Kelvinman

Ah, I see someone has been looking at eBay. The seller is me! Anyone want a K1? (Sorry no posts in recent months - been boating!)

No no no - the delay is most likely caused by BW having to undertake a risk assessment - you know - what MIGHT go wrong - in order to satisfy the elf and safety police. Once they've done that it probably has to be approved by Mr Brown (or Darling) or whoever, sent back for a further review (the politicians way of avoiding making a decision). This process should be complete within (say) 6 months. Then it has to go to tender. Being a big job it most likely has to be advertised in Brussels (and Strasbourg, Paris, Berlin, Madrid etc etc) with a 3 month period for clarification of the tender documents. Then another 3 months for the potential contractors to send in their tender, another 2 months or so for the tenders to be examined and the contract awarded. THEN (and only then) can the work begin. So maybe the Shroppie will be open for Easter 2011? Cynical? Me?

To get back to the main topic..... Whilst there is little doubt that white diesel is better for engines because of the additives, in practice the low loadings on modern narrowboat engines means that they can run quite happily on red diesel. Vintage engines like mine (Kelvin K1) will run on almost anything you can squeeze through the injector - they are extremely forgiving! Like other members of the Vintage Marine Engine Club I have been running a vintage engine on red diesel for years with absolutely no problems. It remains to be seen how a vintage engine responds to an exclusive diet of ULSD. However diesel powered boilers like the Eberspacher seem to prefer white diesel (although I have been running mine for 4 years on red diesel). I think the problem with the boilers is that they need to run hard if you use red diesel - they certainly don't like ticking over on low power for any length of time. If not run hard they simply soot up.

[best boat builder - for a tug or anything else is surely Dave Harris. He just about shades a group including Norton Canes , my buddy Ian Kemp( it`s pretty close! ) and Brinklow Boat Services. Actually there`s b`all to seperate any of these. The absolute best remember DON`T need fancy adverts in magazines - but of those that do Barry Hawkins boats are extremely well put together New boy to this forum but I couldn't resist adding my thoughts...... I was looking for a solid shell to mount my Kelvin K1 engine and after much trawling around boat builders (some of whom couldn't be bothered to reply) I ended up with a shell from Canal Transport Services from Norton Canes. Dennis Cooper has now all but retired - his son Matthew now runs the business and turns out 4 or 5 shells a year. They are solid, no frills boats built (to my eye at least) with a pleasing line and well finished steelwork. My boat, Catkin, has now been in the water for 4 years and I'm still delighted with her. The great thing about CTS is that they will build you the boat you want, not what they want like some (not that they won't offer advice but its up to you then). Oh yes - these boys really know how to install a vintage engine too if thats the route you're taking. We had our fit out done by Barry Hawkins (this was before he was making his own shells) - again a high quality job.

Well - I've got a K1 in a Canal Transport Services shell - I can't recommend them highly enough - great to work with - super steelwork and they have experience of fitting big Kelvins. I agree with the idea of putting the engine in via a roof panel although my boat was built around the engine, I do have a removable panel for taking the engine out - best of both worlds. Oh yes - the panel doesn't leak either! Stuart nb Catkin

There are several boatbuilders who are capable of building a suitable shell for a K3 - apart from RW Davies you might like to try Barry Hawkins (Northwich Trader style, heavy, with experience of fitting vintage engines) or Canal Transport Services of Norton Canes - they built my boat for a K1 and have fitted K3s before - a good heavy shell, very easy people to get on with and cost less than RW Davies.