Well, the average gasoline boat engine runs for 1,500 hours before needing a major overhaul. The average diesel engine runs for something approaching 5,000 hours under the same conditions — that us, roughly three times as long.
Of course these are very general rules of thumb because the life of an engine depends on how it's used, abused, and maintained. But I should add that these estimates come from a man whose full-time job it has been for many years to persuade boaters to replace ailing used engines with new ones.
Cynically, therefore, we may assume that his figures concerning the life of engines are a little conservative. According to the same man, the typical gasoline boat engine gets a "good" 1,000 hours of operation. During the next 500 hours, minor troubles become increasingly likely, turning into major troubles as the 1,500-hour mark approaches.
It's interesting to note that an automobile engine runs an average of about 3,000 hours — about double the running time of of a gasoline boat engine — before requiring an overhaul at 100,000 miles. But most of the time, boat engines work harder than do car engines, and under worse conditions.
A well-maintained gasoline boat engine run under the best conditions might indeed run for more than 1,500 hours without a major overhaul, but many will get fewer hours than that because of the atrocious conditions they suffer — salt air, damp bilges, intermittent operation, and all too often, pure neglect.
Diesel engines are built more heavily, and to finer tolerances, than are gasoline engines. They thus accept more abuse and often deliver 8,000 hours of hard work in fishing boats before requiring major surgery. At this rate, in theory, a well-maintained diesel auxiliary will last the life of the boat, because the average boat owner logs 200 engine hours a year.
Unfortunately, in practice things are rather different. Engines like to run long and steadily. The shorter the running time between stops, and the longer the idle time between runs, the fewer the hours they deliver before needing to be carted off to the engine emergency room.
Today's Thought
Life too often presents us with a choice of evils, rather than of
goods.-- C. C. Colton, Lacon
Tailpiece
“What jobs are hippies best fit for?”“Holding on your leggies.”
(Drop by every Monday, Wednesday, Friday for a new Mainly about Boats
column.)
