T&T: Fuel consumption CAT 3208TA

[Chang, Po L CIV via Trawlers-and-Trawlering]

I have been browsing for hours and hours on Yachtworld looking for a larger boat with more amenities than my current Albin 33', and I have been specially attracted to the Gulfstar 44' late 1980's vintage. Seems like a lot of boat for the money. The most common engine is twin CAT 3208 Turbo with I believe 375 HP each at 2400 rpm giving it something like 14 knots. Fuel consumption is around 18 GPH at that rpm. I have several questions concerning this model engine.
Can I run one or both engines at trawler speeds of say 8 knots at 1300 rpm, and would it yield a fuel consumption of 2.5 MPG at that speed? Would that hurt the turbos? I know I could blow the turbos for 15 to 30 minutes at 2300 rpm at the end of the day, but would running it for hours at 1300 rpm hurt it? Do folks lock one propeller shaft to conserve even more fuel, or is it a waste of time? The other question that I have is whether I can un-turbo the engines to bring the max HP down to 210 normally aspirated. It seems to me that the turbo, and after coolers are prone to failure. I just want a simple reliable engine that is also economical because I am so used to the Ford Lehman 120HP.

Also the listing in Yachtworld varies when it comes to the max HP of the Cat 3208 NA and TA. Sometimes it lists the Turbo as having 375, 320 HP or 300 HP. What is the real number? I like the idea of having reserve power for emergencies; I just don't want to have 1 MPG most of the time.

The few listings that show a NA Cat engine with that boat says that the top speed would be 10 knots. That sounds like hump speed just pushing a mountain of water and going nowhere. I translate that as meaning just use the NA engine only at trawler speed. Is that the correct interpretation?

Finally, there are a few Jeffersons out there that use different engines such as Cummins TA, or a Perkins. Are they any better or worse than the CAT 3208 in your experience? I know I have a lot of questions, but 18 GPH is a new world to me. I am more used to 1.8 GPH!

Po Chang
Albin 33' 1979
Potomac River



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[Rich Gano via Trawlers-and-Trawlering]

My guess is that you would end up a bit frustrated with powerful engines
like 3208 turbos in a 44-foot trawler. I cannot find the waterline length
for the GS44, but even if it is 44 feet, hull speed is only 8.75 knots (10.0
MPH). One review I read said the hull speed was 8.3 meaning the waterline
length is under 40 feet. So I am going out on a limb here and guessing that
waterline length of GS44MY is not 44 feet. Pushing that thing up out of
the water to achieve speeds well in excess of hull speed will, as you said,
drain your pocketbook in a hurry.

I have crewing experience on a Jefferson 42, a boat pretty similar to the
GS44, with twin 3208 naturals, and when I had to go into the engine space (I
can't call a space an "engine room" where you can only enter through deck
hatches and your waist clears deck level while standing on the battery boxes
between the engines), I was aghast at the lack of access to everything in
there due to the enormous mass of the engines. I was sorting out a
water-in-fuel issue and was yearning for the roominess around my own Lehman
120s in Calypso sitting back at home while being burned on hot surfaces of
those 3208 beasts. The owner only once ran them fast enough to get us on
plane (it was 17 knots) during my week aboard because he dreaded watching
the fuel needles sag toward empty. He normally ran at about 8 knots and
1500 RPM or so all day long and has done so for thousands of miles.

I would agree with your assessment about pushing a mountain of water with
this boat a 10 knots with either a turbo of NA set of engines. Not much
good will come of that. BTW, as I understand it, you can't simply
"un-turbo" an engine because the whole works is intended to work together to
produce the rated HP, and many things would have to be changed. Unless you
are wanting the speed and willing to accept the price in diesel, putting big
turbo-charged engines in a hull like a GS44 does not make much sense. If
you are willing to accept trawler speed, there are plenty of people who will
tell you that something around 60 HP will run that boat just fine, but I
like the idea of a bit of excess power, and I bet that power would be far
easier to handle in a small engine space in engines way less bulky than
3208s.

To put a little bit of perspective on the issue, I can offer a couple of
remarks on my recent downsizing and the attendant engine change, not that
you want a smaller boat. My goal was to have a smaller, faster, lift-kept
boat than the 40,000-pound GB42 with its twin Lehmans and 8.6-knot hull
speed (WOT 10 knots) getting 3.3 GPH. My 11,000-pound Mainship 30 Pilot (35
feet LOA) has a single Yanmar 315-HP turbo which spins up at WOT 3800 RPM at
21.3 knots. I like to run it at 2900-3000 RPM getting 16.9-17.4 MPH at 9
GPH. I don't know about the Cats, but Yanmar recommends not running this
engine below turbo boost speeds for extended periods. I would not run this
engine for more than a couple of hours at trolling speed and would then push
it up to 2500 or so for at least ten minutes or so before slowing back down.

We'll all be interested to hear how your boat shopping goes. :)

Rich Gano
FROLIC 2005 Mainship 30 Pilot II
Panama City, FL

[bill noftsinger via Trawlers-and-Trawlering]

While I don’t have 1st hand experience with the 3208, I understand from our son (yachtbroker) and a couple of boat yard owners that the turbo 375 hp is the max hp for a happy engine. The 210 hp, non-turbo, is a nice engine; big in size. The larger hp versions pushed the envelope a bit. I know that a lot of 90s Flemings had this engine rated at 425 or 435 hp but these might not be as long lived as the 375. You can learn a lot about them on boatdiesel.com <http://boatdiesel.com/>.
Bill Noftsinger

> On May 24, 2016, at 10:56 AM, Chang, Po L CIV via Trawlers-and-Trawlering <traw...@lists.trawlering.com> wrote:
>
> I have been browsing for hours and hours on Yachtworld looking for a larger boat with more amenities than my current Albin 33', and I have been specially attracted to the Gulfstar 44' late 1980's vintage. Seems like a lot of boat for the m
>
>
>