Dinghy Propane engine?

[PPLepew]

I'm interested in fitting a LEHR 5hp propane engine on my dink. Hoping to get some advice/rating here.
Thanks

[CSY Man]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...rds-91831.html

[HopCar]

I'm a Lehr dealer so I'm biased. That said, I personally own two of them. I have a 2.5 and a 15. I switched to propane for small engines because I got tired of cleaning carburetors. I've had the 2.5 for a couple of years and so far so good. The 15 only has about ten hours on it.

No ethanol problems. No fouled plugs. The oil stays clean. The environment stays clean.

If you decide to buy a Lehr, I'd love the chance to quote you on it.
Who ever you buy it from should tank test it before delivery and instruct you in how to start and run it correctly.

[rwidman]

I think propane makes a lot of sense for a dinghy outboard. Of course you would want to carry a spare canister onboard because unlike gasoline, you can't easily buy or borrow propane if you run out.

HopCar's post spells out the advantages.

Unfortunately, I bought the small Honda gas outboard three or four years ago (before the propane outboard was available, I believe) and unless it falls in the water or gets stolen, it should last me the rest of my boating days.

So I'm stuck with worrying about ethanol and stale gasoline and sloshing it around trying to fill the outboard while the dinghy is bouncing around in the waves.

[a64pilot]

Having run propane powered forklifts for years, I'm not sure of the need to even change oil, assuming you have a good synthetic to begin with, propane burns so clean, the oil stays looking new.
What's the oil change interval for the Lehr?

[Bohemian17]

I used a 5hp lehr two weeks ago on my dink. It was awesome. We did not.run it hard just to go to the dinghy dock a couple of times. I did not miss having the gas can and hose. Makes a lot of sense for that purpose.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[bstreep]

The biggest issue I see with this is getting propane outside the US. Didn't we have this discussion HopCar in your booth in Miami last year? Can't remember if it was resolved...

[HopCar]

A64, Lehr says to change the oil every hundred hours whether it needs it or not. When I drain oil out of the 2.5, I just hold it upside down over a bucket. It holds less than a pint. The larger engines have drain plugs but I just pump them out with a little hand pump.

Bill I think we did talk about propane availability. I think the more experienced cruisers here will have a better idea of that than I do. I do know that propane is a very popular cooking fuel world wide and I imagine that any town big enough to have a forklift would have propane. It certainly wouldn't be as easy to get as gasoline. I'm told the engines will run on pretty high percentages of butane in the propane.

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by HopCar

A64, Lehr says to change the oil every hundred hours whether it needs it or not. When I drain oil out of the 2.5, I just hold it upside down over a bucket. It holds less than a pint. The larger engines have drain plugs but I just pump them out with a little hand pump.

Bill I think we did talk about propane availability. I think the more experienced cruisers here will have a better idea of that than I do. I do know that propane is a very popular cooking fuel world wide and I imagine that any town big enough to have a forklift would have propane. It certainly wouldn't be as easy to get as gasoline. I'm told the engines will run on pretty high percentages of butane in the propane.

Yeah, Butane is the fuel of choice in much of the world. I love the idea though...