways to get rid of the by-product.

Tim, Spencer is right. The glycerin is also used to make soap. He sells it to a local company that distributes it to soap companies.

Nacho, I hear you. Another thought was maybe putting the diesel in my dad's malibu. The boat currently has 1200 hours in brackish water (original engine). I dont think the enginge can take much more. I always wanted a 210, but the wake on the malibu is pretty good when sacked. Adding a diesel would sure improve fuel efficiency and power.

That's so rad! Jay also had a great suggestion about the fresh air exhaust

I have a marine diesel super charged engine in my 05 riders 22v.
The thing rocks,I also enquired about running it on the bio diesil,they tested this in the factory in europe but was not so successful.
I think it would damage the engine after a while.

But the thing runs sweet and also we can load the hell out of it,and it still pulls out of the hole sweer.

Hey Craig! What's up mate?

http://www.marinedieselusa.com/MD170-IB-1.pdf

This company looks good. Supposedly they are direct replacements for a GM gas small block. I am going to see what they cost.

you can get the X80 in a turbodiesel from the factory

It will be a while before I can afford an X-80!

If you look on that site above, they have actually replaced a Malibu Response and Ski Nautique with one of their diesel engines.

Hey Leo,
I hope your neighbor isn't in IL!!!


David Wetzel, Biodiesel and the great state of IL

No, Louisiana. I will send him that though. Thanks.

Leo

The problem with the styer is availibity in the US market. Look into the Yanmar 6LP its 315hp and there are tons of them in service in the states. That is the engine in the xstar mentioned above.

A little follow-up story on that article Bocephus posted above. Doesn't sound like there is a problem using biodiesel in IL.

http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2007/12/29/news/local/1028947.txt

thought the mastercraft was using a vw motor