200hp diesel outboards tow 120-tonne tug in show of strength
OXE flexes its turbo-diesel muscle with an on-water demonstration of its technology’s load-lugging abilityDiesel outboard engine specialist OXE has teased the stump-pulling performance of its 200hp oil-burning powerplant by using a pair of them to pull a 120-tonne tug boat.
Few details were released with the video, which shows the 5.7-tonne, 8.5-metre long landing craft powered by twin 200hp OXE diesel outboard engines with the Canadian-built steel tug boat in tow.
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However, Sweden-based OXE notes the Canadian tow test was made more difficult given the drag created by the tug boat’s fixed prop shafts.
The landing craft normally operates as a “rugged workboat navigating through the British Colombia Isles”, the video notes. Under less stressful operating conditions, the workboat will clip along at a top speed of 34 knots, with a comfortable cruising speed of 28 knots.
During the test, the workboat was able to pull the tugboat at 4.5 knots facing into a headwind, with the engines synced at 2800rpm – the revs where the diesel powerplants generate their maximum 415Nm torque – with 85 per cent engine load.
OXE boasts its turbocharged diesel outboard engines can get much better range compared with petrol-fuelled equivalents, with its 200hp unit rated at around 46 litres an hour at rated power.
OXE outboard engines will be distributed in Australia via Power Equipment, which will also sell turbo diesel outboard engines from British rival Cox.
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