Lehr 5.0 Outboard

[HopCar]

I had a fellow trade in a Lehr 5.0 propane outboard today. He bought a 9.9 to replace it.

It's in like new condition with about eight hours on it (according to the former owner). I ran it in my test tank and it started easy and ran strong. It idles well and the gears shift smoothly.

It is used and the warranty does not transfer. If you're close enough to return it to me for service, I'll offer a three month warranty.

If I needed a five hp. engine, I'd buy this one myself.

I'm asking $1200 for it. I just shipped a 5 to Washington State for $150.00. If you're closer to Florida it should be less. If you're in Florida, I'd have to charge Florida sales tax.

If you're interested, email me through my website www.hopkins-carter.com

[leftbrainstuff]

Saw one the other day at Svensens. A good option for an infrequent use lake outboard. We'll stick to our 15 HP Yamaha Enduro outboard for now.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[SURV69]

My buddy has a 4HP(?) unit, but after using it(and going through 3 - 1lb cans for a two-way trip of about 4 miles), we joked about taking someone's large grill next time.

His motor, on a 15' boat seemed very inefficient for some reason(he bought it new a couple weeks ago).

[HopCar]

Surv69, It must have been a 5.0 as Lehr doesn't make a 4. That's a pretty small engine for a 15 foot boat. I'm sure he was running it wide open the whole time. The 5.0 will burn one of those little tanks in half an hour at wide open throttle. It wouldn't have been pushing a 15 foot boat very fast either. That's an expensive way to buy propane anyway.

The 5.0 Lehr burns about 2 pounds, roughly 1/2 gallon, of propane per hour. If you can run it at 3/4 throttle, the fuel consumption really drops.

I always run my little Lehr from a remote tank and carry a small bottle as a reserve.

[SURV69]

It might be a 5 hp. He took it back home and I only remember it was a smaller motor
and he paid a little over a thousand for it.

A 15' open boat is a rather small boat ... any smaller and it would be a dinghy.


Anyway ... it took him about 20+ minutes to get from the launch to the dock.

I figure that would be about 6mph in a downriver direction, which should've
helped(about 1 or 2 knots). That would put him at about 4mp/3knots over water. We are
about 1 mile from Lake Erie and in a area that often flows either way.

His tank ran dry about a quarter mile from the dock.


On his return to the launch(up river), he went through 2 bottles in a little over
1/2 hour.


Also, the starting was very hard each time. We actually took turns pulling the rope
and adjusting the throttle. Each time it finally started, the throttle was quite high.

Maybe the motor isn't in timing or something, but as it is, it looks like a pound of
LP per mile upriver and 2 miles per tank downriver.

If you think the motor might not have been operating properly ... especially
because of the rough starting, I would like to relay that back to him, since he
didn't know what to expect and is hesitant to complain.

[HopCar]

SURV, there is something wrong with that engine. Lehr engines are very easy to start and don't use nearly that much fuel. He should contact Lehr customer service. The phone number is on the tiller of the motor. There are two guys named David in customer service, either one of them will make a real effort to help.

My guess is that the mixture is set way too rich. If that is the problem, it's real easy to adjust the mixture.

Does your friend know how to bleed air from the fuel system? Here is a link to the quick start guide: Quick Start Guide for the 5HP outboard engine : LEHR inc.

For some reason the section on priming the engine isn't covered in the owners manual. If the engine hasn't been started in a long time, you'll pull your arm off trying to start it if you don't bleed the air first. It sounds like your friend has a different problem but this is good to know.

"It might be a 5 hp. He took it back home and I only remember it was a smaller motor and he paid a little over a thousand for it."

The fives sell for about $1500 new and the 2.5s sell for about a thousand. Could it be a 2.5?

[Jd1]

Thought I would take the opportunity to review my recent acquisition of a 5 hp Lehr.
Note that this unit did NOT come from HopCar!
A lot of thought and contemplation went into the engine. It was to go onto a Walker Bay Genisis 310 RIB and I was concerned if 5 Hp was enough to get me to planning speed. I was also quite concerned with weight as the engine had to come off the tender on a regular basis.
I bought the motor about a month ago from a local dealer when they had a special on but today was the first time trying it out. Initially I was quite concerned about how much plastic was on the engine. My last engine was a Honda 15 but a long time ago (maybe 15 years or more). I had no real reference to what other current motors were using for materials (still don't). As weight was a concern, I eventually decided that plastic is good The Honda 15 was never removed from the boat so weight didn't matter back then.
First thing I found out was that the 'priming tool' talked about in an on-line manual was not included in my bits and pieces that came with the motor and I had nothing that was small enough to fit into the tiny hole. Luckily, it turned out that the effort required on the pull starter was incredibly low - I was used to having to work on the pull start but this motor was incredibly easy to turn over. In no time at all I had the engine running. I had been told that the engine had been run-in by the dealer but there was a substantial 'fog' created which I assume was courtesy of an oil fogging in the cylinder to avoid corrosion. I suspect that the engine wasn't run in because it is unlikely the dealer would have gone to the effort of re-fogging the cylinder.
The emergency engine shut-down clip seems quite weak. I will want to make sure I have a spare handy.
The fog dissipated after a minute and two of us went on the first jaunt - 475 lbs plus the RIB and the engine. Nowhere near planing
I tried a solo trip - 250 lbs plus RIB plus engine - no go either. Pretty close though ... maybe if I had run wide open for a bit longer but I didn't want to stress the brand new engine.
Although I was half expecting the outcome, I was a bit disappointed. Secretly I was hoping that with just me on board I could get the boat to plane. I am still hoping that maybe after some run-in time and with a 10 lb cylinder (rather than the 1 lb can I as using) I may be able to plane the RIB.
I would have loved to run a 9.9 or even a 15 but the weight would have been a real PITA ....
I hate compromises
Coming back to the test run, there was one real annoying problem - the gear shifting. The shifter is fairly tight and it is easy to overshoot the in-between neutral position but more importantly, there is a delay/reluctance to shift from forward to reverse and back. On a couple of occasions the engine was going in reverse even though the gear shift was in the forward position. The result was the engine popping partially out of the water. Only in reverse is the engine locked from flipping up - this is a good thing if you are going forward and get into low water ... the engine will lift right up and you will save the prop.
I have not looked at this as far as repair is concerned as I am hoping that with a bit of time things will loosen up and the problem will go away. It is however a significant problem for now.
For those of you who want to make a Sunbrella cover for the engine - be advised that an actual propane tank screwed into the back of the engine is longer than the dummy plug and if your cover is form fitting you will be rather disappointed when your cover doesn't fit well with a 1 lb tank installed.
Overall, I can report significant improvement in going from A to B with an outboard compared to rowing I am definitively sitting on a fence and waffling back and forth about engine weight vs engine power. This tender should really have a 15 Hp engine on it.
I hope this review helps others choose the right engine for their dink.

[HopCar]

Jd, Thanks for the report.
The priming tool I use is a paperclip. or a piece of SS seizing wire. There are rumors of an official Lehr Plastic Priming tool in the works. I'm bugging them for a button.

If you use the long hose to a big tank, be sure to bleed it good the first time or you'll pull your arm off trying to get the air out of the hose.

There is a video of a 5.0 Lehr pushing a 10 ft. Rib on a plane on their website. I've spoken to someone who was there when it was filmed and she said it was marginal. As I recall they used a large dog as ballast in the bow and a light man to run it.

I'm often asked how big an engine someone needs and I've just about decided that if you expect a boat to plane, you shouldn't go smaller than about 75% of the maximum rating. Nobody is unhappy because they went with the maximum.

I think I'll start a thread on that question.

If you're happy at displacement speeds, it's surprising how small an engine you need.

I've noticed the shift problem you refer to. If you are a little slow putting it into reverse it can go into gear before the hook catches to prevent a kick up. It does seem to get better with use. I don't know why. When I tested the last 5.0 I sold, I exercised the gears a lot. By the time I boxed it for shipping the hook was catching every time. I don't know if the engine got better or I just got the hang of it. The fellow who traded the 5.0 I'm trying to sell on this thread reported the same experience. When I tested his used engine it did not kick up. Try slowing the idle until it will just keep running when it is in gear. A fast idle seems to accentuate this problem.

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Nobody is unhappy because they went with the maximum.
<snip>
Try slowing the idle until it will just keep running when it is in gear. A fast idle seems to accentuate this problem.

As I was trying to say before, I am not sure if I would be happy with the bigger engine considering the weight and having to wrestle it on and off the dinghy. The 5 wasn't easy but it was quite doable but I am not sure if the 9.9 wouldn't be too much for me.

The idle is about as slow as I dare .... but I might not have had the throttle completely closed. It's something I will need to watch.

It sure was freaky when the gear was in forward and the engine was going backwards
It's good to hear that the shifting problem is something that will likely fix itself with use.

One other point in choosing the 5 - the ability to run on the little bottle. I have this phobia of running out of gas in a big tank (from the days when fiberglass tanks did not exist) and it's great peace of mind to have a small spare tank. I will likely purchase a 10 lb fiberglass tank for normal use but having the small spare is still nice.
BTW, I wonder if cracking the tank a bit before hooking up the hose to the motor would help for starting. I'd hate to have to take the lid off the engine every time I hook up the big tank. An external purge knob would be great (and even better if it is available for retro-fit).

Displacement speed is fine for running from the boat to the dock but might be a bit of a drag if one is exploring a lot.

[HopCar]

"The 5 wasn't easy but it was quite doable but I am not sure if the 9.9 wouldn't be too much for me."
The 9.9 is too heavy for me to be lifting on and off. I even get help when I put one in the test tank. When the little skiff I'm building is finished, I'll put a 15 on it and leave it. I find that a motor over about 50 pounds is just to heavy for me to be putting on and off a dinghy, especially if the dinghy is already in the water. I suspect that a 5.0 will plane a nice little hard boat like a 12 foot aluminum boat. Inflatables, even RIBS aren't as easy to push.

You can run the 9.9 on a small bottle. You buy an adapter that lets you connect the bottle to a hose. You'll get about half an hour at 1/2 throttle from a 16 oz. bottle on the 9.9. Only about 15 minutes at full throttle.

When you use the big tank, if you turn off the valve at the tank and disconnect the hose from the engine but not the tank, propane will stay in the hose and you shouldn't need to prime it for some time. If you disconnect the hose from the tank, the propane comes out and you'll need to bleed it again.

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by HopCar

"The 5 wasn't easy but it was quite doable but I am not sure if the 9.9 wouldn't be too much for me."
The 9.9 is too heavy for me to be lifting on and off. I even get help when I put one in the test tank

Good to know I was right about the weight issue.

When you use the big tank, if you turn off the valve at the tank and disconnect the hose from the engine but not the tank, propane will stay in the hose and you shouldn't need to prime it for some time. If you disconnect the hose from the tank, the propane comes out and you'll need to bleed it again.

Thanks for that tip !!!

[Garrettw]

HopCar, I don't know if you still have this unit on hand or not. I just sent you an email about it.

[HopCar]

This engine sold.