Sabb Diesel

[redsail]

Does anyone know an engine wizard in the Vancouver BC area that knows something about Sabb Diesel engines?

[DavesFlatsBoat]

Sam Devlin at his web site Devlin Boat (http://www.devlinboat.com) says this about the Sabb he used in his MiniTug Godzilla:

For her engine the "Godzilla" has a used but rebuilt Sabb (not related to the car and aircraft manufacturer Saab) diesel engine, a big single cylinder beast with a large heavy flywheel that makes a reassuring chunk-chunk-chunk noise when she is running. These little engines are made in Norway and find themselves into the most interesting boats, almost all of them as eccentric as the engines themselves. They don't use a normal reduction gear with forward and reverse shifting but instead have a feathering propeller that with a lever moves the blades of the propeller back and forth and with rotation all the same direction gives you forward, reverse or stationary all without a clutch shifting. Getting used to this kind of an engine and drive takes a couple of hours but in time becomes second nature with its capability of going from forward to standstill to reverse all without changing the rpm and all uncannily calm and smooth. The boat needs to be literally built around such an engine and much of the installation is unlike your normal Yanmar or other such small diesel. With the Sabb engine she runs out at a top speed almost 6 knots with a flat and very unnoticeable wake (this is a good type of boat for running around marinas or places that have a restricted wake zone). Top rpm on the SABB is 1800 rpm and she seems happy at almost any revs including the 300 rpm idle. You might want to contact him in your search for a Guru.

[Tyee1937]

This isn't any help to you, but a friend of mine has one of these in a 32' Tahiti Ketch. The boat (& engine) had sat for about 14 years when he purchased it; the batteries on the boat were very poor, but we noticed that the Sabb engine had a hand crank. It only took a few turns and she cranked right over and started. Now, many years later, my friend still raves about the engine; it has been completely trouble-free.

[bugeye]

HI,
I just rebuilt and installed in my boat a saab 2j. That's the 2 cyl 30 horse version, with the feathering prop. I'm pretty happy with it. What's wrong with yours? It is a remarkably simple engine, and armed with the owners manual, you should be able to do anything yourself. If you aren't the type to do this yourself, any mechanic could understand this engine. I don't think you need a "Sabb guru". I'd be happy to try to diagnose via e-mail.

[martin schulz]

uh-oh! Don't confuse a Sabb with a Saab !

[Matt J.]

The boat we just bought has a "little" Sabb Model G, the 10 hp version. It's a big clunker of an engine, but only sips fuel (around 1/4-1/3 gal / hour). Jenny likes the sound it makes (clunk.... clunk.... clunk) as the big flywheel slowly spins. The feathering prop is also something we've found we like.

If you find a guru, let me know. The hand start on ours is stuck, and I'm dreading getting it fixed. The previous owner is supposed to cover the cost (minus a deductible), but I think he may try to avoid it.

Incidentally, the captain we hired to bring her to the Chesapeake Bay went on and on abot how the engine is too noisy, too small, and should be replaced with a smaller Yanmar with more ponies... next sentence was if we ever repower, please let him know, he wants it. The brochure that the seller gave us in the paperwork says something along the lines of "do you want a few big horses, or a bunch of little ponies?" Seems to me the engine will be great if we get into better maintenance practices.
-Matt

[Phil Young]

somewhere there is a sabb home page, with the clunk clunk clunk sound there to download. Its great.

[Nicholas Carey]

somewhere there is a sabb home page, with the clunk clunk clunk sound there to download. Its great.The Saab company site is at these coordinates: http://www.sabb.no/ — the site has personal contact information (both direct phone number and email) for just above everybody you might want to talk to (service manager, technical manager, etc.)

Sabb's US distributor is

SABB AMERICA EAST INC.
119 Lake Shore Circle
Leesburg, Florida 34788?8967
USA

vox: (1) 352 589 2882
fax: (1) 352 589 7722
net: Sabbamerica@aol.com

You might want to order the service manuals (and the parts books if you don't have a Sabb dealer near you—having the parts books would certainly simplify ordering parts for you.)

The site referenced above (w/t 'clunk-clunk' sound files) is probably at these coordinates: http://home.no.net/sabb1/

Cheers.

[geneWj#1]

I have a Sabb 10HP single cyl. model G in my 32' Ocean Cruising Sloop, varia ble pitch prop and the hand crank. Bill Miller is the distributer and his address is above in another message. They are a wonderful engine, i replaced a 2cyl. Volvo with this Blue Baby 1000 hrs ago and I'd never change back.
geneWJ#1

[Phil Young]

Thanks Nick. That's the one. In my favourites now.

[redsail]

Thanks guys.
She is all sorted out now and I am off for a sail!

[Aramas]

The Type G is probably the only true small marine diesel still in production. There's a lot of stuff on the internet about it - there's even a little movie showing some nords hand cranking one outside a shed smile.gif I love it!
Apparently Sabb still provide parts for the 2cyl version, but unhappily it's no longer in production.

[ 07-11-2003, 04:40 AM: Message edited by: Aramas ]

[doorstop]

Now that's a wonderful sound, "favouritised" here as well.... should help keep the enthusiasm for Violet all primed! :D

[Alan D. Hyde]

Here's a good diagram from SABB:

http://www.sabb.no/images/g-bilder/g.jpg

Alan

[Alan D. Hyde]

Here's an oldie, an Atlantic Marine Engine:

http://www.semidiesel.com/images/atl2.jpg

Here's a link to an interesting site:

http://www.semidiesel.com/index.html

Alan