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Random Quote: Be sure your right, and then go ahead........
...explain to me again why I should by a diesel boat?
Im back in the market, and with the price of diesel so high, I cant justify NOT buying another gasser. Im looking for an express in the 36' range, and if I shop for a gasser, I can save about 50k on the boat itself, and then save about a buck fifty per gallon on top of that!!
I realize of course the gassers may not have the same range, but when you factor in the savings and price of diesel, it seems it would take quite a few years to make up for that savings.
Please talk me into not buying another gasser.
I have a diesel truck right now and Im getting my as s kicked with the price of fuel.
ditto on the diesel truck part! IMO, there are other factors to consider on the diesel vs. gas thing. For one, especially on a boat, diesel motors are MUCH better suited to running for long periods of time at constant load and rpm. They are not only designed and built to do that type of work, they are better suited to it by their very nature. I would expect better mpg numbers out of the diesel as long as all else remains the same. I ran the numbers on a new diesel truck vs. a new gas truck a few weeks ago and just using numbers, the diesel doesn't even come close! But as I said, there are other things to consider. Time between rebuilds, resale value, etc.?
technically with a boat you dont have to use dock fuel you can have it delivered via a truck to your boat reason being you dont have to pay road tax on fuel for a boat, thats here in NY because at the end of the year theres a form you can fill out with your taxes to credit you the road tax if you use diesel for marine use
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If you fish offshore (canyons) you need diesel for the range. If you fish closer (30 miles and in) gasser would do. Of course with a 36 Express, I really think you'll need diesel.
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There are some boats that just need diesel power to perform. Even with the prices of diesel my boat is still 10x the boat now compared to when it had 454's. My local marina as of yesterday was $4.15 for gas and $4.20 for diesel.
SeaNile, on land the diff btwn the two are a lot more than .05...I havent checked at the dock yet though.
Weakfish, (how ya been man?), idk these new MPI crusaders are real efficient! and are good for 5k hrs if properley maintained. Still a tuff agrument. I remember when I was going to repower the Victory with the new 6.0's and couldnt justify buying diesels....
I know the differences are greater but that's what the marina was offering as of yesterday. They did say the prices change greatly day to day and assured me they would be going up.
The relationship between diesel and gas prices is going to fluctuate a lot over the next few years, as the refineries ramp up for ULSD. There will be a mini-price bubble in diesel as the regulations take full force and supplies are insufficient to meet the thresholds. Eventually diesel should settle less than gas during the summer months - probably not until 2009.
Agree with the other posters on performance, range and durability in a 36' boat, unless you decide on a super-sized-outboard boat.
I'm also in Ocean County, NJ and I drove through a marina last weekend. The prices for gas and diesel at the marinas, at least for now, are within pennies of each other.....approximately $3.55/gallon. But, as stated above, you can have diesel delivered to the boat (as long as where you are docked has/allows access for the truck) for generally .35 -.50 less/gallon.
On a 36 foot boat, I'd expect diesels to get 2x the mileage of gas engines. Let's say, a heavily-built, twin diesel 36 foot express hull might eke out about 1 nmpg, while the same hull with twin gas big blocks would only get about .5 nmpg.
My experience with 31 Bertrams bears this out. A 31 powered by twin 454 cube big blocks would net (in the pre-ethanol days) just under 1.0 nmpg, while the same boat with twin, 350 hp B-series Cummins diesels would get 2.0 nmpg at the same speed.
__________________
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-Stuart Wilde-
Check with your marina. Off-road fuel should give you a break from diesel prices at the road pumps.
We are running a 37' Topaz with 3208 CATS. Couldn't imagine fighting gas engines in that boat. The torque of the diesel is perfectly suited for long runs and heavy loads.
On a 36' Express: If you fish it hard for 3 years, you should come out better with Diesels. The fuel will cancel itself out, and you'll be left with a boat with some value. But you have to fish a lot, and keep it for a while.
Either way, this is a great time to be buying a boat. Enjoy.
...explain to me again why I should by a diesel boat?
Im back in the market, and with the price of diesel so high, I cant justify NOT buying another gasser. Im looking for an express in the 36' range, and if I shop for a gasser, I can save about 50k on the boat itself, and then save about a buck fifty per gallon on top of that!!
I realize of course the gassers may not have the same range, but when you factor in the savings and price of diesel, it seems it would take quite a few years to make up for that savings.
Please talk me into not buying another gasser.
I have a diesel truck right now and Im getting my as s kicked with the price of fuel.
I don't know how you get $1.50 more for diesel.. just got my boat filled at $3.84 per gal. for diesel.. I don't think you can buy Reg. unleaded for less in any Marina.. unless you get it at gas stations in cans and lug it yourself.. but that is a royal pain in the butt. a 36 foot express you gona need 300 to 400 gal. of gas, I cant imagine myself lugging all that gas.
Look at it another way. Those of us who work for a living usually don't walk in to the local boat store and open up a brief case with unmarked $20 bills......We finance.
That in mind, and working a few numbers, I'll assume the average BIG boat loan is for a term of at least 20 years (maybe longer) at say 6.5%. Let's assume that the diesel option cost an extra $40K (that's what I looked at). The extra $40K is going to cost ~$450 extra/ month...before of course you deduct it on your income tax so let's minus 28% so your real extra monthly payment is ~$325/month for the diesel V gas boat. I deducted the entire payment as most folks will keep the boat 5-7 years and in that time most of the monthly payment is interest....so humor me.
It'll cost about $3900 in post tax extra dollars per 12 month period to own the diesel boat.
You WILL burn less fuel and spend less money on the fuel. The average new boat owner is not going to keep their boat forever....probably the average is less than 7 years, but I'm just guessing here. Depending on how much you run the boat will determine how much of the $325 you recoup every month.
At resale time....in 7 years, I would guess that what ever you didn't recoup on a monthly basis, you will make back up in the difference between the used diesel boat V used gas boat value.
Soooooo....it's not costing $40K extra...... it's costing $325/month extra....which is a good reason to use the boat more because the more you use it, the more $$$$ you can recoup
Now go buy that diesel boat.....you know you want it......
Your tax-deduction liberties notwithstanding, I tend to agree with you. Add in the lower depreciation, and the fact that the additional speed of an adequately powered diesel vs a struggling 454 will save time.
My last boat was a 33' express with twin Crusader 454s and I was lucky to get an 18k cruise at 30 GPH. With the new boat, I will get a comfortable 28k cruise - that makes a big difference when you boat from Western LI Sound, and was the primary reason for moving up.
Diesel vs Gas 
