There is also some concern that the newer, light-weight, higher-rpm diesels
won't have the same longevity as older, heavier, slower-turning varieties.
I'm not sure how this works out in practice.

I have also been under the same impression as some others in this thread,
that diesels are so much more expensive than gas engines that unless you're
using the boat commercially - heavy, regular use, day after day - that it
will be many, many years until the fuel savings catch up with your capital
costs. The sometimes controversial Pascoe
(www.yachtsurvey.com/GasDiesel.htm) favors gas engines for "smaller" boats.

A friend of mine has a 34-foot semi-planing boat with gas engines, and he
says that when he bought it new about 15 years ago, the __upgrade__ cost for
diesels was $50K (CDN)!!!

====

Charles T. Low
- remove "UN"
www.boatdocking.com/BDPhoto.html - Photo Contest
www.boatdocking.com
www.ctlow.ca/Trojan26 - my boat

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"DSK" wrote in message
...
Rod McInnis wrote:
In general, a diesel engine weighs a lot more than a gas engine of the
same
horsepower.

30 years ago, that was true. Now I don't think the weight difference is
all that much, unless of course you're talking about comparing Rotax
engines... I don't think they put diesels in ultralight planes yet

In this case, the specifics are in the last issue of Soundings, I
believe they gave the engine weights. IIRC there was not much difference
in engine weights, although the diesels were of slightly less HP they
had more torque and a much wider power band.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King