Regis.....I would like to POLL the audience

[Harry Babb]

A good friend/high school classmate is interested in buying a boat.

A 42 Bertram showed up on Craigslist and the boat is very near our town.

Will you engine guys tell me the pros and cons of the 903 Cummins engines? Good......bad......indifferent?????

He tells me that the boat looks very well maintained and is relying on me for engine advise......and as far as the Cummins engines I have not been around them enough to give him good feedback.

Sure would appreciate your opinions.

Thanks

hb

http://mobile.craigslist.org/boa/3436337661.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jim M.]

We had a 38' wide body with 903's It would cruse about 15 kts. We sold the engines to a guy in Costa Rica who liked them because you could rebuild them in the boat. I have no experience with that. But if true could be an advantage. Replaced them with Volvo's TAMD 63's if I recall. The boat was much faster and a lot lighter.
Jim

[Harry Woods]

Harry,
The cummins 903's go back to the 70's. The 903 was the natural configuration at,I believe 300 HP. The Coast Guard used them on the small boats. The VTA 903 turned 370 HP and had less reliability. The B42's with JT6-71 ti's lasted longer with less speed than the VTA903's. These motors are old iron and probably hard to find parts. Your friend would have to know how to spin a wrench or have a mechanic on retainer.
Harry

[bob lico]

Harry the 42' Bertram is a nice platform however those " old iron" 903's Are worth about 200.00 in scrap minus transportation and labor however they now have QSM cummins remains. Available that would almost double the cruise speed of those old 903's.

[IRGuy]

With the present engines one has 3,500 hrs and one has 12 hours.. I assume someone recently rebuilt the 12 hour one, so somehow they found parts. I wonder if the best thing to consider would be to have the same people rebuild the 3,500 hour engine as well, then you would have two out of date but fresh engines. Then run them for a few years until one needed major repairs, then look at replacing both. I would hate to see somebody replace a 12 hour old rebuilt engine. They apparently ran since the 70's or 80's.. rebuilt they both might run another 10-15 or maybe more years.

If the boat is as good as it looks, it might not be a rocket ship compared to replacing the 903s, but for $100,000 plus the cost of one engine rebuild it might be a very nice boat with a long life ahead for the engines.

[PeterPalmieri]

Harry,

This one is for sale by the same guy I bought my 31 from with 903 VTA motors for 60k. Bob can probably spit on that boat from his marina, the interior looks nice. I have no idea how it compares to the one you posted up but a big difference in price.

Pete

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/ ... 68151&url=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Harry Babb]

Thanks for the feedback and info my friends.

One of the things I am wondering about is fuel consumption......are these engines fuel hogs?? I am sure the QSM's are much more fuel efficient......how do they compare.....My guess is that the 903's will burn somewhere in the 15 GPH range.....each

A mechanic here locally told me that the 903's are bad about burning valves.......any other opinions about this???

As long as the 903's are dependable I think my buddy may be interested.

hb

[bob lico]

Harry the 903's. are fuel hogs, weight just about double QSM ,and yes burn valves with less than half the fuel economy at same speed and worst the exhaust layout bound to self destruct unless somebody spent a million and made all bronze exhaust.

[captbone]

I have more hours then I care to count running several 41ft UTB's with VT903s.

They are heavy, outdated and drink fuel.

But they always started and brought us home every time in horrible conditions. I found them to be extremely reliable and we ran them very hard.

I liked them but then again I like 6-71s and outboards also.

With the USCG retiring 190+ UTBs in the past two years, there is a surplus of spares and running takeouts.

My 2 cents.

[Carl]

It's a trade off, thirsty motors or spend the cash for thrifty fuel sipping motors...all else being equal.

[bob lico]

Harry some years back I got myself in a unexpected construction situation in NYC limits . One pick 5g to move crane to site , 5 g to set up crane 10g to make 1 pick a 5 g to break down crane. Union crane company with proper creditial. So I sold myself to the devil to bail out job ,that is maintain 43' hat. With vt 903's. I agree with capt. Bone they always started but loud as hell and bitch to work on in tight compartment . Silly in this modern diesel era to put up with ball breaking labor.

[mike ohlstein]

Hello, Bay Crane.

May I have the name and social security number of your first born please?

[bob lico]

Mike how did you know?

[jspiezio]

Bob, I heard that Isacksen flipped there crane into the drink last weekend. The # I heard quoted by Bay to set their own crane then lift out the one in the drink was $100,000+. This is all hear say but I'll bet it's not too far off, and if anything on the low side.

[mike ohlstein]

Mike how did you know?

I've built buildings, and I have a friend who used to be an oiler.

He started the crane in the morning, shut it down at noon. Checked the oil, and filled if needed. Started the crane at 1:00, and shut it down at the end of the day. The rest of the day he did nothing. Made damn good money, too.

[bob lico]

Mike the master mech ,crane operator at World Trade Center made $746,000 .not bad for a day waxing his corvette.this is big business when the landlord calls you down to the office " Phoenix ha,you guys walk on water the best there is " oh, oh this is going to be a real bad day maybe 50 percent of business . " I will give him a night with wife but no bribe" remember the use off freight elevator in proposal-------------- forget about it!,,,,,!
Jspiezio both lance and Jeff from isacksen are best friends I have. Not spoke. To them since Sandy. A lot of city gold chains pissed at me from hurricane incident. I was not even there! the 31 bertram is a Goddess that cannot be replaced so my son was taught. Not a monetary thing . Prior to hurricane they put Phoenix and the rybovich on the high ground they use for boat displays by front gate .chain boat stands side to side and front to back then chain to 10' steel fence with brick columns . Then they put a 43' carver in back side wards to take Inpack from floating boats and wooden pilelings ( like torpedoes) anyways 95percent of the boat are damaged except Phoenix and the rybovich needless to say quite a bit controversy !,,,,,,,

[jspiezio]

Mike the master mech ,crane operator at World Trade Center made $746,000 .not bad for a day waxing his corvette.this is big business when the landlord calls you down to the office " Phoenix ha,you guys walk on water the best there is " oh, oh this is going to be a real bad day maybe 50 percent of business . " I will give him a night with wife but no bribe" remember the use off freight elevator in proposal-------------- forget about it!,,,,,!
Jspiezio both lance and Jeff from isacksen are best friends I have. Not spoke. To them since Sandy. A lot of city gold chains pissed at me from hurricane incident. I was not even there! the 31 bertram is a Goddess that cannot be replaced so my son was taught. Not a monetary thing . Prior to hurricane they put Phoenix and the rybovich on the high ground they use for boat displays by front gate .chain boat stands side to side and front to back then chain to 10' steel fence with brick columns . Then they put a 43' carver in back side wards to take Inpack from floating boats and wooden pilelings ( like torpedoes) anyways 95percent of the boat are damaged except Phoenix and the rybovich needless to say quite a bit controversy !,,,,,,,

Well that could get ugly really fast.

[bob lico]

Friend came in from bridge construction project with World War Two LST went up river ,drop the door and inside was escavator grab onto crane pull it over crawler thread then pull into bay of LST. Total time one hour. Freebie ( Called Bay crane thank you but no thank you).

[bob lico]

Harry back on the subject.cummins offers a dirt cheap 450 hp "c" series at 450 hp as a reman. Dirt cheap in addition to half the weight of the 903's . Big gain in all around performance and they are mechanical probably the most reliable diesel in resent years.

[Pete Fallon]

Harry,
The 903's in the mid 70's to mid 80's were the ideal no- see-um control engines, they will run on the pins all day, but the fuel dock had to nearby at the end of a long day of fishing. We had them in the ladder trucks on the fire department, it was hard to see were the fire was sometimes because of the smoke coming from the tractor section of the truck. As long as you kept them full of oil they ran forever but they were very slow in vessels in the 40' to 50' range. Cummins remans QSM 11's 610hp can be programed up to 645hp, they are the ideal repower for that boat, cost of each engine in the mid 30's with $3,800 core charge, in Southeast region. Tell your buddy to make a low offer or keep looking for something with better power.
Pete Fallon