Buying 2001 410DA 454 gas vs. Diesel

ttmott said:
Don't discount safety; these boats hold a lot of fuel and the fuel system are comparatively complex with a lot of valves and hoses. Then add the large volume of the engine rooms/bilges and the additional hazards during fueling. A gasoline leak or spill in the engine room is a hugely bad situation; a diesel leak is a mess to clean up... These things drive me away from gasoline as a fuel in the larger boats.
Then there is the carbon monoxide issue with a gasoline generator running, especially running all night....
I'm not saying gasoline is unsafe; it just requires additional prudence and caution.
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You can instal detectors for gasoline fumes and carbon monoxide fumes.

Diesel exhaust fumes are said to be carcinogenic.

The good news is you get to choose your poison.
 
Great Lakes said:
Wait, thats it, it’s over?
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naw - we can keep this going!

So one of the reasons that I have gassers is that in the late 90's, failed Cats were all over the property of our marina. I'd get to the boat on a Friday afternoon and my parking spot would be taken up by a big white engine that had just eaten a valve or wore away its cylinder walls.

Another reason (and a bigger one) is wealth. Well, lack of it. When one or even both of my gassers needs to be hoisted out of the engine bay, I'm gonna be bummed. I'll write a check and pour a drink and get on with life.

I can't even count how many friends and neighbors I have who have suffered catastrophic diesel failure that cost them enough to put me into debt and depression. Some of my closest friends heard an unexpected bang last year. A $32,000 bang. I could write a check for that, but it won't clear.
 
Strecker25 said:
I'm not ashamed to say one of the reasons I bought diesel was because I think they're cool and I like the sounds they make. Weird? Maybe :)
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Someday I aspire to have a diesel Sea Ray 480 DA, 2006-2008 +/-, my dream boat (unless I go sport-fish next). I'll keep copious records once acquired. When the time is right I'll swing along one of these gas vs diesel debate threads and share my real world data with all who care to consume it. "see, fellas, I'm saving $289.36 annually with these diesels. I KNEW it was the best purchase of my life. Crap, wait, I need 30 gallons of oil again his fall...son of a...". :):)
 
Stee6043 said:
Someday I aspire to have a diesel Sea Ray 480 DA, 2006-2008 +/-, my dream boat (unless I go sport-fish next). I'll keep copious records once acquired. When the time is right I'll swing along one of these gas vs diesel debate threads and share my real world data with all who care to consume it. "see, fellas, I'm saving $289.36 annually with these diesels. I KNEW it was the best purchase of my life. Crap, wait, I need 30 gallons of oil again his fall...son of a...". :):)
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LOl! I convince myself that they’re more economical but the truth is I just like them. I didn’t need a diesel truck either, yet one sits in my driveway. Sometimes it’s worth it just to buy something because I want it
 
Strecker25 said:
LOl! I convince myself that they’re more economical but the truth is I just like them. I didn’t need a diesel truck either, yet one sits in my driveway. Sometimes it’s worth it just to buy something because I want it
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On this we can agree!!! I have a 6.2 gasser in my Sierra...for commuting. I wish I were man enough to have gotten the HD with the diesel. I just felt it would be "over the top" silly for a guy who doesn't own a single thing that can be towed to have a 3/4ton diesel pickup truck :)
 
Strecker25 said:
LOl! I convince myself that they’re more economical but the truth is I just like them. I didn’t need a diesel truck either, yet one sits in my driveway. Sometimes it’s worth it just to buy something because I want it
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+1. In my driveway sits a diesel Jeep gran cherokee
 
MonacoMike said:
It is dumb to buy a diesel! There I said it!
Not traveling yet... but planning on the Great Loop after I retire.

“and I love the smell of diesel in the morning “...











If you are not traveling and racking up hours. LOL.
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Man I wish I could have seen this thread earlier. I could have helped Stee and Roller out. My best year is about 78 hours. I've never come close to $11,000 annual fuel cost. I must let it idle to much.
I'm not saying it can't happen, but I think 100 hours a year on the Great Lakes is over estimating. I might miss 1 or 2 weekends a year and we pretty much leave the dock every weekend, most weekends twice. I usually do 1 or 2 semi long trips a year and I have yet to put 100 hours on the boat in a year.
I have tracked my fuel usage every year I've owned the boat and I average between .74 and .76 mpg.
 
I try and do at least two trips to the Bahamas a year. We burn right at about $3000 over 10 days on those trips in the 52DB. Then I would say in weekend use and jaunts up and down the coast we burn another $3000 in fuel per year. That is a lot of use; here in Fl is year around boating. So, if we have a successful boating year that is $9000 in fuel....
 
ttmott said:
I try and do at least two trips to the Bahamas a year. We burn right at about $3000 over 10 days on those trips in the 52DB. Then I would say in weekend use and jaunts up and down the coast we burn another $3000 in fuel per year. That is a lot of use; here in Fl is year around boating. So, if we have a successful boating year that is $9000 in fuel....
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How many hours a year do you average ?
 
You guys are so entertaining that I couldn't help but jump in. There is something that I don't think anyone is addressing in the Gas vs Diesel debate. And that is, from a maintenance standpoint, there are two types of boaters, those who fix things themselves and those who don't. So when comparing two guys and both don't fix things themselves, I have no doubt the Diesel boat is going to be a hell of lot more in cost to maintain. When comparing two guys who both fix their boats themselves, I think the costs would be more in line with each other. Obviously a catastrophic failure on a diesel boat is going to be way more to fix than the same failure on a gas boat. That being said, If I was going to buy a very old boat and knew nothing about how it had been maintained, I would be way more inclined to purchase a gas boat versus a Diesel boat. Just one boaters opinion.
 
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Blueone said:
How many hours a year do you average ?
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Running time? Maybe 125 hours. Definitely less than 200 hours. The oil gets changed every spring and only twice was over 200 hours on the oil. One year we did two trips to the Bahamas and one down to Key West; that was one year over 200 hours.
 
I simply own both. Not inclined to argue with myself, so in my world, we call it a tie.
There is no other sound like a 3208 catching on the first half revolution in a small canal, on a boat not trying to be silent.
 
370Dancer said:
I simply own both. Not inclined to argue with myself, so in my world, we call it a tie.
There is no other sound like a 3208 catching on the first half revolution in a small canal, on a boat not trying to be silent.
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Had a 68 Torino GT like that or better. Turn the key, you heard the bendix hit the flywheel and the engine was running. Hot, cold, been sitting for a week or two, didn't matter. Crazy!
 
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