Bargebuilder

Lots of life long smokers say something similar about their habit.

The engines of such narrowboats tend to be the wonderful old traditional ones that are lovingly maintained and regularly polished. They are also often quite smokey: you certainly know when entering a tunnel if such a boat has been through in the previous hour! Some of the owners of these boats are convinced that their exhaust products are not harmful to their health. I hope they are right because they must breath in a huge amount of it in a day's cruising.

You may well think that, but is it true? It's certainly an often repeated statement, but the scientific proof that is 'said' to exist is never forthcoming.

Yes, probably anodised aluminium, but my powder coater did offer a gold colour too, so it might be a powder coat finish; it wasn't a great colour though.

Not sure how polluting steam coal was or how well steam rollers would work with smokeless fuel. I suspect that the exhaust of old technology diesel engines that replaced steam might have been more dangerous to health than was coal smoke, but at least modern diesels are a great deal cleaner than old ones.

I'm not sure whether you were unlucky or I was lucky, but my 15 year old powder coated and double glazed windows are still in excellent condition. Perhaps slightly faded and a bit less glossy, but no cracking, flaking or blistering. Mine were made by a company who specialise in commercial sea going vessels, such as pilot boats, where perhaps standards are higher than for companies that only supply the hobby market; I don't know. These were the people: https://technauticmarinewindows.co.uk/

Perhaps someone should make a 'dashcam' for boats to record such incidents should evidence be needed at a later date.

But would they pass such a test. Not sure if it's relevant, but this table indicates the progress made as standards have been tightened over the years; PM being particulate matter. It may be that owners of traditional diesel engines who regularly inhale their exhaust are trying to convince themselves that it is safe, and not a cause of heart disease and possibly cancer too.

"The new generation of diesel engines for boats have a significantly better environmental performance than the traditional engines. Smoke and fumes are things of the past, and there are around 60 percent less emissions." Lifted from: http://advantage-environment.com/experiences/modern-boat-engines-are-better-for-the-environment/

Of course you do.

To keep full or to run dry for the winter is a subject about which there is now much argument. Traditionally it was accepted practice to top up to reduce in-tank condensation, but the new formulation of diesel seems much more likely to feed diesel bug, so many amongst the yachtie fraternity recommend running the diesel low towards the end of the season and draining the tank completely at winterisation time. Of course, yachts have smaller tanks, but if you've ever been unfortunate enough to have had diesel bug, you certainly won't want a large tank full to polish or dump.

You should see the £120k grp cruiser he recently bought, it made me wonder If I chose the right career path.

I have a close friend who is a brick layer and he earns £250 a day building domestic houses, so saving a little fuel amongst all the other costs, not least the dramatically rising cost of materials, won't make much difference even to the bosses.

And a two tonne digger is very small.

Wow! You either have a very thirsty engine or tiny tanks.

With bricklayers earning over 50k a year, saving a few pounds by turning off diesel engines isn't going to make very much difference in the scheme of things, but every little helps. I wonder if JCB are working on a battery powered back loader.

With bricklayers earning over 50k a year, saving a few pounds by turning off diesel engines isn't going to make very much difference in the scheme of things, but every little helps. I wonder if JCB are working on a battery powered back loader.

I did ask, because they fairly recently sold RED. The chap said "with the new legislation putting the responsibility on them it's just easier" I admit I didn't know what he meant and since I wanted it for heating, I took my business elsewhere.

What are they complaining about, we can pay £2.20/l of RED for engine use. I've bought from a marina in England that now only sells white.

How far off are we, if it is being touted as the way forward for commercial shipping? Presumably tankers and cruise ships will burn huge volumes of the stuff directly in an internal combustion engine.

Presumably you have proof that old diesels only produce large particulates and that they are harmless. I assume too from your reply that you have proof too that old diesels don't produce small, invisible particulates. Even if you are able to demonstrate that both of your claims are correct, the exhaust of modern diesels usually exits the boat low down and behind the helm, so the skipper is much less likely to inhale it. Indeed some exhausts are water injected which is likely to reduce sooty emissions still further. And then there is the noise, which I suppose you either love or you prefer the relatively quiet purrrrrr of a modern engine. At least that aspect won't damage your health. I remain to be convinced, but I look forward to having my concerns proved wrong so I can enjoy polishing all of that lovely copper and brass work.

How does the cost of hydrogen compare with that of the filthy heavy oil they currently burn? Will that be the end of cheap cruise holidays?

I just love old Gardner's etc, but only in other people's boats. All that noise and an exhaust just feet in front of your nose chucking out all sorts of particulates that have no place in your lungs.

How will that effect cruise ships, bulk carriers, tankers etc?

But are diesel engines ever going to suffer an outright ban, or like cars, will they just be allowed to disappear with age? I suspect that Gardner's and the like could be nursed to go on forever. Diesel might become unavailable, but that's hybrids out too. Perhaps recent, cleaner burning diesels will be allowed to continue, but smokey old engines banned, but that seems unlikely. You should be fine for many tens of years, but whether the fuel will be affordable is another matter🙂