I'm currently looking for a suitable shaft drive, 26ft displacement hull cruiser with a 30 to 40hp engine, so I would be very interested to hear people's views as to the pros and cons of the different engine manufacturers. The short-list appears to be narrowing down to an Alpha 26 or a Shadow 26 at this stage, so the area of interest now turns to power units.
As I understand it, both the Beta Marine and Nanni units are built around the same Kubota base engine, so the question is whether one is any better/worse for parts. I notice that there is a good deal of info available on the Beta, but less so for the Nanni with some of it in 'Frenglish'.
I have also seen a Perkins 104.19 powered craft, but info seems to be thin on the ground and in another NBN thread mention is made of spares becoming more problematic.
In addition to the 4-pot engines above, I have also seen a boat fitted with 3 cylinder Volvo 2003 turbo diesel. I am wondering how that unit shapes up regarding vibration and noise levels.
Essentially I am after info on general impressions, noise levels, parts availability, any 'known issues' to check for and what people think of these power units.
Any thoughts/views are much appreciated,
David