Kubota 37.5 hp

[Woody5]

Any advice on the purchase of a boat with Kubota 37.5 HP Diesel engine w/ 800 Hours. Is that an owner serviceable engine with easy access to replacement parts? I’m

 

[DavidM]

Kubota makes solid diesels whether for boat use, home and light construction equipment, etc. Parts should be available almost everywhere.

But a third party may have done the marinization, so those specific parts may be more difficult.

David

 

[Gdavid]

Not enough information, a number of marine engine and generator brands have used kubota powerplants over the years including beta, universal, westerbeke, onan, lugger, northern lights, etc. The parts most likely to wear out or fail due to the marine environment are the marinized specific parts like the watercooled exhaust manifolds, heat exchangers, raw water pumps, etc. So depending on who marinized the engine, the answer may be very different. In some cases you may be able to retrofit another brand's parts but you want to do the research ahead of time. If the installation used a dry stack exhaust and keel cooling, it would be possible that engine truly is an un-marinized tractor engine and you would be good to go.

 

[DavidM]

I like your answer better than mine. It makes the point that the marinization stuff fails if not maintained long before the pistons or bearings.

David

 

[Woody5]

Kubota makes solid diesels whether for boat use, home and light construction equipment, etc. Parts should be available almost everywhere.

But a third party may have done the marinization, so those specific parts may be more difficult.

David

Thanks for your help I find that this engine is actually a French conversion called Nanni and the paperwork also has a Toyota logo on it.

 

[Nomad Willy]

There was a marine engine distributor Gallery Marine) in Seattle (under the I5 bridge) that marketed a
Kubota engine about exactly that power. It was all cast iron, made it’s power at 2500 rpm (very unusual for a 40hp engine) and for other reasons I wanted it. But after gathering up my money it became “discontinued”. Weighed considerably more (due to the cast iron)

I bought a Klassen 37hp 107 cu. in. Mitsubishi base engine.
Klassen is still alive and well w another bigger engine distributor. I put the WB trans on it and they made a good team. 2.57-1 gears.

 

[BruceK]

Thanks for your help I find that this engine is actually a French conversion called Nanni and the paperwork also has a Toyota logo on it.

Nanni is active in Australia, hopefully elsewhere too. I always thought they marinized Renault engines, but no. The Toyota mention is surprising. But a friend had a small Volvo diesel, and it was made by Perkins (a big plus/relief).