New engine swan 38

The time has come to re-engine my boat (38/107) I'm interested to know what other owners have fitted and the performance it has given them. 

many thanks 

david 

Dear David,

on my S&S Swan 38/067 I installed a Yanmar GM 30 (if I can correctly recall the model), three cylinder 29 HP, and was a very good engine. Prop was a 3 blades Max Prop 15", a bit smaller than the original one but I wanted more clearance in order to diminish the noise/vibraion onboard, so I went for the 15" with a high pitch.

Speed was 6.2/6.5 kn.

I am told a very good engine is the Beta Marine.

Anyway I would not  install an overpowered engine, 25/30 HP is all you need.

S&S golden rule was 2,5/3 hp per ton, all above this power is cost, weight and consumption!

All best,

matteo (47/069 Vanessa)

Thank you Matteo, I've been looking at the Volvo penta d1 which is 27hp but was concerned that it would be underpowered. Interesting what you say about the calculation of horsepower to length. Can you remember if you needed to modify the engine beds or increase the skin fitting to accommodate a larger diameter? 

many thanks for your help. 

D 

Dear David,

yes, the engine bed have been slightly lowered in order to have a perfect alignment with the prop shaft.

Many 38's opted for the Volvo Penta, which should be a bit cheaper than the Yanmar, anyway all of them good engines.

When I bought Vanessa there were a Yanmar (too powerful alas) with 7,000 hrs, and I run it for about 1,500 on top of those. Last year I checked the compression: found it like a brand new engine, and never found ot a single drop of oil and/or liquid in the bilge!

All best,

matteo

The time has come to re-engine my boat (38/107) I'm interested to know what other owners have fitted and the performance it has given them. 

Dear David,

In 1999 we installed a new NANNI N4.150HE, today known as N4.38, which is 38 Hp. Wery nice, smooth and troublefree engine.

Even if in normal conditions we do not run the engine more than 20-25hp, it is always interesting to have extrapower in case of :

- Motoring against a very strong wind

- Manoeuvering with strong wind

- Getting off a grounding

With this is a 3 blades EWOL propeller.

Sailing 6kt at cruising speed, about 2l/h fuel consumption, which is a 3Nm/l fuel efficiency, we did not had a better efficiency with the original BUKH DV20.

BETA makes an engine with the same KUBOTA base than NANNI, but NANNI is known for making more compact marinisation, and regarding the size of the compartment you should be careful about this point.

We did not have to modify the engine bed.

Best regards

Stéphane