At Long Cove Marine Services in Deer Isle, Maine, “it’s that time of year.” That’s a message frequently displayed on their website, meaning now is the best time to come in and have your fishing boat hauled out and repowered; repowering is something Long Cove Marine Services specializes in.
“We do a ton of repowering,” says the boatyard’s Eric Smith, “in a year, probably 15 (boats) or so.”
It’s not just Maine lobstermen bringing their boats to Long Cove for a new power package. At the end of 2024, the tuna fishing boat Blue Jacket, a 44 Stanley, had come up from Boston to be hauled and repowered.
“They had an old 8-92 Detroit,” says Smith, “but they wanted to go faster.”
Thus, the Detroit 8-92, which got the 44 Stanley up to 8 or 9 knots, came out, and a 750 John Deere was bolted down on new engine stringers. “Now it’ll be able to steam 16 or 17 knots,” Smith notes. New hydraulics, shaft, rudder, and a Twin Disc 5114 marine gear were part of the repowering package.
Long Cove Marine “did another one of those boats the previous spring,” says Smith. That 44 Stanley came in with a low-horsepower Cat, which came out, and “we put in the same thing (750-hp John Deere and Twin Disc 5114). It went 21 knots wide open, steamed at 17. Before, wide open, it did 14 knots.”
Smith feels the 750 John Deer with a Twin Disc gear is a power package combination that’s economical, not complicated, and has a good price tag, which is undoubtedly why he feels it’s “a big hit.”
Long Cove Marine Services has also been doing a lot of repowering with FPT diesels. This summer, that included the Alexa Rose, a 43 Morgan Bay lobster boat that can be found at the starting line in many of Maine’s summertime lobster boat races.
Alexa Rose’s 750 John Deere arrived at Long Cove Marine with a cracked cylinder head. Initially, Smith was going to pull out the John Deere and rebuild it; instead, the owner chose to “go now.” Thus, the Alexa Rose’s John Deere was replaced with an 815-hp FPT for more speed. He went from 30 knots to 32 knots. “He’s a big racer.”
Long Cove customers don’t have to be active lobster boat racers to desire bigger engines and a faster boat. A 35 Mitchell Cove with a 375-hp John Deere is due to show up at Long Cove Marine Services. The 375-hp John Deere will be replaced with a 550-hp John Deere “that I rebuilt,” Smith said, and it will have a new Twin Disc 5065A marine gear. The boat’s owner is not into racing; the repower is only for “speed.”
