Jump to content

Propane tillers


tomO

Recommended Posts

Advantages I hear are they are clean, slightly quieter and better economy if not run full bore often. I'm surprised merc hasn't brought this to the table earlier considering tohatsu builds all their motors under 10hp and tohatsu has had them on the market for about 3 years now. I might try one of these for next year, I think it would work great for portaging being light and a small propane bottle would make things easier. Lehr makes nothing but propane outboards from 2- 9.9hp but mixed reviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Sinker said:

You lost me at Mercury.....

Looks like a Tohatsu; they make small outboards for Mercury & Evinrude.  It has the same displacement and styling as the 4 to 6 hp Tohatsu motors.

There's a lot of misinformation in the video.  Propane is not zero emissions.  It's a hydro-carbon and will produce CO2.  It's cleaner than gasoline; but completely polution free.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, John Bacon said:

Looks like a Tohatsu; they make small outboards for Mercury & Evinrude.  It has the same displacement and styling as the 4 to 6 hp Tohatsu motors.

There's a lot of misinformation in the video.  Propane is not zero emissions.  It's a hydro-carbon and will produce CO2.  It's cleaner than gasoline; but completely polution free.

It's a hydro-carbon and will produce CO2.  It's cleaner than gasoline; but completely polution free.

I think you mean CO in addition to CO2 and think you're missing a "not" after the but.

Edited by Fisherman
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Fisherman said:

It's a hydro-carbon and will produce CO2.  It's cleaner than gasoline; but completely polution free.

I think you mean CO in addition to CO2 and think you're missing a "not" after the but.

Yes, not completely polution free.  And it will produce CO too.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son and I looked at the propane ones last year and after doing a lot of reading, research, and thinking it through we decided on the little Honda 2.3 air cooled. I have to say we are both really happy we went that route. there were a few reports of them being noisy but we didn't find them bad at all and the advantages were well worth any additional noise. On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate the little Honda a solid 10.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/3/2019 at 9:36 AM, Big Cliff said:

My son and I looked at the propane ones last year and after doing a lot of reading, research, and thinking it through we decided on the little Honda 2.3 air cooled. I have to say we are both really happy we went that route. there were a few reports of them being noisy but we didn't find them bad at all and the advantages were well worth any additional noise. On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate the little Honda a solid 

 

Edited by pics
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/3/2019 at 9:36 AM, Big Cliff said:

My son and I looked at the propane ones last year and after doing a lot of reading, research, and thinking it through we decided on the little Honda 2.3 air cooled. I have to say we are both really happy we went that route. there were a few reports of them being noisy but we didn't find them bad at all and the advantages were well worth any additional noise. On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate the little Honda a solid 10.

I bought the Suzuki 2.5 four stroke - liquid cooled.. beautiful motor.. propane certainly has advantages but not enough to convince me..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guys,

A few things to keep in mind:

  • A 4HP 4 stroke will run 35-45 hours, so a 3-4 day fishing trip, on just 15l of high octane gas. Will a 20lb of propane tank that weights roughly the same, last that long?
  • You can buy a 5lb bulk propane tank that weighs only 15 lbs full, that refills at any bulk location for 6-7$. This is 80% cheaper than 1lb bottles with zero refill risk issues

Questions for Members

  • Whats the fuel consumption and thrust like on a propane engine?? a 4HP 4 stroke will push a 16 ft aluminum canoe at 12km/hr so you can travel and troll a long way on a small amount of fuel
  • If power & speed were similar on a propane unit, whats the weight saving?? 50lb for a 4HP 4 stroke gas engine
  • If a 3-4 HP propane unit is 30lbs and runs a whole long weekend on a 5 lb cylinder, then you are talking some weight savings on both the engine and the fuel

I look forward to some numbers for comparison.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My thinking on the 1 lb propane bottle was , if they can make a gas auger , now run on propane, why not a small out board that can do the same. I know I am thinking only me and my toon, but I am sure it is possible.  I know it,s CC,s and not HP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/6/2019 at 1:26 PM, maker a laker said:

Guys,

A few things to keep in mind:

  • A 4HP 4 stroke will run 35-45 hours, so a 3-4 day fishing trip, on just 15l of high octane gas. Will a 20lb of propane tank that weights roughly the same, last that long?
  • You can buy a 5lb bulk propane tank that weighs only 15 lbs full, that refills at any bulk location for 6-7$. This is 80% cheaper than 1lb bottles with zero refill risk issues

Questions for Members

  • Whats the fuel consumption and thrust like on a propane engine?? a 4HP 4 stroke will push a 16 ft aluminum canoe at 12km/hr so you can travel and troll a long way on a small amount of fuel
  • If power & speed were similar on a propane unit, whats the weight saving?? 50lb for a 4HP 4 stroke gas engine
  • If a 3-4 HP propane unit is 30lbs and runs a whole long weekend on a 5 lb cylinder, then you are talking some weight savings on both the engine and the fuel

I look forward to some numbers for comparison.

I don't think that there's much difference in weight.  The 5hp Mercury (Tohatsu?) propane motor weighs 59.5 lbs vs. 57 lbs for the 5hp gas motor.  I think that the gas & propane outboards are using the same 123cc Tohatsu engine block.

2.5 gallons of gas would weight about 15 pounds; the same as your estimate for a 5 pound propane tank.  The gas version can run off either and internal or external gas tank.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recent Topics

    Popular Topics

    Upcoming Events


×
×
  • Create New...