diesal vs petrol

[dizzyknits]

Hello all

 

Once again I would love to hear your views. We have sold our narrowboat and are downsizing (or downgrading!!!!) for personal reasons to a cruiser.

 

Much beloved has been having discussions with various 'boating' customers at work, who have told him to steer well clear of petrol engines.

Now one of these customers has a quarter of a million pound seagoing vessel with twin engines etc, which makes the 5000 pounds we want to spend seem a bit pitiful!!

 

Most cruisers I have seen for sale seem to have petrol engines, weather it be inboard or outboard.

 

I would love your feedback while we still have 'tartan witch'.... well until next monday before I become 'persona non grata' on the site ...LOL

 

ps diesel....not diesal!!!!!

 

thank you as always

 

Dizzy

Edited May 24, 2011 by dizzyknits

[Sir Nibble]

There are pluses and minuses for both. Minus for diesel is mechanical complexity and expense. Minus for petrol is an ignition system vulnerable to water and a volatile fuel that produces a highly explosive heavier than air vapour.

[dizzyknits]

yes highly explosive was mentioned!!!

[Tony Brooks]

If its an inboard petrol boat you may well have problems finding easy access to fuel in many parts of the system. It is easier in those parts where there are a lot of petrol boats.

 

The BSS imposes extra conditions on petrol boats.

 

A petrol engine may well burn more fuel but I am not sure how much this will actually cost looking at the petrol - diesel differential we now have. Also you will not be able to claim the rebated cost for heating & generation. However hoe long diesel boats will have that advantage is open to question.

 

I repeat that the two most important things - explosive fumes and wet ignition systems (on inboards) have already been mentioned. Really modern petrol engines will probably have ignition systems far more damp resistant than those typically found on the likes of Freemans, Seamasters, Elysians etc.

[WJM]

spark boom

[JonL]

One consideration should be based on availability.

Boating is supposed to be a relaxing activity !

Petrol is generally not available at the canalside.

On a long inland waterway trip with a petrol engine you will eventually find yourself man(women) handling petrol around in Jerry cans - a lot of accidents happen while re-fueling petrol engines.

[AlanH]

The wet ignition problem is not really apparent with an outboard. Our last boat had a Honda 15 outboard and we had no problems in six years. The trouble is that you need to carry a fair amount of petrol because it is not readily available canal side and you have to walk to a garage near the canal with cans and then store them. We always stored them outside but they are still a danger.

[Sir Nibble]

I wonder if aforesaid boating customers are frightened of petrol cars. Petrol is a substance that can be dangerous if wrongly handled without proper precautions, so handle it properly and take precautions and it should be no more risky than LPG. Which is of course another fuel option itself.

[Roger Gunkel]

I am biased against petrol engines on boats for a number of reasons. The obvious danger of explosion and fire, particularly at the filling stage, when it is so easy for fumes to reach a momentarily forgotten danger like fridge pilot light, or someone putting the kettle on the gas without thinking. There is also the more insiduous danger like a tiny leak in the fuel system that can go unnoticed for quite some time while vapour builds up in an explosive mix. Unlike a car, where there is a constant flow of moving air to take petrol fumes away, boat systems are often inboard in comparatively still air surroundings, particularly in older boats. There is also the frequent difficulty of obtaining petrol on the waterways and the subsequent need to transport and store it.

 

I have also been witness to 2 boat fires caused by petrol leaks, the last of which I documented on this forum. The owner was blown 10ft from the wheelhouse as he started the engine, suffering flash burns to face and arms. The boat was immediately engulfed in flames and totally burned to the waterline in minutes.

 

Roger

[JonL]

I wonder if aforesaid boating customers are frightened of petrol cars. Petrol is a substance that can be dangerous if wrongly handled without proper precautions, so handle it properly and take precautions and it should be no more risky than LPG. Which is of course another fuel option itself.

 

I'm certainly not frightened of petrol I am just aware that I have to treat it with more respect than diesel.

[WJM]

I once noticed that my very well maintained motorbike was returning very poor MPG. After a couple of weeks of not having a clue why I was sitting at a red traffic light when I noticed a small pool of petrol on the ground under the bike. Mystery solved. Had that been a boat the discovery would have been much more dramatic!

 

Petrol is a bad idea in a space that cannot vent it out safely - a boat is just such as space. Petrol vapour sinks, and in a car, house, caravan, that means it spills harmlessly out the bottom. Not so in a boat.

[Jim Riley]

what's the advantage of an inboard engine anyway? (oh yes...an alternator) I have a 1989 honda 10hp outboard that pushes us along nicely, my boat being a dawncraft it sits in a well within the bounds of the boat. fuel locker is 500mm cube, stainless steel with lid and drain out the back, long enough to have 2 portable tanks with appropriate connectors, so easy to swap when one runs out. I might also carry a jerry can but technically that would be too much petrol on board! any refueling from tank to tank is always done on towpath. So risk of going boom is minimised. And who doesn't have gas? just as risky as petrol!

 

I have rack on back of bike and also a folding sack truck thingy for getting more fuel. (once had to walk a mile and a half from lancaster canal near forton with neither of these, my arms have been 6" longer since). There are also fuelfinder apps for smartphones that let you know where nearest petrol is.

[dizzyknits]

Thank you for replies so far

 

there seems to so many cruisers out there that are petrol, including loads on our marina, they must get round the lack of petrol on cut somehow, up here we are also short of places to get diesel as well, 'Tartan Witch' only has about a 40 litre tank so we are used to carrying 3 jerry cans around with us.

 

Dizzy

[AjW]

I'm not sure you'll find many diesel engines (especially outboards) on cruisers even if you looked for them. (Yes, they exist, but by being told to avoid petrol you've been led up the wrong path in believing you have an equal choice between the two). Diesel engines; big, heavy, expensive with low down grunt that you don't need for pushing around a plastic boat. Petrol engines; lightweight, cheap with high end torque for spinning a small plastic prop. You could replace a petrol engine with a diesel one; but the situation is the same as it was for the car market 10+ years ago; small vehicles get petrol, big vehicles get diesel.