Pacific R
2008-04-22 06:20:49
While tied to the dock rebuilding fish holds, watching the price of diesel skyrocket, I'm starting to wish the ol' 6-71 did not just have a fresh rebuild on it so I'd have a good excuse to yard it out. I know a few of you have replaced 6-71's with John Deere 6068's and was wondering what kind of fuel savings I could expect in a 40 ft. fiberglass Goldrup. I do have a 6068 sitting on the shop floor but it has some time on it and needs to be gone through. Perhaps a better choice would be to sell the 6-71 and the 6068 and get a new John Deere 4045. Does anyone have any experience witha 4045 in a troller? I have been around the 6068 and know they are smooth and quiet but how about the 4045? Any insight would be much appreciated.
fisher1
2008-04-22 07:30:01
We replaced our Detroit 453 last year instead of a rebuild with a JD4045 turbo. Our troller is a 47 foot Skookum. The benefits were many. The engine size is less, we can talk in the engine room while charging, we get the same speed with less RPM (we changed wheel pitch so don't know how much that factors in). Fuel consumption was at least 1/3 less when traveling at 7-8 knots as we had on the Detroit. The turbo allows us to go over 10 knots but consumption is above 7gph.
kalitan97828
2008-04-22 15:01:36
Ed hanson on the Ocean Gold did just this conversion but I don 't know the model of John Deere he put in. He is fishing at the moment but when he is back in range I am sure he will respond. I know he is very pleased with the change and would be a great resource.
Carl
Salty
2008-04-23 03:11:32
I changed from a 453 to a John Deere 6068 about 13 years ago. I have a 38 foot troller. I burn about 1.1 gallons of fuel per hour over the course of a season trolling and running. It is very quiet and smooth. I have about 16000 hrs on it and still don't add a drop of oil between changes. It is very smooth, quiet, and clean.
I had the 453 for about 8 seasons. I wish I had changed sooner.
salmontroll
2008-04-24 07:46:16
I bought a boat last spring with a Cat D13000 engine. At first I was afraid of the fuel consumption ,then after fishing it for a season I was pleasantly surprised with the efficiency of the slow turning "huge" engine. It's a 56 foot boat, it burns about 2 gph trolling and 4 running. not too bad. The running rpm is about 700 rpm,, and I troll around 300. It sure is different than what I've been used to. I'm still considering putting a John Deere in her in the future though, I don't think you can go wrong there.