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Pardon my ignorance but...if the Universal is a Kubota under the hood,
is there a question of whether he can use Kubota parts ?
I have a neighbor that substituted a Universal, M4-30 I believe it's
called, for an Atomic Four, has had it a long time and is satisfied.
Cordially,
Courtney
rhys wrote:
On 26 Sep 2004 10:51:47 -0700, (mike worrall)
wrote:
I appreciate that this may unleash the floodgates of opinion and rant,
but that's what I'm looking for...! I'm building a 30' cutter, and am
at the point where I need to get an engine in place. 20 H.P. +/- is
what the plans call for (traditional reduction gear driving prop
shaft).
I've narrowed the field down to the Kubota variants and Yanmar,
specifically:
Universal M3 20B
Beta Marine BD 722
Phasor P3-20-SM
Yanmar 3YM20
The first three are all based on the same 3 cylinder Kubota block
which has been around for a while; the last (also 3 cylinder) is so
new it's not yet shipping. The Universal and Phasor are available for
about $5.7K, the Beta (I assume largely because it's imported from the
UK and the dollar is an also-ran at the moment) about $6.5K. The
Yanmar about spilts the difference at $6.3K (all prices are "boat
show" quotes [!]).
I am only familiar with this in the sense that they are quite similar
to the Atomic 4 diesel "drop-in" (yeah, right) line. I am
sticking...barely...to A4s because I have the repair knowledge base,
they are still quite common where I am, I have lots of spares, and
rebuilding the stern tube, mounts, shaft and etc. makes no sense on my
32 year old chunk of Classic Plastic. Better I should deface the stern
with an outboard at this stage, if my adventures with Atomic Bombs
come to naught.
Having said that, I would say that all things being even, your
proximity to a Kubota dealer would be the real question. If the
blocks, crankshafts, rings and gaskets are essentially the same stock
Kubota deal, then compatibility and proximity to Kubota stock--and not
necessarily "marine" parts becomes the distinction.
My information from people doing A4 swaps to diesel is that Beta is
quite good in this regard, and the dealer network, while smaller, is
courteous and knowledgable. Also, there seems to be a effort to make
Beta engines "front-end accessible", which may be a real advantage in
a 30-footer.
Phasor I know nothing about.
Universal spares seem pricier, and what I sense is that the company
isn't what it used to be.
Anyway, if you can use Kubota parts as spares, you are likely to see a
cost saving on those components that are "marinized" (i.e. marked up
in many--not all--cases) to no good purpose.
As for the Yanmar, they may be a good manufacturer and are certainly
popular, but there is no way I would buy the latest redesign of
anything that was "mission-critical'. The best diesel is, after all,
the one you drop in a vessel on Day One and--assuming you maintain it
to spec--starts properly the day 25 years later when you sell it to a
keen younger person who reminds you of you at that age G
Volvo was not considered because parts price / availability *seems* to
be a major issue.
Those damn unionized Swedes and their acceptable pay rates!
I'd appreciate any comments on your experience with these or similar
engines from these manufacturers - or any others that I may have
overlooked.
Mike Worrall
Los Angeles
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619
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