marine diesels,What's your pick?

[blackwell50]

I had mans in one of my old rides,I can relate to that.

[anthony]

the older detroits like the 8V92 and 6v92 are the most reliable down here at OI. I know omie used to rebuild his 8v92 himself and they last forever.

They last forever but....they burn a ton of fuel, smoke like hell, will deafen you they are so loud, horrible hp to weight ratio and leak oil like a sieve (did I spell that right?)...other than that, great engines.

[Reeltitanium]

And the occasional turbo fire

[blackwell50]

And the occasional turbo fire

Dry turbos on the old 2 strokes.You can't kill an old 8v53 either.

[TROPHY SPORTFISHING]

inturnally and externally lubricated but they raise fish.

[blackwell50]

inturnally and externally lubricated but they raise fish.

if they are not leaking something is wrong

[jbrob]

kind of like surpassing the hp per cubic inch threshold with gas engines.

I think that is exactly what is going on. To get more and more HP they take metal out of the engine to get more inertia to spin the crank and then up the pressures in the cylinders and something has got to give. Each year the same engines are advertised with a few more HP. When the C-12 came out they were rated in the E series as 700 HP. Now they are up to 720 or so.

[fishskipper]

JBrob is right, anytime you tweak out a motor you cut down the life.. Take the old 671s... The naturals would last forever.. But when they were tweaked with turbos etc the hrs were reduced dramaticaly....... Todays motors are designed to be lighter for gretaer HP to weight and in my mind Cummins has it going on in whatever application you need. But if you want a engine that last forever Lugger is the way to go........ But parts are hard to get. Eventhough a lugger is the same motor as a Komatsu and most parts are innerchangeable.

[capt. woodward]

My previous ship had KTA-50M2 V16 Cummins (1800hp @ 1900 rpm) and my current ride is a 3516B - V16 Cat, which produces 1700 hp at 1200 rpm using 275 L/hr.

For smaller recreationals under 700 hp, my choice is Cummins (hands down) QSM11-670. Over 800hp, I'd go with V-12 Cat C32, the V-16 or Lugger 6170A - 900 hp @ 2100 rpm.