3208 Cat gillnet boat

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My Brother has a 3208 cat engine in his fishing boat. I believe it is about 375 HP turbo.

I am not sure how many gallons or hours a season. Maybe 700 hrs.
He is talking rebuild time, I am thinking new would be the way to go. Especially with gas prices out in the boonies off of the barges where he buys it. The fuel is sold by Trident Fisheries at what ever price they see fit.

Does it not make sense with high fuel to just buy a more effiecient diesel?
 
Seems like a simple economic decision. How much to rebuild? How many gallons used with rebuild?

How much is a new engine and what is the improvement in fuel usage?

It might have to be a big improvement to get a payback, otoh fuels is EXPENSIVE.
 
Hi,
oilboy123 - It is an "economics" decision. Newer "electronic" engine families from Cummins and Detroit-MTU will be more fuel efficient

As well, extended Warranties ensure some years of trouble free operation. Some people will argue that the 3208 engine is NOT a good rebuild prospect
 
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How do you know if it is a throw away block. It had a head gasket replaced under warranty by the first owner of the boat.

My brother had a head gasket go out in 2004. So it is the second time now. I don't know if it was the same one though.

I will be fishing with him this year, hope I live thru it. I will also be doing an Auto-RX dose.

Doug could you explain why it might not be a good engine to rebuild? Thanks Pat
 
I don't know who sponsored it but a couple of years ago there was gov't sponsored programs to re-engine boats. A party boat I went out on was having both big cat engines replaced for a very discounted cost. The idea was that newer engines are more fuel efficient and less polluting, probably a state program
It might be worth it to look around for that type of program.
 
Hi,
oilboy123 - The 3208 had a reputation in the Trucking Industry as a not very robust engine. This was partly because people expected a lot from a low capacity engine and tried for unrealistic power outputs
In this country they were viewed as a "throw away" engine as it was cheaper to replace them than to rebuild. They were also a "dirty" engine and better suited (they have a low profile) to a boat application where the power output is more constant and the need to extract more power is not as great. As well, fuel efficiency was less important in that application. This engine family is around 30 years old

As I said earlier it is all in the economics of your (his) options
 
If he were to replace it would you guys have any recommended engines in mind? That would have good fuel efficiency and not be expensive to maintain. Maybe a better question what other engines are comparable to it?

It is a 32 foot Jumbo Wegley Gillnet boat. It can be loaded up to about 15000lbs of fish, plus the weight of the boat.

Some of the other jumbo wegley's I see have up to 550 HP engines. Not just 3208 cats. I see a couple of other brand boats that have converted from Diesel V-8s to inline 6 engines.

They would be taller and the floor needed to be raised some. My brother in law had a John Deere inine 6 in a pleasure boat and I noticed one of the fishing boats had one done as a upgrade.
 
Hi,
oilboy123 - You are best to seek the services of a Marine engine installer as to the suitability of any engine to that application

The 3208 was popular because of its low height/weight/hp ratings

CAT told me Friday that exchange 3208 engines are still being sold here in OZ but that you need to supply a core. It may be the same in NA too
 
I see you're in Salem. Up in the Seattle market, NC Marine does a huge amount of marine repower work including 3208's. There's got to be someone in Portland I'd bet.
 
How many hours on this 3208? I have worked around them for years in Cat forklifts. Cat 225, 250, 300, and 330 series all utilized this reliable motor. They did have some flaws, oil leaks around the crank seal and a common antifreeze leak on the back side of the heads due to defective seal material. Other than that they would last twice as long as a Cummings of relative displacement. We would change oil and filters at 250 hour intervals. Oil used was BP bulk 15w-40 year-round. These lifts were giving us service life of 30,000 hours before they were spent. As stated above they leaked their share of oil around the crank seals, some a gallon per day but they would run a very long time. These lumber lifts were run 16 hours per day 6 days per week. In some of our Taylor lifts the Cummings engines would need swapped at 12,000 hours. In my opinion this was a excellent motor. Some may think the hours I gave above are false but they are very true.
 
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The life of an engine is very easy in a forklift compared to the same engine in a boat. I have seen 25,000 plus hours ans still running pretty good on Nissan and Mitsubishi LPG warehouse size forklifts.
 
Is there any work that can be done to the hull to smooth things and improve its flow through the water? I see a lot of fish boats that are horrid. Keel coolers are like towing a parachute--use an internal heat exchanger. Some of the rudders and hardware around the shaft are big drag items. Does he run fast enough for self-polishing bottom paint to self-polish? Does he have the bottom cleaned by a diver right before fishing season starts? Can he run any slower? Is his prop optimized for his engine, hull, and his speed & load?

I'd check all these items and anything else to smooth the boat's flow through the water before I'd even consider replacing an engine in decent condition.

I've seen 700' (25 knot) container ships with smoother bottoms and fewer protrusions underwater than many fishboats. We even polished the propeller blades for smoother water flow and better fuel economy.
 
I realize this is an old thread but I figured I respond anyway. The 3208 was considered even by CAT a throw away engine, at least the early ones. They later improved the design with such features as three ring pistons, etc.

A rebuild on a 3208 is fairly inexpensive and easy to do. CAT dealers will rebuild them and they still offer an exchange program for them.

The 3116 would not, IMO, be of much benefit as far as an upgrade would be concerned. They are of similar power outputs and will consume similar amounts of fuel. The 3116 would be a bit better on fuel, but the cost of repowering would make it a poor choice.

If I were to repower I'd probably go with a bit larger modern engine. Possibly a QSB or QSL Cummins would be a great engine of choice. Both have a good reputation in both on-road and marine applications. The on-road versions of them would be the ISB and ISL respectively. The B model would be similar in power to the 3208. QSB's can be had mechanically to 370hp and the electronic ones to around 400HP. The QSL can be had all the way up to 500+HP.

IMO the QSL has some advantages in that it is a roller can, wet-liner engine. But it is a bit bigger physically than the 3208 so fitment may be an issue.

Perkins has several engines that would be a good replacement if you wanted to upgrade to a more modern engine. The 3126(aka C7) and C9 are electronic CAT engines that are also similar in power and foot print to the 3208. The C9 is a bit bigger, similar in size and power ratings of the QSL.

NC Power is a good outfit, I've dealt with them quite a bit as well as NC Machinery. I believe Craig is still at NC PowerSystems and was a good guy to deal with.
 
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