Propane Outboards

rwidman said:

Unfortunately, the USA's EPA doesn't care much about our silly little problems ...

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Oh no! Please say it isn't so! I thought they were there to help us.

RickB said:

Yeah, but that was just because it wouldn't start.

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It always started within 2 or 3 pulls, even after a 15-year hiatus in my garage.

Nice, I used to have one and it was the greatest little motor ever - once it started! It was also the least stealthy thing running around Lake Union. I used it to power my little inflatable dock cruising boat and it always brought a face to a window on every boat I passed.

Kind of miss the silly thing.

rwidman said:

Unfortunately, the USA's EPA doesn't care much about our silly little problems and has pretty much made them unavailable in the USA.

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Other than the bigger environmentally approved 2-strokes from Evinrude and the like the two stroke is pretty much dead in the US as Ron says. However there is a diminishing glimmer of hope for someone who really wants a 2-stroke.

A couple of years ago when we decided to replace the 1978 Evinrude 6hp trolling motor on our Arima with something newer and more reliable I talked to the local Yamaha dealer about what would work on our boat. The four-stroke-only policy at Yamaha had already gone into effect. But he said that a lot of dealers, including them, knowing the 2-stroke cut-off date was approaching, had ordered inventories of the more popular 2-stroke engines to have in stock in the event a customer still wanted one.

The best Yamaha choices for our boat and its kicker mount were the new 6hp 4-stroke and the no-longer-available 8hp 2-stroke. The 8hp seemed the ideal engine and it turned out the dealer had ten of them. But...... the Arima requires a long-shaft trolling motor and none of the ten the dealer had were long shafts. Nor was he able to find a long-shaft in the northwest states. So we went with the 6hp 4-stroke which so far has been an excellent engine.

But if you really want a 2-stroke it's worth checking with the dealers, particularly the large ones who could afford to stock up, because they may still have some in inventory.

Happily parts for early Evinrudes are freely aviliable , even NAPA has them.

Rebuilding a 2 stroke is minor work , so should be way ( 1/10?) under the cost of a new 4 stroke.

With the new rulles from the Air Police , the newest concept for the large truck operators is a "glider".

This is a brand new truck, , only missing the engine and transmission and drive shaft.

A factory rebuilt 2003 or earlier power package , owner installed, and the truck is ready.

Advantage , its repairable and gets 1/3 better mileage.

A rebuilt outboard would make sense for its light weight , and ease of maint.

FF said:

Rebuilding a 2 stroke is minor work , so should be way ( 1/10?) under the cost of a new 4 stroke.

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It would have been. And, like the previous times we did it, we would have ended up (again) with an old, freshly rebuilt, unreliable Evinrude 2-stroke outboard. At some point it seems smarter to cut one's losses and go for new and reliable.

FF,
Thank's and yes I'll be looking on e-bay for a good un-salted 3 to 4hp OMC twin very soon. One to rebuild that perhaps has only been in the lakes. I'll do it myself and it should be a bit of fun. New pistons, rings, seals and everything.

Now that we're down south things like that are open to us. I'm at Starbucks on my i-pad. We got off the ferry about an hour ago or so. Walked to Starbucks w/o a coat. Chris is at the store getting some food. We prolly won't need to go back to AK at all now. The house is in the hands of ReMax of Ketchikan and they should be able to finish the business of the sale. There is now nothing that remains of our belongings up north. It's so nice out here it seems like we've gone to California.

A look at the Lehr OB. I like that you can have a get home fuel supply with the little cylinder.

Lehr Propane Outboard Motor - Offered by iboats.com - YouTube

West Marine is advertising a Lehr 2.5 as above in their latest flyer $1,050.00
Steve W

Popular Mechanics Magazine has given Lehr one of their Break Through Products Awards. It's in the November issue.

If you are looking for the best price on a Lehr outboard you should phone or email some of the independent dealers for a quote. Like many of todays products, Lehr outboards have a minimum advertised price but you can often negociate a better price with the dealer.

"freshly rebuilt, unreliable Evinrude 2-stroke outboard."

If its unreliable after a rebuild , replace the wrench that was working on it.

If the Evinrude was unreliable when NEW , its time for an electric motor for that operator.

A 2 stroke outboard , like a 2 stroke motorcycle will need a "drill" that must be learned to operate happily.

Some need to be run out of fuel , some need priming , some have problems if tilted too far.

HopCar,
What breakthrough???

FF,
Good stuff Fred run'em dry. But what's this about "tilted too far"?

"What breakthrough???"
How about first outboard designed to run on propane? I know there are gasoline outboards that have been converted to propane but I guess this was the first one they had seen designed to run on propane.

FF said:

"freshly rebuilt, unreliable Evinrude 2-stroke outboard."

If its unreliable after a rebuild , replace the wrench that was working on it.

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I have never been impressed with Evinrude motors large or small. The one we have was only a year old when I bought it from a coworker who had used it twice and then replaced it. It was hard starting and would quit at random intervals from day one. Overhauled several times by various shops including the primo Evinrude dealer in Seattle. Never made any difference.

If it had been just this engine I would have suspected a lemon. But I've run into a lot of people with Evinrudes of all sizes over the years and most of them were very unhappy with the engines. Most replaced them with Yamaha to Honda.

But what's this about "tilted too far"?

If fuel remains in the float bowl , tilting , or inverting to take aboard can flood the engine.

The joy of propane is the fuel evaporates readily after the engine is shut down.

A thousand bucks for a 2.5 hp outboard? I just hadda dig out my original reciept for my still runnin' 2 hp Mariner outboard, purchased on 2/9/82 for $313.34 including taxes. If it ever dies I will be lookin' at a propane engine tho' the increased weight would be a concern.

I'll do it myself and it should be a bit of fun. New pistons, rings, seals and everything.

The most important item is the carb.

When a new float or float needle valve valves is installed it is a MUST to reset the float height by Da Book.

Great compression wont help a bad set carb.

For some folks its cheaper to purchase a factory new carb , than have the local wrench mess with it for months of rotten performance.

I agree about the carb FF but that can be fixed fairly easily. My favorite old Evinrude's problem was a badly salted engine. Overheating problems kept reoccurring. OB carbs are very simple but nothing's cheap today ... is it?

Old 2 Strokes

markpierce said:

It always started within 2 or 3 pulls, even after a 15-year hiatus in my garage.


I have a 3hp Eska that I bought a Penny's (with their label on it!) in the late '70s. Used it a bit, then it too, sat in my garages for 30 years. Fired it up a few times. Cranked it up last year, put it on my new roll-up dink and it has started every time since. No transmission, locking spin around for reverse! Air cooled, loud as hell, smokey until warmed up.....a real head turner. Comes on and off easily and can be carried with one hand.

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ancora said:

A thousand bucks for a 2.5 hp outboard? I just hadda dig out my original reciept for my still runnin' 2 hp Mariner outboard, purchased on 2/9/82 for $313.34 including taxes. If it ever dies I will be lookin' at a propane engine tho' the increased weight would be a concern.

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Go back and get out your receipt for a 1982 car and compare it to a 2012.

Compare what you were earning in 1982 to 2012.

I paid $825 for a new Honda 2HP about a year ago.

I now own a Lehr 2.5 and it runs great! I'm pleased with the fit and finish. It came with a spare spark plug, spare impeller, emergency starter cord, a basic tool kit and a nice owners manual. Since there was no propane in the fuel lines it took some cranking to get the propane to the cylinder but once there it fired right up. It was a one pull start after that. I ran it on both a big tank (11 pound fiberglass) and the one pound Coleman bottle. Complaints: It's got the single cylinder shakes at low speed but no worse than any other single cylinder outboard and the fuel hose it came with was only about four feet long. I bought a ten foot hose today. I want to put the tank in the bow of small boats for balance.

Ron, I'm taking it up to the St. Johns River this week to give it a try fishing for shad. I'm going to make it a point to eat at the German restaurant in Sanford.

HopCar said:

.......................... Ron, I'm taking it up to the St. Johns River this week to give it a try fishing for shad. I'm going to make it a point to eat at the German restaurant in Sanford.

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If you like German food the hardest part is choosing what to order.

If you have three or four people with you, they have a special with just about everything for $50 or so.

Also, try to go when the band is playing. Just two of them but they sound like at least four.

Ron, Just got back. The restaurant was great. Thanks for the tip.

Last I heard the 9.9 Lehr will be available (in Canada) on or about March 15th.

Oddly enough, our income tax return would pretty much cover it

HopCar said:

Ron, Just got back. The restaurant was great. Thanks for the tip.

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I'm glad you enjoyed it. If it was close to my home, I would weigh 300 lb!

MurrayM said:

Oddly enough, our income tax return would pretty much cover it

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Geez! You got a refund?

SeaHorse II said:

Geez! You got a refund?

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Murray must be in his 20's. I remember those times. Instead of dreading tax season, you look forward to it. You got a refund instead of a tax bill. Enjoy it while you can Murray.

mahal said:

Murray must be in his 20's.

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Early 50's

Not being wealthy, having a modest paying job, and contributing to a spousal RRSP helps in the tax return department.

We can justify the big (for us) boat by having payed for our small duplex lickedy-split, so no mortgage bills. That, and since I quit smoking 12 years ago and drinking 3 years ago, all the money I used to chuck away without a thought easily pays for moorage, etc!

MurrayM said:

Early 50's

Not being wealthy, having a modest paying job, and contributing to a spousal RRSP helps in the tax return department.

We can justify the big (for us) boat by having payed for our small duplex lickedy-split, so no mortgage bills. That, and since I quit smoking 12 years ago and drinking 3 years ago, all the money I used to chuck away without a thought easily pays for moorage, etc!

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The tax refund and the kayaking adventures, I was sure that you were young. Not that you're old, just older than me.

I'm not wealthy either but sadly no refunds. My son enters college this fall, so I will go from not wealthy to poor.

To get back on topic. I am closely watching the progress of the propane outboard as I have a 6hp outboard used only once or twice a year as a back-up and almost always needs a carb clean-up every time I use it. Even though I run the carb dry before storage.

I've never had one issue running MTBE or Ethanol laced gas in my outboards...however I WILL be checking out the Lehr outboards in person in a few weeks when I go to the Defender spring sale.