Hi There - I am looking to re-power with a Vetus (M4.35 probably), does anyone have any experience with these? Reliability noise spare parts? Thanks

i fitted a42 hp to my tasman seabird 18 months ago have 350 hours on already including a trip hobart i have since installed a few more in other boats and are very happy with price and service is excellent i would also look at installing there fuel filter system

I installed the 42 hp about 6 months ago, replacing the old Volvo MD17D. I dealt directly with the Brisbane Vetus distributor, who were very helpful. There is no local distributor in Adelaide. I installed it myself, and Vetus was very flexible about giving me warranty coverage without using an authorized dealer.

I went with an up-sized ZF25A gearbox to give me the angle I needed, which they supplied at a very competitive price. It was a size up from the standard gearbox but there wasn't much difference in cost.

Parts are easy to get direct from Vetus, but like all marine equipment they are expensive. If you do a bit of research, you'll find the equivalent Mitsubishi part numbers.

The engine is fairly quiet once above idle, and has good torque at fairly low rpm for a modern diesel engine. I love the electric fuel pump, and no longer have to pre-fill fuel filters or bleed the fuel lines. Just turn on the key and let it circulate for a minute if filters are dry. It fires up immediately every time.
It uses slightly more fuel than the old Volvo, but it has a few extra horsepower so it's to be expected.

What are you replacing? Are you going to need to rebuild your engine bed? The Vetus engine mounts are further back than many other engines.

If doing the work yourself, I recommend taking your time to plan this out well. I built a simple wooden model with blocks of wood for engine mounts in the position of the Vetus engine. It had a box equal to the height & width of the engine, and a round block in position for the gearbox flange. I marked where the raw water pump, oil and fuel filters, alternator, starter etc were, to ensure all was accessible in my tight "engine room". The engine mount position & angle worked out perfectly this way, but it could be a nightmare without proper planning.

Best of luck with your project!

Thanks

This is from Dave Gerr's "Propeller Handbook"


Shaft Diameter in inches = the cube root of (321,000 X shaft HP X SF) divided by (st X rpm).

where SF (safety factor) is 3
st is yield strength: Aquamet 22 is 70,000; Aquamet 18 is 60,000; Monel is 40,000; stainless steel is 20,000 and bronze is 20,000.

Vetus 2a, 7.7kw, two cilynder. Ages old, good condition, goes, stops no worries.
Fenquin is good, at lngleburn (Sydney), parts are no worries sofar.
Fuel consumption around a litre/hour.
General opinion very good to excellent.

I am happy with Vetus. Recommended.

boty said..
think seriously about going up to the 42 hp as if you look at the spec the footprint block size and weight is nearly the same so you get a much better power to weight ratio the 55 turbo is even better with a lower fuel consumption though is probably getting up to the overkill size though going over wide bay bar at 9 knots would be great

I think the 42hp would be a bit big, my boat is a 35ft

Pig Wig what type of boat do you have full keel heavy displacement or a fin keel ? Personally Id up size the prop shaft from 25 m.

My little H28 runs 24.5 mm shaft with a 24 Hp motor . Ive been told once you go up to 30 Hp the back side drops into the water at full throttle rather than more speed because its a heavy displacement design.
Vetus have some excellent products they cost a little more but well made and well designed Ive a few on board
There ( Mitsubishi )motors them selves are a excellent power train Ive worked on many in the earth moving industry
Good luck with your up grade

I appreciate what your saying my H28 if it had 30 hp my feet would be wet from water coming in from the cockpit drain 24 hp in my designed hull will punch through its prop hp to not motor

HG02 said..
Pig Wig what type of boat do you have full keel heavy displacement or a fin keel ? Personally Id up size the prop shaft from 25 m.

My little H28 runs 24.5 mm shaft with a 24 Hp motor . Ive been told once you go up to 30 Hp the back side drops into the water at full throttle rather than more speed because its a heavy displacement design.
Vetus have some excellent products they cost a little more but well made and well designed Ive a few on board
There ( Mitsubishi )motors them selves are a excellent power train Ive worked on many in the earth moving industry
Good luck with your up grade

Fin Keel, but I think 25mm made of something 'stronger' than stainless might do the job for the 33hp

boty said..
the advantage of reserve hp isnt speed its punching power into a heavy sea top speed in my boat has not changed much with the new motor but speed in a heavy sea state has so when motoring in adverse conditions speed remains at 6.2 which is my cruise speed in flat water fuel consumption goes up in heavy seas but revs remain the same with a smaller motor you swing a smaller prop this will still allow the boat to achieve hull speed in flat water and motor sailing in good conditions but when conditions become adverse performance drops considerable so a bigger prop and therefore engine to drive it maintains speed when you need it

Yes thats why i am thinking the 33hp rather than 27-28 same as whats in now, but need to balance the need to keep costs manageable.

PigWig said..

AusCan said..
This is from Dave Gerr's "Propeller Handbook"


Shaft Diameter in inches = the cube root of (321,000 X shaft HP X SF) divided by (st X rpm).

where SF (safety factor) is 3
st is yield strength: Aquamet 22 is 70,000; Aquamet 18 is 60,000; Monel is 40,000; stainless steel is 20,000 and bronze is 20,000.

Thanks, I'll have to look at this further. I'm not too savy on this stuff - how does one work out shaft HP?

Shaft horsepower is engine horsepower minus the parasitic load (alternator, gearbox drag etc). Usually this is only a couple of hp on engines this size.