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Attended the last day of Strictly Sail at Navy Pier ...



... and saw that Larson Marine from Waukegan IL had brought an interesting pair of Propane-fueled four-stroke outboard engines manufactured by Lehr; a 2 hp short shaft (15") and a 5 hp available in both short (15") and long shaft (20"). The engines have two propane connections, a holder for a one pound camp canister in the back (1 hour run time), and a standard hose connection in the front for a 5 gallon propane tank (~20 hours)

The boys from Larson had the 5 hp model mounted up in an over-sized "aquarium", and they ran it often - indoors! The engine was reasonably quiet, about the same as a propane powered fork lift. The emissions are simply carbon dioxide and water and are quote odorless. The third photo below shows that the water was still clean after four days of intermittent run time during the show, so the engine is very very clean indeed.

The 2 hp model weighs under 38 lbs (details at Lehr Marine), so it ought to be about perfect for pushing a Weekender. Prices ought to be about $1,000 (2hp) and $1700 (5hp). There are a few videos available on YouTube.

Given how clean this engine is, I would be curious to know if the Department of Natural Resources would allow you to run one on lakes that are currently restricted as "no-gas" or "electric only".

Cheers,
Tom

Eventually local Fish and Game departments, as well as the EPA and other governing agencies, will get on board with LPG in protected areas, but not yet. It'll take the slow cogs some time to get up to speed, with this and other alternative fuels. The urban areas will be first, as they'll have data from fleets, many in place now, but the protected areas of waterways are a difficult course to navigate with the intertwined agency overlaps.

Conversions are much cheaper than full up LPG outboards, though some mechanical understanding and fabrication will be necessary. Nothing a good shade tree guy can't handle. With a light weight tank (as shown) significant weight could be saved.

Tom, does the 5 HP have FNR gearing? How about a high thrust version?

Greetings Paul,

Yes, 2 hp is F-N only, 5 hp is F-N-R.

I found these specifications on the Lehr website, and it appears that they have a brand spanking new 9.9 hp model for 2013.

[table]
[tr][td] Model -> [/td][td] 2.5 hp [/td][td] 5 hp [/td][td] 9.9 hp [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] ------------------------ [/td]
    [td] ------------------------ [/td]
    [td] ----------------------------------- [/td]
    [td] ------------------------ [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Power [/td][td] 1.8 kW [/td][td] 3.6 kW [/td][td] 7.2 kW [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Displacement [/td][td] 72cc [/td][td] 112cc [/td][td] 212 cc (twin)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Bore x Stroke [/td][td] 54 x 31.5 [/td][td] 59 x 41 [/td][td] 56 x 43 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Weight [/td][td] 37.4 lbs [/td][td] 49.6 lbs (S),  52.8 lbs (L) [/td][td] 87.7 lbs (S) 90.9 lbs (L)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Gear Ratio [/td][td] 2.08 [/td][td] 2.08 [/td][td] 2.08 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Gear shifts [/td][td] F - N [/td][td] F - N - R [/td][td] F - N - R [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Ignition [/td][td] CDI [/td][td] CDI [/td][td] CDI [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Starter [/td][td] Manual [/td][td] Manual [/td][td] Manual or Electric [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Carburetion [/td][td] No Choke [/td][td] No Choke [/td][td] No Choke [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Control [/td][td] Tiller handle [/td][td] Tiller handle [/td][td] Tiller or Remote [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Transom [/td][td] 15" [/td][td] 15" (S) 20" (L) [/td][td] 15" (S) 20" (L)  [/td][/tr]
[tr][td] Fuel [/td][td] 16.4 oz bottle [/td][td] 16.4 oz bottle [/td][td]  [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]  [/td][td] or remote 5 gal [/td][td] or remote 5 gal[/td][td] Remote bottle only [/td][/tr]
[/table]

If you go with the larger engines, Lehr recommends a composite fuel bottle from Lite Cylinder, which is lighter than steel, does not rust, and is transparent so that you can monitor fuel levels.

[table][tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][/td]
[td][/td]
[td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]

[/td]
[td][/td]
[td][/td][/tr][/table]



Cheers,
Tom