Propane outboards

[bare foot wader]

looking into one of these for next year, anybody have any experience? good or bad

 

thinking about using one on a jon boat for small backlakes, canoe on portages, etc...trying to find out run time off propane vs gas, I'm thinking a 5lb propane tank would be lighter than equivalent required amount of gas for the same run time??? just a complete guess/hoping that could be the case

 

would guess easier to maintain, carbs fouling, no mixing, easier starting, etc

 

http://www.golehr.com/docs/specs/specs_5.pdf

[BillM]

I don't think there's anything easier then a small 2 stroke for a back lack/portage motor.

[Joeytier]

I'd be interested to see how many hours you could get out of a 1 lb. tank. Seems like a great design.

[Lip-ripper]

Very cool! I watched the video on the website. No priming, no choke, 99% less pollutants and using a cheaper fuel source... seems like a solid idea!

[Terry]

I prefer a 2 stroke for back lakes

I am always setting the 4 stroke down the wrong way the the oil gets into everything

 

but if the bottles last, it would be cool

[woodenboater]

Very interesting but what will make or break it for me will be cost of the outboard and running time (approx). If a single 1lb cannister can run as far as say a gallon of gas, it'd be worth looking into further, more or less. I could see using a 10lb tank with this or even a 20lb.

 

I think it's telling that they're not publishing these details (that I could find), esp the run time and/or distance at a given speed. Something we can compare to a gas kicker.

[Roy]

Taken from their site.

 

Fuel consumption is similar to an equivalent gas-powered outboard.

 

 

A recent test by Boating magazine found that the 5-hp Lehr could push a 12’ aluminum boat 4.5 mph at 3300 rpm while delivering 24.3 mpg. At 4600 rpm, speed was 6.2 mph at 3.1 mpg.

 

 

[woodenboater]

Thanks Roy. Saw that but propane is measured in lbs up here so I wonder how that translates from mpg ? I'm better with charts so a simple bar graph would be easier for me to grasp

 

Good to see a company looking for alternatives and I wonder if they have any plans for outboards up to 9.9 ?

[Gerritt]

Gasoline Gallon Equivalents

Fuel Type Unit of Measure BTUs/Unit Gallon Equivalent

Gasoline (regular) gallon 114,100 1.00 gallon

Diesel #2 gallon 129,500 0.88 gallons

Biodiesel (B100) gallon 118,300 0.96 gallons

Biodiesel (B20) gallon 127,250 0.90 gallons

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cubic foot 900 126.67 cu. ft.

Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) gallon 75,000 1.52 gallons

Propane (LPG) gallon 84,300 1.35 gallons

Ethanol (E100) gallon 76,100 1.50 gallons

Ethanol (E85) gallon 81,800 1.39 gallons

Methanol (M100) gallon 56,800 2.01 gallons

Methanol (M85) gallon 65,400 1.74 gallons

Electricity kilowatt hour (Kwh) 3,400 33.56 Kwhs

 

 

http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/resources/a/gge.htm

 

G

[BillM]

You're going to burn a lot more propane then you would in a similar gas engine, no doubts about it.

[Roy]

4.2 pounds of propane is roughly one gallon at 60F. So at 3300 rpm you'll go 24.3 miles. If what they say is correct, the mileage goes way down at 4600 RPM.

[misfish]

Price $$$$$$$$

 

Pretty cool.

[Terry]

The suggested retail price of the 2.5-hp model is $1,199; the price of the 5-hp engine is $1,919. West Marine and Donovan Marine are carrying the Lehrs.

 

us price

 

 

 

west marine

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SiteSearch?storeId=11151&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&pageSize=10&beginIndex=0&sType=SimpleSearch&searchTermScope=3&Ns=Most+Popular|0&keyword=lehr

Edited November 28, 2012 by Terry

[aplumma]

I would check also what support there is for parts and people who can work on them if you can't. It sounds like you want to go to some pretty out of the way places and while it should be durable it would stink if you had to get parts that are order in only.

 

Art

[bare foot wader]

You're going to burn a lot more propane then you would in a similar gas engine, no doubts about it.

 

 

would it be a lot more? I thought it's only about a 10-15% difference?

 

but propane is cheaper and are supposed to be cheaper on maintenance...or in my case don't need to worry about carbs gumming up for an o/b that is only used about half dozen times a year

[Fisherman]

If you google it there's a video, the guy says a 5HP will run 1/2 hour at WOT, the 2.5HP will go 1 hour at WOT on the 1lb cylinder. A 1lb cylinder is roughly 1/2 a quart/litre of gas, so 8 x 1lb tanks would make about a gallon. Unless my math is really bad today, that would mean the 5HP would go about 4 hours on a gallon, hmmm. I quit.

[Tootsie II]

You members won't like my reply, but they should ban them in Ontario until we get a hefty return deposit on those 1 lb propane bottles. I am so sick of seeing those things discarded all over the bush in Northern Ontario.

Edited November 28, 2012 by Tootsie II

[Terry]

You members won't like my reply, but they should ban them in Ontario until we get a hefty return deposit on those 1 lb propane bottles. I am so sick of seeing those things discarded all over the bush in Northern Ontario.

 

no problem from me

I refill them so I would never leave one behind

but that is a whole different argument

[misfish]

You members won't like my reply, but they should ban them in Ontario until we get a hefty return deposit on those 1 lb propane bottles. I am so sick of seeing those things discarded all over the bush in Northern Ontario.

 

 

 

 

no problem from me

 

but that is a whole different argument

 

THEN DONT GET THEM STARTED.

 

[BillM]

It's silly you can't refill them. Such a waste.

[Joeytier]

You members won't like my reply, but they should ban them in Ontario until we get a hefty return deposit on those 1 lb propane bottles. I am so sick of seeing those things discarded all over the bush in Northern Ontario.

Great point.

[Fisherman]

No different than the billions of plastic water bottles littering the enviroment.

[northernpike56]

be careful it doesn't explode

[pikehunter]

It's silly you can't refill them. Such a waste.

You should talk to Terry.

no problem from me

I refill them so I would never leave one behind

but that is a whole different argument

 

Plastic water bottles aren't the problem, it's the leaving them behind. The idiots leaving Horton's cups everywhere are no better!

No different than the billions of plastic water bottles littering the enviroment.

[Billy Bob]

First time I seen one of these....