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I am in the market for sea ray sundancer 44, 2005 to 2010 (i think), I want to cruise at a minimum of 20 kts and have a wot of 30+
I have read numerous posts regarding these engines.
My first question is how do you compute correct propping on the 6cta8.3 with no (i think) fuel consumption gauges?
Is there any significant cost of ownership difference between the two engines? My gut impression is the cost of “new heads” and the cost of eng data equivalent to the “Q” puts it at a cost disadvantage.
Thank you.
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Winter Reading
Byron,
Since you are here asking questions then I figured you might be interested in learning some more about the change you are making. You are coming from a Sailing pure displacement hull with a low hp per liter Diesel Aux to a planing hull with High HP per liter. There are things like the Turbos and aftercoolers that are different and some exhaust setup items with which you will want to become familiar. I was where you are a few years back. Looking to learn.
I attached an article that I wrote that will introduce you to these concepts and more from one article instead of having to search and poke around. There are links to important Tony’s Tips articles that you can read and then ask for clarification on things.
I currently own a gas powered 40 Sundancer and I am familiar with the Sea Ray line up. The nice thing about the 44 is that you will have easier access to the engines for maintenance than if you went larger, like the 48. The Cockpit floor of the 42/44 still lifts like mine does and you get access over top of both engines. When you get into the large Dancers, the engine access gets tight. Access to the Strbd engine for the all important aftercooler maintenance is not ideal.
Since you are going to be in Brackish/Salt you will want to pay attention to the Exhaust setup(doomed to fail) and aftercooler portions of the article and understand the maintenance intervals. Also there is a great video on Fresh Water Flushing referenced in there.
Sea Ray over propped its boats from the factory so there is some tuning to be done, though I have found the 44 to be not as bad as some of the others in the line up.
My wife and I are still looking for our ideal cruising boat. We may be back in your neck of the woods looking at another Fleming that seems promising. Fingers Crossed!
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Tony’s Tips and Search
https://www.sbmar.com/articles/propping-cummins-mechanical-diesel-engine/
This is how you prop a Mechanical Cummins Diesel. The 42/44 Dancers came with some different engines.
The 42 can have the pure mechanical 6CTA8.3m3 known as the Diamond 450. That boat also came with the 480CE which is one to look out for. Use the search feature and search “480CE”.
The 44 Dancer with QSB engines is a Zeus POD boat so you will want to know that as maintenance is going to have a much different look to it. Boattest.com will give you a good way to compare the boats. The 44 also came with QSC500’s. Those in my opinion are the best match to that hull.
I would not be concerned about the cost difference between the engines as the types of service are similar. Your cost difference will most likely come from the pods and the prop sets. With shafts and props you can tune the props more easily than the pods. With the pods you have to replace the entire propset to tweak the pitch which changes the engine loading. With shafts and props you can tune the props without replacing them.
There are other things at play than the ongoing maint of the engines as a cost comparison.
Do you have links to the listings? The forum can look at them an provide some more guidance if you want.
Let us know
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