GEAR | Sydney Harbour charter boat enjoys improved performance following engine upgrade

Photo: Power Equipment

The steel-hulled charter vessel Sydneysider, which has been in operation for 50 years, will be able to undertake continued operational sailings in Sydney Harbour following the installation of a new John Deere diesel engine from Power Equipment.

The 15.8-metre, 53-tonne vessel was built in 1971 by the late Peter Jauncey. It is currently owned by his daughter, Jenny Nugent, who is operating it as a party boat.

Originally a Lloyd’s registered vessel, Sydneysider, (whose name is an ode to a line from a Banjo Paterson poem), was the first registered charter vessel on Sydney Harbour according to Ms Nugent.

The owner said a John Deere engine was selected for the boat’s upgrades after earlier replacement engines proved problematic.

“We couldn’t have high revs, we had limited engine room space and I wanted something to last forever,” explained Ms Nugent.

The John Deere 6068TFM50 (M1-rating) put into Sydneysider is a 115kW at 2,300rpm, six-in-line, heat exchanger cooled, turbocharged marine diesel engine. The resulting torque allows a 3.12:1 gearbox coupled with a 30-inch (762mm) by 24.5-inch (622mm) propeller to work properly on the single-screw vessel.

“Especially on a busy waterway like the Harbour, with the John Deere setup our stopping distance has halved and I’ve just got so much better control over the boat now,” Ms Nugent remarked about the performance benefits offered by the new engine.

Sydneysider now pushes out in excess of nine knots at WOT and is doing 5.5 to six knots at easy running rpm.


Ausmarine

Published since 1978, Ausmarine is the foremost magazine servicing the Australian and New Zealand commercial, military and government marine sectors.