You mention lead time. How much time will it take to fab up engine mounts etc for different engines? You can drop in cummins without touching the beds. I don’t know, But most engines use different steps, levels or mounts. Nevermind having to change the gears. That’s another thing to buy and install. Just a thought. And No, I don’t know why he doesn’t answer his messages!
14 to 16 weeks lead time for the KTA’s if you were to order right now. The Mitsubishi’s 4 to 6 weeks. The Cats. Still checking and trying to find some 3512’s. The local Cat dealer is pushing the C series. But I can tell you right now. Cats aren’t in the budget. As for mounting. Nothing is gonna be a direct replacement. The 398’s are #00 flywheel housings. We are going with #0 housings.
Have you thought about reman engines from cat. I know they sell the 3512’s that are tier II compliant that are reman. L.A. machinery, M.S.I. and Saunders engine out of Mobile used to sell them, they are about 60% of the cost of new. Saunders might even give you something for a trade on your 398"s. They might hit you for a not having a core charge, but it is still less than a new engine. I am not sure where you are local at, Thompson tractor might have reman engines as well. I know saunders used to have bunch of 540 gear parts and flywheel housings laying around over there, They had a ware house full of that old used stuff.
Anyone know the difference in fuel economy between the engines he’s looking at? We have a tier II set of cat 3508’s in one of our tugs pulling full we burn about 33gal/hr per side.
The KTA’s and SR12’s burn about the same. 35-40GPH full ahead.
I have HO Penn looking for Cat reman 3512’s Tier ll with #0 housings. I’ll give Saunders a call first of the week. Thanks for the heads up.
[QUOTE=tugboatchief;77370]I have HO Penn looking for Cat reman 3512’s Tier ll with #0 housings. I’ll give Saunders a call first of the week. Thanks for the heads up.[/QUOTE]
I think technically Saunders was bought out by MSI, a few years ago, but they are still in the same building, with the same people running it, and have the same phone number. 251-456-4507
They are the Detroit, MTU, Cat, and twin disc dealer for Mobile. I worked for them 4 or 5 years back in the late eighty’s. A good bunch of people for the most part.
[QUOTE=tugboatchief;77042]The major drawback on the cats is the weak and finicky top end. At 450k a piece who wants to sink another 100k in at 10,000 hrs. [/QUOTE]
On the HD series engines they also want you to do the rod bearings at the mid-life as well. We’re gearing up to do our second go around on mid-life’s Thankfully we have swing turbos this go-around so we don’t have to buy Cat reman units.
I’ll call MSI in the morning with the number you have listed. Thanks again.
I don’t mind doing the work. My problem is the initial expense of new engines from CAT. We have always ran the KTA’s and 3508’s and never had a problem with either one. If the KTA’s were readily available there would not be a discussion. But that’s not the case.
Yeah just spoke with Matt at MSI. No reman 3512’s tier ll. They do have Tier l 3512’s.
Some 3512 engines can be overhauled into tier II engines. The block is the determining factor, you need a big cam block. So, if you can get tier 1 engines and run them to the topend and upgrade to tier II at the topend interval. I believe the cost of the upgrade runs about $30k over the overhaul cost. But not all 3512 engines can be upgraded. The upgrade drops a 3512B from 1650 horsepower to 1600.