Kerosene Fuel for Outboards

[beau]

Here in Indonesia the fisherman use gasoline to start their outboards and then switch over to Kerosene which is cheaper. Any comments or experience with this concept. They are using modern outboards, Yamaha's and Mariners.

[rhr1956]

You sure they are "gasoline" outboards. Yamaha and Suzuki (according to internet search) make outboards to run on specifically on kerosene and market them in many thrid world countries.

[GordMay]

Interesting news, to me.

Yamaha has developed and distributed engines that run on alcohol or kerosene
➥ Development of outboard motors that run on non-gasoline fuels - Area Marketing | YAMAHA MOTOR

➥ Yamaha Kerosene Outboard Motors

[Bash]

my dad had a Model B John Deere tractor that had both gasoline and kerosene fuel tanks. You had to hand crank it, which meant starting it up on gasoline, but after running it half an hour or so you could switch over to the kerosene and it would run happily on that for the rest of the day at a fraction of the cost.

[dlblandjr]

Humm, well, has anyone , in the Americas, tried running a 9.9 hp 2 stroke on kero?

[gjordan]

Motors that run on kerosene are almost always started on gasoline, since kerosene is not volatile enough at low temperatures. Once the motor is warmed up, it is switched to the kerosene. I dont know about outboards, but the other gas/kero engines I have seen are very low compression and had different jets in the carbs. I dont think a normal gas motor would have any chance of starting on kero. Hey Bash, my brother and I still have an old John Deere that is gas/kero. Its fun. _____Grant.

[Boatguy30]

Interesting, I'm more interested in running my 4 strokes on propane if I end spending an extended time in panama or other places where propane is sold a subsidized price.

[Jim Cate]

The Brits also had dual fuel engines in the past, and again the reason was cheaper kero than petrol.

In the areas with which I am familiar, (USA, OZ, SP islands) kero is now more expensive than petrol, and much harder to find. Leads me to wonder if there are places where the old price structure is in effect? If folks are marketing kero fuel motors I suppose it must be so...

Cheers,

Jim

[Juniper]

I have ran my car of diesel before ( got to label the can better ) it didn't start easy but run fine. Can do the same with a lawnmower.
Are they running 2 stroke or 4?
If 2 how much oil if any do they add to the kerosen?

[SunnySky]

My understanding of the Yamaha Enduro kerosene outboards (two-stroke) is that they pollute a lot more than the two-stoke outboards that people complain about in the US.. I was originally really psyched about the idea, very similar but obviously less ecological, than the two-tank veggie oil diesel conversion where you can start a diesel engine on diesel and once it is warmed up switch to filtered waste vegetable. I have experience with the two-tank Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) systems (and one tank, which means veggie oil is electrically preheated prior to start). It still kinda surprises me less boats use WVO given how much easier it is to implement on a boat than a car.. Have no kerosene outboard experience so can't definitely confirm pollution of two-stroke gas vs two-stroke kero and it will depend a lot on the quality of the kerosene itself, lamp/cooking kerosene probably burns pretty clean if properly heated but there's a lot of really dirty kerosene for sale that probably pollutes a lot... If meets your expectations, one of the great things about kerosene (or propane) is that unlike gasoline it almost never goes bad (ie don't get water in it and you're golden vs E10 gasoline where it just doesn't last well in a marine environment..).

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by SunnySky

My understanding of the Yamaha Enduro kerosene outboards (two-stroke) is that they pollute a lot more than the two-stoke outboards that people complain about in the US.. I was originally really psyched about the idea, very similar but obviously less ecological, than the two-tank veggie oil diesel conversion where you can start a diesel engine on diesel and once it is warmed up switch to filtered waste vegetable. I have experience with the two-tank Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) systems (and one tank, which means veggie oil is electrically preheated prior to start). It still kinda surprises me less boats use WVO given how much easier it is to implement on a boat than a car.. Have no kerosene outboard experience so can't definitely confirm pollution of two-stroke gas vs two-stroke kero and it will depend a lot on the quality of the kerosene itself, lamp/cooking kerosene probably burns pretty clean if properly heated but there's a lot of really dirty kerosene for sale that probably pollutes a lot... If meets your expectations, one of the great things about kerosene (or propane) is that unlike gasoline it almost never goes bad (ie don't get water in it and you're golden vs E10 gasoline where it just doesn't last well in a marine environment..).

I thought I heard the veggie oil for diesel party ended when restuarant relaized they could sell the stuff rather than paying people to take it away.

Trying to collect, filter and then outfit a second tank on a cruising boat seems like a lot more work than it's worth unless you own a fast food restuarant and get all the oil for free.