Cummins 6BTA vs Detroit 8V71 at 5,000 Hours - Here's the REAL Cost

Cummins six B T A or Detroit eight V seventy one. It is one of the oldest arguments on the dock, and almost nobody answers it the way it actually costs you. In this video a retired marine surveyor of thirty five years puts both engines side by side and scores them the way a survey does: what she drinks, what the parts cost, who can still fix her, and what it takes to make her right again once she reaches five thousand hours. You will get real numbers, dated and sourced. Current in-frame rebuild kit prices for both engines. What a factory reman used to run. Reported fuel burn on the two-stroke Detroit against a modern four-stroke, and the fuel arithmetic that quietly adds up to a fortune over the life of a boat. The one habit that kills a Cummins six B T A, the killer dowel pin worth asking about, and how a Detroit tells you she is hurting long before she quits.