Philip

Thanks, can do that remotely after taking the engine out of my cruiser.

Was installed 8 years ago and has done its job and still in as good condition as when new. (and passed two BSS!) A seat covers the top of it normally.

Well...not quite as shiny now after a good few oil changes and 1500 running hours, but yes it's been excellent and I've serviced it going by the Beta recommended frequencies - so I'm hopeful it's still in good condition!

Thanks - that is my thinking!

Just to give a comparison, here are 2 photos of the 20hp engine currently in my cruiser with the raw water pump gubbins, just after it was installed.

No worries and thanks for the info - useful to know particularly regarding the re-blacking in the skin tank area (and potentially on the other side of the swim!). Yes, this is the first boat I've owned which uses the skin tank cooling; my cruiser has always been raw water cooled, initially directly with the old Volvo Penta and then via heat exchanger with the Kubota. I think one of the first things to do (after blacking and engine service) when I take hold of my narrowboat is to weld in the second skin tank with the baffle inside, perhaps go for 5sq feet as per Beta Marine guidelines if I do decide to fit the 20hp engine in it after trials. I realise this would render my cruiser little more than scrap value, but perhaps the 16hp which is taken out of the narrowboat could go in my cruiser before putting it on the market...or see if an outboard could be fitted to it.

Yes, change the impeller approx. once per year, heat exchanger isn't blocked and I regularly drain the strainer and give the raw water inlet a blast with hand pump to clear any debris around the inlet holes in the saildrive leg. The engine was built in 2017 so the hoses should be ok, they look in good nick anyway. An Aintree engineer said that the 16hp and single skin tank set up might struggle a bit in situations when full power/higher revs are needed. Knowing where the skin tank is now, it looks like it would easy enough to weld one onto the port side of the swim...plenty of room there. There also looks to be enough room to put a fan in there to provide additional air cooling.

Thanks

Regarding the skin tank, am I right in thinking the skin tank in the picture I've uploaded is the steel plate in the top left corner? If so I'm assuming the two white pipes which go into it at the top are the coolant pipes? On a different point, I believe these boats have a water lubricated stern gland, so is the only thing I need to do about this is make sure the valve is open when cruising?

I do the Severn as part of the Stourport ring which I like a lot. But I'd also like something which can handle the Ribble link if I decide to do the Lancaster Canal at some point. Just a point about the 20hp in my cruiser; under load the maximum I can get out of it is about 13hp because of the deficiency in the saildrive:engine ratio. I have gone upstream on the Severn twice with this engine in reasonable green conditions, and the most it could do at maximum revs was just about 3mph..the engine quickly overheated both times when pushed, at more normal revs it was doing about 2mph.

This is the engine and engine bay/swim in question.

Thanks, excellent info and link! The diagram explains it well.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't think it'd be a straightforward job installing the second skin tank, but if it is then perhaps that would be a better solution than retaining the raw water system on the 20hp.

I've just bought a 25ft narrowboat which has a Beta 16 skin tank cooled engine in it. I want to see how it performs first but I'm considering upgrading to a 20hp engine if the 16 struggles a bit on rivers, or if it gets too hot at high revs to maintain decent speed. I already have a Beta 20hp engine in my cruiser which uses raw water cooling via a heat exchanger to cool the coolant. If this engine was put in the narrowboat and the heat exchanger system retained, could both forms of cooling be used at the same time to provide extra cooling for the bigger engine? I realise a raw water inlet fitting and pipe would need to be added to the narrowboat.

It is Jam No.6. Tier 4 has thrown a spanner in the works as I thought it might. Bit of a dilemma for when I take hold of it, I live in Manchester but moor my current cruiser at Barbridge; this has been a good mooring over the years but the driving there and back is becoming tiring. Somewhere closer to Manchester would be easier, but I really like the Midlands network of canals and would like to explore more of the southern waterways...Barbridge is more convenient in this aspect.

Thanks ? Initially I thought 16hp for a 25ft steel narrowboat would leave it underpowered, but this is encouraging. I do have a 20hp engine in my cruiser, but this would need converting from raw water heat exchanger cooling to the standard narrowboat engine cooling, so not straightforward.

Thanks, simple enough then.

Thanks. The boat is 25ft long with a 16hp engine. I'm experienced with canals but not with fast flowing rivers and I'm new to this boat, having a steered (driven) a cruiser for the last 9 years. I did try TLC Parvis and the person I spoke to was very friendly, but the crane is booked up for a couple of months. I'll have to keep monitoring the situation and make a late mooring reservation at Shepperton once there's a green. A January lockdown will probably throw a new spanner in the works...

I hope not, I've already paid for a mooring and crane use at Shepperton Marina; was supposed to be arriving today and leaving the boat there for 3 weeks.

Thanks, have been checking the river status..looks like tomorrow is out of the question. Unrelated to this, the boat has the tall narrow window panes in the front doors, but without any blinds or curtains over them. Does anyone know where I can buy narrow roller blinds? Had a quick google but it was showing results for normal width size.

Also the boat was built in 2017, is it old enough to require a BSS yet? The CRT licensing page asks for the BSS details.

The weather forecast next week doesn't look too wet to be fair.

Thanks, seems fairly straightforward. The TLC for boats at Parvis Wharf looks tempting, must be only half an hour if a mile from Pyrford. But as said above, it means missing out on the fun of the Thames... I'd explore more of the Wey and have a trip up the Basingstoke Canal too if I had more time and a different time of year.