"marine diesel engine"?

Question

Why do some boat owners engage their engines "in gear" while they are in a berth or on a mooring?

Answer 1

Perhaps the tide is going out?

Answer 2

Couple of reasons? Running it in gear helps clean the prop and also removes some of the build up of weed on the hull. The other reason is to warm up the engine before use.

Answer 3

Technically I don't know. Usually dieseld need to be warmed up to function in an optimum manner and they will warm up under load a little faster than in neutral. On land we don't get the best efficient combustion when diesel engines are cold.

Answer 4

testing drive system before they cast off.
its a good idea to always check the engine and drive system before casting off. ive had to rescue a few boat owners who have jumped in their boat and pushed off, and then attempted to start the engine and failed.
often to make sure things like sheerpins havnt sheered and so forth. mind you most big outboards and inboard engines dont use sheerpins. so who knows. other than that dont see any reason why they would.

Answer 5

To get the engine upto correct operating temerature and run all systems. The worst thing you can do to a boat is to leave her sitting and not used

Answer 6

Ich denke die sind mittlereweile auch recht gut geworden, aber es dürfte sich hier um Nachbauten von Deutz oder anderen Motorfirmen handeln. Also in der Qualität nicht ganz so gut. Gehört habe ich davon schon, aber ich würde mir da eine 3 Jahresgarantie daraufgeben lassen, nicht dass die nach der ersten Tour defekt sind. Gruß Franky

Answer 7

+ This is done very rarely and has potential dangers associated with it. I would think it was more often done on ships than with boats. Unmanned boats should never do this.

Answer 8

they are testing usually something, for example cooling system, axle bearings, or emptying seawater from the exhaust system.