Old iron is out!!!!!!!

[Briankinley2004]

I know a charter boat captain that put J Deeres in his boats. One of them he used either cotton picker or combine engines of some sort and adapted them for marine use. He had good luck with them but he never ran fast that I recall.

[riverrandy]

Maybe I mispoke. This is more of a rebuild, refit, and repower all combined. She's stripped down to basically the structure now. Will be repowered and then the comestic fun begins. I'm bucking the trend a bit on the repower and going with 13.5 liter John Deere marine engines. Can't find another 53C done with Deere but did find some motor yachts and a old article on a pair of 46Cs with the 12.5 liter Deeres. All the owners of Deere engines I've spoken with seem to love them. I know Cat and Cummins would have done the job but I wanted big displacement low HP. Time will tell if that was a good decision.

Interesting idea. What do you plan on accomplishing with the big displacement lower HP? I hope in about 5 years I will be doing a proper re-power, and listening to all inputs now. I will also be replacing 12v 71s and love to know more about JD marine, and you thoughts about this alteration.

[harnett]

Well everyone has an opinion on this and in the go fast sport fishing world I'm in the minority but since it's my boat and money my vote counted most Here's how I see it. Cummins and Cat both in the power ratings I need are 10.8 lit and 12 lit respectively as well as much lighter, ie less mass. If you want to go fast this is good but you can't cheat the laws of physics. They get there by working the engines harder. This is going to mean less life from the engine. Not knocking those engines it's just a fact of getting more HP from a smaller package. If you want to go fast that is the trade off you get. I am perfectly happy with the speed my 12v71N gave me. Not so happy with the oil leaks and engine room space or age of them. So with JD 13.5 liter engines I'm getting the same HP I had with a software upgrade option for more if needed and loosing about 3500 lbs. I know I will get better performance. They are making their HP at a lower RPM too and this is at a commercial use rating. They will be barely working to give me the power I want which should give a ridiculously long reliable service life. We'll see how it works but there still really is no replacement for displacement all things considered.

[rsmith]

You know Tim Powell? He’s from your neck of the woods.

[harnett]

No not personally but we do roam the same areas and I'm pretty sure his wife was my fifth grade school teacher but I've never met him. Small world.

[ageless]

"all things considered", when does resale play into that? I'm not bashing, just curious what your thoughts are on that or if you don't have any knowing you will get out of her what you desire, regardless.

[rsmith]

No not personally but we do roam the same areas and I'm pretty sure his wife was my fifth grade school teacher but I've never met him. Small world.

Tim has a 52 he just Re powered. I’ve stopped to see him and his wife when I visit my daughter down there. It’s a nice area. Tim has a beautiful home there. My daughter is a judge in Richmond county which isn’t so nice.

[harnett]

I'm sure resale value will be hurt in the sport fishing market my boat at 20 knots compared to a boat that may do 25 or 30 I'm sure mine will be less desirable for a lot of people but I've had it 25 years and I expect I'll have it 25 more so I'm not sure I care about resale but it is something to consider for some. My goal is to build the ultimate in a reliable long-term cruising boat that is tailor-made to my needs

[Cricket]

Curious what you're doing for gear ratio and shafting. And the WOT RPM and HP rating of the JD's?
Our 50 c is very similar to your 53c, you're going to love the engine room with the inline 6's in there, we moved ours pretty far aft and with the angled gears they sit nice and low and level so you can get the valve covers off if you have to without taking up the hatches.
Just for reference we have 800hp 3406E's with 1.5:1 gears turning 28x28 4 bladed wheels on 2" shafts.
Pretty sure I saw your boat on the internet when you were doing the cockpit work, did you move the aft tank back and put in ER access through the cockpit?

[SeaEric]

I'm sure resale value will be hurt in the sport fishing market my boat at 20 knots compared to a boat that may do 25 or 30 I'm sure mine will be less desirable for a lot of people but I've had it 25 years and I expect I'll have it 25 more so I'm not sure I care about resale but it is something to consider for some. My goal is to build the ultimate in a reliable long-term cruising boat that is tailor-made to my needs

Same exit strategy as mine - heirs and assigns.