Post 53 with Cats

I was asked to start a post on a Cat powered 53 so here goes.

I believe my 07 must have been one of the last ones built before they closed. It was built for the person I bought it from with C18 acert cats at his request. Most of the 53s were built with Mans from what I understand. I have a number of friends with Mans in a variety of boats, and depending on the models, they can be great engines, although expensive to maintain, and maintenance is critical, as they are not very forgiving. Here's a photo of us running back in last weekend shot from a drone.

I have been extremely happy with the Cats, and from what I understand, are one of the most successful Cats built.

Also because they are inline 6s, there is a lot of space in the 53s engine room.

They are rated at 1015 hp at 2300rpm. At 2000 which seems to be the sweet spot they push her about 29 kts burning about 80 per hour. The boat runs great, does not pound, and is fairly dry, although it's not a Carolina boat which tend to ride better and are dryer because of the wide flair. But it's accommodations, and fit and finish is top notch, and since fishing is only part of its use, I'm very happy with it.

I'd be happy to answer any questions I can.

Here is a good article I found when I was researching engines in this HP range.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. I am bias towards the Cats due to positive experiences with the C18s and others, and some issues I had some time ago with mechanical Mans. I realize the new engines are not the same, but once you are burned it takes a while to change. I know lots of guys with good Man experience on their boats. Someone once told me they are like a Ferrari, and need to be fine tuned constantly to run good, and when are, they run well. The problem is when you buy a used boat, you never really know how they have been maintained and run regardless of what you are told.

Comparing the V10-1100 to the C18
Talking accommodation encroachment, in bobtail form (sans gearbox) the V10 is 1610mm long, 1230 wide and 1183mm high, whereas the bobtail C18 measures 1845 x 1058 x 1159mm. At 1750kg bobtail the V10 is 164kg heavier but at least the fitting of high-pressure common-rail injection has lifted the peak torque output.

The V10 produces a peak of 3700Nm from only 1300rpm right out to the maximum continuous cruising rpm of 2100. And even at 2300rpm, where the V10 develops 1084hp at 1.0hp = 746 watts, the torque output is 3300Nm. This is a significant improvement on the previous V10 which produced 3500Nm from 1800 to 1900rpm with 3185Nm being produced at 2300rpm, where the engine developed 1035hp.

But the peak torque output pales when compared to the C18, which produces 4115Nm at 1600rpm with 3138Nm at 1200rpm, 3399Nm at 1300 and 3099 at 2300rpm. So providing the C18 is carefully propped to take advantage of its torque peak, combined with the lighter bobtail weight the C18 should have the performance edge in certain hulls.

However the flatter torque curve of the V10 allows it to suit a wider range of varying loads and having all that torque on hand over such a wide torque band means the V10-1100 CRM is a more flexible engine than the C18. And don't forget that as with its less powerful counterparts, the V10 is rated "light duty" where up to 1000 hours of operation and up to 200 hours of rated speed are permissible providing the engine is not subjected to full load below 2300rpm, making it suitable for charter, police and rescue boat usage.

In comparison, for its output of 1000hp, the C18 is rated "E" or pleasure boat which allows for 250 to 1000 hours of operation per year and up to 80 hours of rated speed per year, so really the C18 is limited to recreational boating.

According to MAN the V10 uses 217lt/hr at 2300rpm compared to 195.7 for the C18 at the same rpm and for eight per cent more power the V10 uses 11 per cent more fuel. But when the additional torque output is taken into consideration the fuel usage is comparable.

Across the rpm range the C18 has the edge on fuel usage. At 1200rpm, where the V10's torque is 3000Nm, using standard prop power curves the V10's prop can absorb 214hp and the fuel flow is 45lt/h compared to 142hp and 27lt/h. At 1600rpm, where the V10's prop absorbs 429hp the fuel flow is 80lt/h whereas the C18's figures are 336hp and 59.2lt/h. At 2000rpm the V10's figures are 784hp and 145lt/h, the C18 produces 3564Nm with 658hp being absorbed by the prop and fuel flow of 117.4lt/h, while at the maximum continuous rpm of 2100 the figures are 871hp/160lt/h and 761hp/138.4lt/h respectively with the C18 producing 3395Nm.

Comparing the engines for horsepower output to fuel flow, at 1200rpm the V10 develops 51 per cent more power for 67 per cent greater fuel flow, at 1600rpm 28 and 35 per cent and at 2000rpm 19 and 24 per cent. At 2100rpm the V10 develops 14 per cent more usable power for 16 per cent greater fuel flow.

Would be happy to share my experience with my 53. Same year and power. Great boat.
Send me a message if you want to talk.

Good luck