Lehr Propane Outboard?

[capngeo]

Anyone have experience with a Lehr Propane Outboard?

[Pocketsailor]

Yes I have a 2.5 on a Walker Bay 10. I like it ! It was a little strange receiving a motor through UPS. I bought it last fall. After it arrived I serviced the foot and motor with oil, put a Coleman bottle on, and second pull it was running. I have been using it on a local lake with no problems. The small bottles last a couple of hours depending on throttle. You can run on the small bottles or a big propane tank. I have gotten a 11lbs fiberglass propane tank and ordered a 10 ft. hose to put the tank toward the bow. One feature I really like is the fact that as it sits in the garage waiting for Spring it is not gumming up do to old fuel still in carberator.

[minaret]

Mines been great! Only had it for a month or two though.

[Octopussy]

We are getting one this week. A couple of years ago, we bought a Lehr lawnmower... out of curiosity. The thing was awesome. Great build-quality, and it was so easy to use. It stood up to any gas-motored lawnmower-- plenty rugged, and plenty of torque to cut through tall grass.

When we got a boat, and saw that they made outboards, we just had to have one. We are certain that we will love it as much as we did our Lehr lawnmower.

Cheers,
Octopussy

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[Group9]

Originally Posted by Pocketsailor

. One feature I really like is the fact that as it sits in the garage waiting for Spring it is not gumming up do to old fuel still in carburetor.

This feature alone would make it worth having one for me.

[HopCar]

I'm a Lehr dealer and I recently bought a 2.5 for my own use. My experience has been identical to Pocketsailor. I even bought the 11 pound fiberglass tank and a 10 foot hose. I had trouble starting it with the ten foot hose the first time because of all the air in the hose. Once the propane hit the engine it fired right up and hasn't been a problem since. One or two pulls every time.

If anybody want's to buy one, I'd love the chance to quote you.

[HopCar]

If anybody has been waiting for the 9.9 Lehrs, they're available now.

[DWJ]

I bought a 5 from Hopcar Got a great price. He shipped to my home in CT. The outboard had a clasp issue and Hopcar with Lehr had a dealer come to my home and fix it right up. No charge to me at all. Although I have yet to use it, (it still too early in the season here) I'm very pleased with the support from Hopcar and Lehr

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by capngeo

Anyone have experience with a Lehr Propane Outboard?

Funny you ask,
There is one at the mooring field dinghy dock.
My wife and I saw one going out last night.
There was a 1 pound bomb cylinder rolling around in the dinghy and another revealing itself through the motors cowling.
I said to my wife, "put a burner on top of the cowling and cook up some hotdogs on your way out".

Not impressed one bit.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

Funny you ask,
There is one at the mooring field dinghy dock.
My wife and I saw one going out last night.
There was a 1 pound bomb cylinder rolling around in the dinghy and another revealing itself through the motors cowling.
I said to my wife, "put a burner on top of the cowling and cook up some hotdogs on your way out".

Not impressed one bit.

What about the five gallon napalm tank in most dinghies?

Rather be blown up or burnt? Hmmm...

[HopCar]

I think propane is actually a safer fuel on a small boat than gasoline. I once had the fuel line break on a gasoline inboard Chris Craft. The engine stopped but not before a fair amount of gasoline got in the bilge. I dropped anchor, opened the floor boards, repaired the fuelline and waited. I waited at least three hours and there was still a strong odor of gasoline in the boat. At one point a policeman pulled up along side and asked why I was anchored there. I told him I had a bilge full of gasoline. He left in a hurry.

If it had been propane instead of gasoline, it would have it would have disapated much more quickly.

[rebel heart]

I've seen them used around Southern California, nothing down here in Mexico. I'm a bit on the mindset where I buy things after other people have tested them out for five or ten years. If it's something for domestic use that's one thing, if you're planning on going to far flung places and needing repair parts in third world countries, that might be another.

If they can get the longevity prize nailed in a few years with lots of happy owners through lots of bad conditions I'd love to switch out.

[Dulcesuenos]

Id be curious to see how they hold up too. I have seen these 1 lb cylinders corrode severely in a marine environment. We had one never touch salt water yet rusted around the threads so bad we couldnt use on our grill. Just from sitting in a vented locker. Ive also unscrewed them before to have them slowly leak out the rest of their propane. Could be scarey if your not storing them in a propane locker.

[roberttigar]

When they go haywire, who services them.

[cheoah]

We converted a big lawn mower at the farm to propane. Has two big tanks, one on each side of the operator. It is very reliable, and the oil looks like it is brand new after each 100 hours of operation.