Living afloat

The story of the Luxe Motor MS Watergeus and how to convert a Dutch barge into a houseboat

Common marine engines in barges

This page contains pictures of common engines in barges. If you would like your engine to be mentioned on this page, please send me a picture of your engine.

Claeys 15hp

A small Claeys engine, started with compressed air. Placed aboard a sailing tjalk, but motorized after the war. (Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

DAF 1160

See also this page dedicated tot the DAF 1160 engine!

DAF 1160 160hp engine (Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

DAF 575 120hp

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Deutz 150hp

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Ford 96hp

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Gardner 100hp

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

General Motors Detroit Diesel 6 cyl. 168hp

The following engine was very common in spits barges. The early versions came from the American Sherman tanks.

GM engine running aboard a spits barge  

Those engines are known to be very loud. The following movie shows the spits barge Yannick manoeuvring in Sluiskil:

GM engine aboard the Yannick  

John Deere 6 cylinder 240hp

The following engine is American and can be found in various vessels such as the Luxe Motor Arma:

Industrie 2 cyl. 90hp

Probably Holland's best engine ever produced!

An Industrie engine, 2 cyl. 90 hp. (Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Kromhout 116hp

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Kromhout 2 cyl. 2H3

The Kromhout 2cyl. 2H3 was the competitor of the Industrie 2 cyl. (Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Lister 4 cyl. 45hp

An 4 cyl. Lister 45hp (Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Perkins 80hp

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Mercedes OM 322

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

MWM 175hp

An MWM 175hp (Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Scania DS 11 296hp

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)

Slavia 14hp

Unfortunately disconnected, this engine was later placed aboard to motorize a sailing barge

Volvo Penta 92hp

(Photo: Scheepsmakelaar Fikkers)