Thinking about a John Deere engine purchase?

[seapower]

If you want, get your grandson to give me a ring sometime. I'm in the biz and can possibly give him some insite, if he's interested. It's not the "get rich" business everyone seem's to think it is. It all look's good on the outside. It's an honest living at best (that's all I'm after anyway) and hard on the body over time. Frank

[Storm]

I have heard good things about deere but i have also heard some say parts are expensive and sometimes hard to get, but that being said i think they are good motors have you thought about lugger i know several guys who put 15-20,000 hrs on them or how about qsm 11 comm rated cummins. good luck wiyh whatever your choice is.

When I make my next purchase I will be sure to recite my ABC's. Anything But Cat, Anything But Cat, Anything But Cat..............

[Big Fish Billy]

If you want, get your grandson to give me a ring sometime. I'm in the biz and can possibly give him some insite, if he's interested. It's not the "get rich" business everyone seem's to think it is. It all look's good on the outside. It's an honest living at best (that's all I'm after anyway) and hard on the body over time. Frank

Thanks Frank, will do, I'm sure you're right. But he's a hard working kid, and loves working on cars, and doesn't like going to school, so I guess he's a likely candidate. I've always worked on my own stuff, but I'm about the last guy I know with gas in an 18 ton boat. All my diesel buddies complain about not being able to get anyone to work on their boats, or anyone in a timely fashion at least. Is it true Caterpillar charges $500 to change the oil in one engine, heard that somewhere along the line, if so a kid could make a living changing oil and fuel filters, polishing fuel, etc.?

Thanks,

Bill

[clt_capt]

Is it true Caterpillar charges $500 to change the oil in one engine, heard that somewhere along the line, if so a kid could make a living changing oil and fuel filters, polishing fuel, etc.?

I've only had Cat change my oil twice in over 10 years - both times included engine inspections and other routine maint (valve adjustments, etc) - $500 is cheap - more like $1200 per engine.

If your grandson does quality work, finishes on time, shows up when he promises to, and leaves the boat in at least as good condition as when he arrived, he will do VERY well.

[Storm]

When I built my current boat one of my first engine choices was the 525 Deere. I chose not to go with the Deere because the engine was brand new to the market in 2000 and didn't yet have a wet exhaust manifold. The exhaust exits on the front right, and since I was building the boat myself, I thought exhaust plumbing might be a nightmare. The other consideration was service. We have a terrific Cat service team at the local dealership but only one Deere marine service person in about a 120 mile radius. I was thinking if he was on vacation or servicing someone else's boat when I needed service, I might be out of luck. Since I depend upon my engine to make a living, parts availability and service are important considerations. I still to this day don't know how one guy can service all of the Deere's in this area. I would think he would be overwhelmed. It's probably a bad analogy, but I suspect at times he's a bit like the Maytag repairman. Deere apparently builds their engines so good that they don't need a large service network. Deere puts its emphasis into sales and the engines take care of themselves - so to speak.

One of my other engine choices was the 650 h.p. Scania which was also brand new to this area in 2000. It looked like a really solid, no frills, engine.

My first choice would have been a 500 h.p. Caterpillar 3406 mechanical engine which was about $10,000 less than the 3196. Unfortunately, the Cat salesman convinced me I didn't want a "smokey old mecahnical engine when I could buy one of the new electronic engines instead." Big mistake, the tried and true 3406 would probably still be running for another 10,000 hours before I'd need to consider an overhaul.

Storm