31 TE Single Engine?

[MrJim]

Hi all. New member here looking to possibly join the club. I'm recently looked at a 2000 31 TE with a single 425 HP Caterpillar. Is this adequate power? What sort of cruise numbers should I expect? The owner claims low to mid teens cruise, mid to upper teens top speed. He also said that the engine only reaches 2450 rpm at full throttle but is rated at 2800 rpm. Wrong prop?

I've actually been looking at 28 TEs and Mainship 30 Pilots (both with single 315 hp Yanmars), but the 31 TE is much more boat. I'm not sure I want to sacrifice the extra speed the smaller boats would give over the 31 TE. That's why I'm asking -- I'd like to know what I'd be losing in performance (and economy?) with the bigger boat.

Thanks!

[irishwake]

The 31 is a great boat! There is a problem if it is not reaching the recommended RPM's. What CAT engine is it? My 31 with 450 Cummins cruises in the low 20's to the high 20's.

[MrJim]

The engine is a Caterpillar 3126. It has 1032 hours on it, but owner says it was remanufactured at 958 hours (so, it was 74 hours since reman).

I see you're in Pensacola -- I'm in Panama City. Another thing that concerns me about this boat is its deep draft, 3'-10" (?). Do you have any issues with that in Pensacola? There is a lot of skinny water around here!

[whwells]

Mr Jim: Your concerns with the power of the Cat are not a serious issue. Then 31 is twice the boat having a 12 beam and all kinds of room. Their are 31's wirh the Yanmar 440. Volvo 440. a few rare Cummins 500. Seems like there is a Cummins 450?
I would not be concerned about the Cat's power as they are excellent commercial engines. Surprised it has been remanufactured.but if done by Cat. you can't loose. There are a number of Yanmar twins in the 31te series 315hp
but mostly ordered for the easy of docking and the safety of a back up engine.
Given your choices I would go for the 31 in a NY Minute,
whwells "Howard"
42 Sabre 2006 Flybridge
Former: 35te Albin 2006 Flybridge
2004 Osprey Pilothouse 22

[irishwake]

The draft is not a big problem, you just have to be be careful in the shallow areas like with any boat. Cat has had problems with the 3116 and the 3126 engines just google them. A friend of mine had his 3208's pulled from his boat and replaced with rebuilt 3126's and lost an engine after 4 months. A $ 20,000 repair. When you have problems like that I would tell the owner when you get the boat up to the proper rpm's give me a call. Did you do any kind of survey? If you want to talk about the 31's e-mail me at dt2573@aol.com.

[MrJim]

I haven't done a survey yet, but the owner/broker provided me a copy of a survey he had done last year. The surveyor didn't do a thorough engine exam, but he did note the lower-than-spec WOT rpm.

What performance should one expect from this boat with 420 hp? Cruise and max speeds? Fuel burn?

Thanks for the good info.

[slimjim]

the early Cat 3126 engines had a problem, the ones from late 90ies on up are great engines. A lot of people I know have had 10k 15k and 20k plus hours and still run them. Need to find out why the engine was rebuilt at under 1k hours?? That's a red flag on an engine like this. The prop will have a role in you not getting 2800 rpm. It's a great engine.

[whwells]

Engine Survey: By all means get Cat. Marine to do the full mech. survey for you. Just plain good business,
whwells "Howard"