New Mercury 5 HP propane

[rsn48]

Here's the link:

https://www.boatingmag.com/new-mercury-propane-outboard

[HopCar]

Looks good. It’s about ten pounds heavier than the Lehr. It has an alternator that the Lehr doesn’t and they make it in 25 inch long shaft for the sailboat market which Lehr has ignored.

I wonder if the manual choke they talk about allows you to bleed air from the fuel line? You have to remove the cover to bleed the Lehr.

[rsn48]

There have been many reports of Lehr problems, I was literally about to purchase one, when I started reading reviews and halted.

I have a retired BC Ferry captain buddy who kind of set my thinking straight. I was also considering an electric motor for the dinghy and he asked me about range pushing a heavier boat, I said with my boat at 12,000 pounds, maybe 20 minutes and he reminded me that if my single engine kicks out on my express cruiser, I'd be relying on my dinghy engine for salvation.

That got me to thinking about electric and propane propulsion, more specifically how far can I get when in a mechanical main engine jam, with either over distances. With a gas dinghy pusher and minimally 8 HP I can at least get there with all the gas I carry.

The appeal of the Mercury is a wider range of third party support for repair and probably a better track record with mechanical issues.

[Boatguy30]

It's made by Tohatsu and they have been selling a propane 5 a few years now. I'm sure a much better motor than the Lehr, which seem to hold up very poorly